Anxiety Coping Skills
What Are Coping Skills for Anxiety?
Coping skills for anxiety include various techniques to manage anxious thoughts and physical symptoms. Here are some effective strategies:
- Deep Breathing Exercises: Calm the nervous system by slowing your heart rate and reducing tension (e.g., diaphragmatic breathing, 4-7-8 method).
- Mindfulness and Meditation: Focus on the present moment to reduce overthinking and practice staying grounded.
- Cognitive Restructuring: Challenge negative thoughts and replace them with more balanced, realistic ones.
- Physical Activity: Engage in exercise like walking, yoga, or other movements to release mood-boosting endorphins.
- Grounding Techniques: Use methods like the 5-4-3-2-1 technique to anchor yourself in the present.
- Journaling: Write down thoughts and feelings to better understand triggers and patterns.
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation: Tense and release muscle groups to relieve physical tension caused by anxiety.
These coping skills work by directly influencing the brain’s stress response.
When you experience anxiety, your brain’s amygdala—responsible for detecting threats—activates the “fight or flight” response, releasing stress hormones like cortisol.
Techniques like deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation help calm this response by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system, which signals your brain to relax.
These skills are used to help those struggling with anxiety and anxiety-related disorders, such as:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
- Social anxiety disorder
- Phobias
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Panic disorder
How Does Learning Coping Skills Help With Fears?
Coping skills can be used to help lessen or mitigate extreme fear responses by using techniques that quiet an overactive nervous system or stop spiraling anxious thoughts.
Learning coping skills helps manage fears by providing practical tools to reduce anxiety and regain control.
When people face fears, their body’s stress response can make the situation feel overwhelming.
Coping skills, like deep breathing, mindfulness, or positive self-talk, help calm this response, making it easier to think clearly.
Coping skills also encourage gradual exposure to fears in a safe way.
For example, someone afraid of public speaking might start by practicing in front of a mirror, then in front of a friend, building confidence step by step.
What Are Some Coping Skills for Social Anxiety?
Some coping skills for social anxiety include:
- Practice mindfulness techniques, such as thought or breathing exercises
- Get enough sleep and practice sleep hygiene
- Utilize apps that help mitigate anxious thoughts or work you through panic attacks. A mental health professional can point you to trusted apps for this purpose.
- Exercise and engage in regular physical activity
- Reframe negative or unhelpful thought patterns
- Utilize ‘present moment’ thinking
- Avoid the use of alcohol or caffeine
- Utilize a social anxiety support group
How Can You Train Your Brain to Worry Less?
Training your brain to worry less involves developing healthier thought patterns and using techniques that reduce anxiety. One effective method is cognitive restructuring, where you challenge negative or irrational thoughts.
This is one of the main skills you can learn in cognitive behavioral therapy.
For example, if you catch yourself thinking, “Something bad will happen,” you can question that thought and replace it with something more balanced, like, “I’ve handled challenges before, and I can handle this too.”
Another helpful approach is practicing mindfulness.
By focusing on the present moment, mindfulness helps you break the cycle of worrying about future events that may never happen.
Techniques like meditation or deep breathing can calm your mind and reduce overthinking.
You can also try gratitude exercises. Shifting your focus to what’s going well in your life helps counteract the brain’s tendency to dwell on potential problems.
Over time, these practices can rewire your brain, making it easier to manage worry and focus on what’s within your control.
Natural Remedies for Anxiety
How Can I Reduce Anxiety Naturally?
Anxiety can be reduced naturally by maintaining a healthy mind and body through a nutritionally sound diet and regular physical activity.
People with physically active lifestyles have been found to have a lower chance of developing common anxiety symptoms.
Avoiding high amounts of caffeine, alcohol, and sugary processed foods also reduces anxiety.
Utilizing calming self-care techniques, such as aromatherapy and meditation, quiets the nervous system and controls anxious intrusive thoughts.
Does Journaling Help With Anxiety?
Journaling has been shown to help those with anxiety manage their condition by being a healthy emotional outlet and as a tool for anxiety treatment.
Many therapists will request clients to keep journals as a way to track and identify anxiety triggers, record ongoing symptoms of anxiety, and note which coping strategies are successful.
The act of writing accesses your left brain, which is more analytical and rational. While the left brain is occupied, the right side of the brain is free to be creative.
This removes mental blocks and allows you to use all of your brainpower to better understand yourself, others, and the world around you.
What Food Calms Anxiety?
Diet has been proven to have a significant impact on both mood and anxiety, with some foods able to reduce feelings of anxiety and calm the nervous system.
Some of these foods are:
- Avocados
- Turmeric
- Blueberries
- Dark chocolate
- Calcium-rich foods (such as yogurt and leafy greens)
- Eggs
- Nuts and seeds (especially almonds)
- Oranges and other citrus fruits
- Salmon
- Turkey Breast
A 2021 cross-sectional study suggests that high-fiber diets are correlated with lower levels of anxiety stating, “Fiber is your friend because these foods are more complex carbohydrates, they break down very slowly in your body.
They don’t spike insulin, therefore they don’t spike blood sugar.”
What to Drink to Calm Nerves?
The three drinks commonly used to reduce stress and physical symptoms of anxiety are:
- Chamomile tea
- 100% Fruit juice
- Green tea
L-theanine is an amino acid found in green tea. It can promote relaxation and reduce stress by increasing dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain.
It can also influence alpha brain waves associated with calmness.
What Is the Best Exercise for Anxiety?
The best exercise for anxiety is breathing exercises.
These exercises break the fear-driven negative feedback loop of anxiety by reducing stress.
This is especially helpful for those with panic disorder who experience breathlessness due to panic attacks.
Some typical breathing exercises include:
- Belly or deep breathing
- Calming breathing
- Counting breathing
- Roll breathing
- Box breathing
What Is the Strongest Natural Anti-anxiety Medication?
Though over-the-counter (OTC) supplements and vitamins can help naturally reduce symptoms of anxiety, they are not a replacement for essential anti-anxiety medication.
Never take supplements or vitamins to treat anxiety or take them with currently used medication without the medical advice of a doctor or psychiatrist.
Some examples of natural supplements and vitamins for anxiety treatment include:
- Cannabidiol (CBD)
- Lemon balm
- 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP)
- Chamomile
- L-theanine
- Magnesium
Does Water Help Anxiety?
Drinking plenty of water improves brain function, which helps reduce anxious feelings and thoughts.
People who drink five cups or more of water per day are at lower risk of depression and anxiety.
Grounding Techniques for Anxiety
What Are Grounding Techniques for Anxiety?
Grounding techniques are coping skills used to help a person calm down right in the moment of their anxiety.
They work by shifting focus into the physical environment and away from anxious thoughts or panic. Some examples of grounding exercises include:
The 5-4-3-2-1 technique: A count-down technique where you focus your senses to ground yourself in the present reality.
It is typically conducted in this order.
- Focus on 5 things you can see
- Focus on 4 things you can feel
- Focus on 3 things you can hear
- Focus on 2 things you can smell
- Focus on 1 thing you can taste
The 3-3-3 Rule: Similar to the 5-4-3-2-1 technique, this technique includes both the senses and physically moving the body.
It’s typically conducted in this order.
- Look and name 3 things you see
- Listen and identify 3 sounds you hear
- Move 3 parts of your body
How to Break an Anxiety Loop
Anxiety loops occur when you become anxious about being anxious.
The steps to break a loop are:
- Identify what is triggering your anxious thoughts
- Utilize grounding techniques to mitigate panic and reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety
- Don’t think or act negatively towards yourself in the moment
- Use breathing exercises to induce a state of calm and relaxation
- Once the loop has been broken, reinforce long-term coping strategies for anxiety management, such as seeking support from a support network or journaling
Worrying can sometimes feel good, or at least better than sitting with anxiety. Worrying can also make you feel like you are doing something, even if you aren’t solving any problems.
However, this is not the healthiest way to address anxiety.
You can break an anxiety loop by being aware of what is happening and utilizing coping techniques to calm your thoughts and body.
What Is the Tapping Technique for Anxiety
Tapping, known as the emotional freedom technique (EFT), is a type of therapy that combines aspects of psychotherapy with acupressure.
This technique uses principles found in CBT and exposure therapy to use physical sensation to reduce anxious symptoms and promote wellness. You or a healthcare professional utilize this technique by tapping over pressure points throughout the body.
Where Do You Tap on Your Body for Anxiety?
The pressure points around the head are used to interrupt spiraling negative thoughts. These taps are usually conducted in order.
- Side of the hand
- Inside of the eyebrow, just under where the hair starts
- Side of the eye
- The area just under the eye
- Under the nose
- The area between the bottom lip and chin
- The area roughly two inches below the collarbone
- The side of the body at the top of the rib cage
- Top of the head
EFT is designed to target the pressure points of the face and body, which is often centered around areas where people experience the most physical symptoms of anxiety.
Why Does Tapping Help Anxiety?
Tapping helps anxious symptoms by:
- Helping the nervous system feel ‘safe’ through rhythmic touch
- Using touch as a distraction from anxious thoughts
- Helping the mind and the body connect and process anxiety smoothly
- Reducing stress and relaxing the body
Breathing and Relaxation Techniques for Anxiety
How Do Relaxation Techniques Help Anxiety?
Too much stress can exasperate anxious symptoms and can cause health problems. Relaxation techniques reduce common symptoms related to anxiety, such as:
- High heart rate, racing heart, or high blood pressure
- Digestive issues and stomach pain
- Muscle tension, pain or cramps
- Increased feelings of irritability, anger, or frustration
- Low energy or fatigue
By practicing relaxation methods such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or mindfulness meditation, you can activate your body’s “rest and digest” system. This helps slow your heart rate, lower blood pressure, and relax tense muscles. These techniques also promote mental clarity, reducing feelings of irritability and frustration.
Regular use of relaxation strategies not only eases immediate symptoms but also builds resilience, helping you feel more in control and less overwhelmed by stress and anxiety.
Some examples of relaxation techniques that reduce anxiety symptoms are:
- Progressive muscle relaxation
- Aromatherapy
- Hydrotherapy
- Massage
- Deep breathing
- Meditation
- Music and art
- Yoga
What Kind of Meditation Helps With Anxiety?
The types of meditation that help the most with anxiety are guided meditation, relaxation meditation, and the R.A.I.N. technique.
How to Calm Yourself When You Are Anxious?
The first step is to identify that you are feeling anxious. Then, utilize a grounding or breathing technique of your choice until you begin to feel calm.
Seeking a quiet, calm area where you feel safe will also reduce the sensations of anxiety. Some may feel better being around a loved one who can help them through their coping techniques.
How Do I Stop Jittery Anxiety?
Jittery anxiety is the result of a physical symptom of anxiety, which are tremors or shaking and a feeling or urge to move the body without stopping.
These symptoms can be reduced by using progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and mindfulness exercises. Some medications are useful in reducing the physical symptoms of anxiety, such as tremors or shaking.
Coping Skills for Anxiety in the Moment
What Is the Fastest Way to Relieve Anxiety and Calm Nerves Quickly?
The fastest and easiest way to quickly calm the nerves and relieve anxiety is to use deep breathing.
Particularly, the 4-7-8 breathing technique is effective at quickly calming down.
To use this technique, you:
- Slowly inhale for 4 seconds
- Hold your breath for 7 seconds
- Exhale slowly for 8 seconds
Repeat this technique until anxious symptoms subside.
How to Calm Anxiety at Home
The best way to calm anxiety at home is to make sure your physical and mental needs are satisfied.
Sometimes, anxiety at home can be the result of a need not being met or not being properly relaxed.
When feeling anxious at home, you can satisfy these needs by doing any of the following:
- Drink water
- Eat a healthy snack or meal
- Get proper rest
- Take a bath or shower
- Move your body or exercise
- Utilize relaxation techniques
- Meditate
- Check-in with loved ones
- Practice wellness exercises
How Do I Calm My Anxiety Away From Home?
Though anxiety and panic attacks are scary, they fade quickly, with panic attacks rarely lasting longer than 10 minutes.
Grounding and breathing techniques work well to quietly and quickly calm anxiety when away from home.
Repeating mantras reminding yourself that the panic will pass can also help mitigate the worst of anxious symptoms.
Therapeutic Strategies for Anxiety
What Is the Number One Cure for Anxiety?
The medical branch of psychiatry offers the best method for anxiety recovery, which is a combination of therapy and medication.
Though not everyone may need medication, it helps some clients by reducing the symptoms of anxiety enough that they are able to “get their feet under them” long enough to learn emotional regulation skills.
What Is the Best Therapy Technique for Anxiety?
Learning to use healthy coping skills and avoid harmful ones is the most important therapeutic technique for anxiety.
What Are CBT Techniques for Anxiety?
CBT techniques focus on identifying harmful thought and behavior patterns and changing them so they no longer cause you anxiety.
For those struggling with anxiety, CBT is used to help clients change unrealistic beliefs about the likelihood or true harm of anticipated dangers through techniques such as cognitive restructuring.
What Are DBT Techniques for Anxiety?
DBT techniques focus on helping clients accept their feelings in the present moment, acknowledge them, and release them so they no longer cause harm.
Typical techniques include learning problem-solving skills, emotional regulation, deep breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation.
Is Cognitive Restructuring Effective for Anxiety?
Yes, cognitive restructuring is an effective tool for anxiety-based disorders, especially PTSD.
What Is an Example of Cognitive Restructuring for Anxiety?
Cognitive restructuring works by deconstructing unhelpful anxious thoughts and reframing them in an accurate and balanced way.
For example, a person who believes a friend is mad at them because they are not responding to their text is jumping to conclusions, which is a common anxious reaction.
Using cognitive restructuring, they will walk through their previous interactions to see if there is any evidence that their friend is mad at them.
When they don’t find any evidence, they can conclude that their friend does not hate them, which allows them the space they need to calm down.
