Anxiety tips and tricks

As some of you know, both Emily and I both suffer with Anxiety. It's something that we have both been very open about. Anxiety Disorder is actually a hugely common Mental Health condition. In fact according to the Mental Health Foundation " In 2013, there were 8.2 million cases of Anxiety in the UK". Because of this, I wanted to share with you some tips and tricks for handling days when your Anxiety is a little more severe.


Ways to combat Stress and Anxiety;

• Take a step back- it's really important (for everyone) that when you're feeling overwhelmed and stressed or overly anxious that you take yourself out of the situation for a time. Do something that is calming for you, that you enjoy so that you can take your mind off the situation. It could be that you do some yoga, gardening, baking, exercise, sewing etc. Do whatever makes you happy and you cannot go wrong. 

• Positive self talk- this is a great one for me because personally, one of the reasons I generally end up having a panic attack is due to some sort of negative thought that I have. In the past it's been ideas like "I'm so fat, everyone is staring at me", which I would then obsess over and then begin to panic to the point of hyperventilating and hysteria. Combating this kind of talk is like nipping the problem in the bud (hypothetically), or for other situations just constantly repeating to yourself "I am okay" or "this will pass" is good because thinking about something different helps take your mind off of the problem at hand. This is easier said than done obviously but with time you will get better at it. 

• Keep track- keeping track of the kind of things that have set your Anxiety off or made you feel anxious in any way by writing them down is super important. This means that you're more aware of your triggers and therefore you can combat these issues so they are no longer a problem. 

• Exposure therapy- it seems fitting to write this next because now you know what kind of situations make you feel anxious, its important to slowly expose yourself to them. This is so that you can combat the issue and also it can change the way in which you react to other situations that cause you fear. results for this are obviously going to be slow and it wont be easy but the theory suggests that you will gradually become more comfortable in the situation until it ceases to be an issue for you at all. Crowds are always a huge issue for me and I felt so horrible after freaking out at a concert in February, because of it I was really scared of going back to another concert. Instead of giving in to this, I'm going to 2 more concerts later this year, the first one being seated so I can ease myself back into things without so much close proximity with others. 

• Working out- exercise helps you to calm down apparently through the release of endorphin's, boosting your immune system and increasing your body temperature...plus it seems like a good way to take your mind off the scenario. 
• Breathe into your belly- it presses on one of your nerves called the "vagus nerve" which actually acts as a way to tell your brain that you're perfectly safe 

• Listen to music- I'm one of those people that you will meet that always has an earphone in their one ear. I'm always listening to music, it's proven to be something that really helps to regulate my mood and there's a reason why. Music has been proven to affect heart rate and mood.
• Notice what you can feel- take in your surroundings, focus on your senses. It's helps you to feel present in your surroundings.

• Take a bath or hot shower- self care is a great way to help reset your mindset and feeling pampered and loved (especially by yourself) is great for your self esteem and emotions. 
  
  
• Talk to someone- often getting the perspective of someone, especially someone from the outside (like a health professional) is just what you need. You can get unbiased advice as to what you should do next or maybe even how you can lessen the chance of your attacks being as severe. 

I hope this is of some use to all of you!

Love, 

Louise x