Anxiety is not pleasant. It doesn't let you live. If you suffer from anxiety, you are likely to experience widespread restlessness. You will feel perpetually in anticipation, as if something negative is about to happen at any moment, and that keeps you in a permanent state of alarm that prevents you from relaxing. How to cure anxiety? will be the question that haunts you at any hour of the day or night.
However, you can't explain why you feel this way, you can't find the cause of the anxiety. It is also likely that you are aware that this state of hyperactivation does not make sense, but you cannot find the adequate strategies to treat anxiety and eliminate it once and for all. The first step is to understand anxiety.
Anxiety: Treat this condition by first determining what type of anxiety you suffer from
In general, we can talk about two main types of anxiety: trait anxiety and state anxiety. Distinguishing what type of anxiety you have is important because it will allow you to better understand the problem and take the necessary steps to treat the anxiety.
- Stretch anxiety indicates a person who has experienced anxiety from a very early stage in life, perhaps from childhood or adolescence. These people usually have a temperament that leads them to react immediately to the most diverse situations, are easily susceptible and find it difficult to relax. In fact, since they have had to fight anxiety for most of their life, they don't know what it's like to live differently. For these people, anxiety has been a lifelong travel companion.
- State anxietyon the contrary, it is triggered by some specific event (or set of events). Faced with this situation, a person who has never been particularly nervous responds with anxiety. In short, it happens that the person does not have the necessary psychological tools to deal with the problem, so his body and mind respond with an "exceptional" state of activation.
Of course, both types of anxiety can coexist. An anxious person will notice that their level of anxiety increases when faced with certain environmental demands. Likewise, someone who has never been anxious may begin to respond with anxiety to the most diverse situations, since they cannot regain control of their emotional life.
The good news is that anxiety symptoms can be neutralized without having to resort to anxiolytics. In fact, it should not be forgotten that anxiety medications are not free from adverse effects and are not a long-term solution. On the contrary, there are several scientifically proven and easy to put into practice strategies that are natural cures for anxiety.
Anxiety: how to cure it naturally?
1. Accept anxiety, be an impartial observer
Anxiety is harmful, we know that and that is why we want to eliminate it. Therefore, it is normal for our first impulse to be to deny it and reject it. But the paradox is that the more we try to fight anxiety, the more overwhelmed we feel. When we deny an emotion or a feeling, it grows.
Indeed, the mind of an anxious person is not filled with worries about the facts of his daily life, but with meta-worries. That is, he cares because he cares. This person activates his inner critic, a voice that constantly tells him that anxiety is intolerable, that he is unable to maintain control or that his existence is miserable.
Doing so sets off a vicious cycle that only serves to increase anxiety. Therefore, don't try to deny the anxiety you feel, but be aware of its existence. When you don't run away from an emotion, let alone label it as "negative", you can take an emotional distance from the problem and regain control of yourself. So, the first answer to the question: how to cure anxiety? is learning to accept it.
2. Take the rush out of your life
Most anxious people constantly move from place to place, eat standing up, without sitting at the table, and do several activities at the same time. Their computer screen, for example, is usually a mess made up of several windows and open programs. And what we express outward is nothing but the reflection of our mind.
However, when we take on daily activities from this hasty and chaotic point of view, we are sending negative feedback to the brain, because it is as if we are telling it that it has to work even faster because things are out of control. As a result, the brain responds by further increasing cortisol and adrenaline levels, which generate even more anxiety.
The solution lies in breaking that vicious circle. Reduce the pace and, above all, put in order the activities you need to do during the day by prioritizing the most important. Forced to slow down, you will see that you will be able to do much more, with less stress.
3. Don't leave any activities pending
One of the things that increases anxiety the most is knowing that we have pending activities. In reality, it is not the activities themselves that wear us down, but the constant mental recall we make to them.
Personal productivity experts say that to solve this problem it is advisable to apply the 2 minute rule. Basically, when a task arises, if it doesn't take more than 2 minutes, do it immediately since postponing it and remembering it will consume more energy than doing it. If the business takes longer and you don't have it, ask yourself if it really matters. If so, find a space on your agenda.
Remember that how you organize your day will affect your mental state. Therefore, don't let homework pile up because if you leave it for the last moment, it will only contribute to your anxiety level. Learning to organize your life will allow you to eliminate a great source of anxiety: the pending tasks and those that take away your energy without giving you anything in return.
4. Spend at least one hour a day for yourself
In the society we live in, doing rather than being is rewarded. Therefore, we feel obliged to run, not to take a minute of rest because it is synonymous with laziness, it is the antithesis of the values ​​promoted by Western culture.
In fact, it is not strange that anxious people are always overloaded with work and pending projects, they cannot even carve out a few minutes a day to dedicate to themselves. Immersed in that state of constant tension, they do not allow their brain to "disconnect", as a result, anxiety levels go up.
But disconnecting and being alone with yourself is just as important as being proactive. Although anxious people often have a hard time sitting with their arms folded, an excellent alternative is to spend at least an hour each day on an activity they really love. In this way, the brain begins to release a series of neurotransmitters such as endorphins, which generate a state of well-being and relaxation.
5. Question your recurring negative thoughts
An anxious person's mind is their worst enemy. In fact, anxiety grows due to the unrealistic thoughts that the person develops. Therefore, it is essential that you learn to detect them and stop their course.
The most common situation is that the anxious person over-responds to situations in everyday life. He makes a "storm in a glass of water", he thinks that a simple mistake will have disastrous consequences. That way, it just adds unnecessary tension.
Therefore, it is important to start questioning those catastrophic thoughts that do not conform to reality. Ask yourself: Is this concern realistic? How likely is it that it will happen? What's the worst that could happen? How could I manage it?
6. Take another perspective
Anxiety is caused, in large part, by the meaning we give to certain situations. Therefore, one of the most effective strategies for treating anxiety is to change the way we think about stressors.
A study conducted at Yale University showed some managers a video that conveyed the idea that stress was an enhancer, since some people perform at their best when under pressure. During the next two weeks, these people not only improved their work performance, but also reported fewer psychological problems and their level of the stress hormone cortisol decreased. These changes were not appreciated in the group who still believed that stress was bad.
For example, giving a presentation in public is stressful and generates anxiety but, on the other hand, it is also an opportunity to test our skills and expand our network of professional contacts. In this sense, it will be of great help to use the "however" more often. When you discover those irrational thoughts try to turn them around using this term. For example, if when you are studying you think: “I will not be able to pass that exam”, restructure that thought in a positive way: “maybe I will not pass the exam; however, I will strive to give my best. "
7. Live in the "here and now"
The anxious person tends to live between the past and the future. She blames herself for what happened and is worried or scared of what might happen. In this way he fills his present with anxiety. In fact, anxiety often arises precisely from worries about the future. The anxious person suffers a kind of obsession with the future that makes him focus on all the disasters that could happen.
But to eliminate anxiety, it's important to learn to focus on the present. Breathe, look around and notice that nothing bad is happening right now. Enjoy this moment. Practicing mindfulness meditation can help you achieve this goal. You don't even need to meditate, you just have to learn to focus on the here and now, on the experience you are having, without criticizing it and without letting your mind go to the future.
Since it will probably be difficult for you to let go of your worries all at once, you can establish what is called in Psychology: “period of worries”. It's about putting off those thoughts until you get those 30 minutes a day where you allow yourself to worry about everything you want. But once they are over, if other anxious thoughts come to mind, you will have to postpone them to the next session.
8. Manage your emotions better
For many decades, people have been encouraged to repress their feelings and emotions. Later, they were told that it was best to express them as in this way, they could relieve states such as anger and anxiety. However, it has now been shown that ventilation of emotions does not necessarily help manage them, nor does it decrease their intensity.
Psychologists at Iowa State University asked some people to write an essay and later made very negative judgments about it, with the aim of generating anger. Some people were offered the chance to unload their aggression with a pair of boxing gloves by hitting a punching bag with the examiner's photograph on it. Others will have to wait while sitting quietly in a room. Finally, their level of frustration and anger was assessed. Interestingly, those who "vented" their emotions were more aggressive.
This doesn't mean you have to repress emotions, but you have to find the right way to express them. Hitting a pillow, yelling, or venting verbal anger at someone can increase negative feelings. This is because certain activities activate your nervous system, instead of calming it, which is what you need. Therefore, to overcome anxiety, it is best to opt for activities that allow you to truly relax.
9. Exercise
One of the best strategies for fighting anxiety and stress is to exercise. You don't need to spend a lot of time on it, just half an hour a day will be enough. Although it is recommended that they be intense exercises, which are what allows for a large amount of endorphins to be released.
In fact, a study conducted at Princeton University found that regular physical activity makes the brain more resistant to the onslaught of stress, because functional restructuring occurs. In practice, sport stops the activity of the neurons of the ventral hippocampus, which are mainly responsible for activating the areas of the brain linked to the stress and anxiety response.
Therefore, it is advisable that you take time to exercise at least five times a week. Not only will you notice an improvement on a psychological level, your physical health will thank you too.
10. Relax and breathe
Relaxation techniques are very effective in treating anxiety. There are several techniques, one of the most common is to stretch each muscle group, then gently relax it. In fact, if you suffer from anxiety, your body is likely to be very tense, especially in the back and forehead.
There are also visualization techniques, which offer excellent results to those with a fertile imagination. One of the simplest is to close your eyes and imagine that you are in a quiet place that you like and feel comfortable in. Imagine everything in as much detail as possible and then let yourself be overwhelmed by the positive feelings you are experiencing.
These techniques should be accompanied by good breathing. In fact, even if we are not aware of it, breathing is a very important process through which the mind receives feedback on our state. When we breathe quickly and shallowly, our brain understands that something is wrong and that we could be in danger, thus increasing the level of anxiety. When we breathe deeply and slowly, all body functions, including heart rate, harmonize and it is easier to relax.
If you don't find out the causes, it will be difficult for you to cure anxiety
Remember that in order to eliminate this problem once and for all, it is vital that you find out what causes your anxiety and learn to avoid them, or at least manage them more appropriately. So, if you keep asking yourself: How to cure anxiety? you should know that in this “Program to cure anxiety” the main stressful situations we deal with every day are analyzed and practical techniques are offered, explained step by step, to combat anxiety.
