Anxiety can be debilitating sometimes, especially when you’re dealing with an onslaught of anxiety symptoms. In this blog, we have compiled a list of 10 ways that you can reduce anxiety on the spot, the perfect in the moment social anxiety disorder treatment.
1. Ask yourself the vital questions
Applying Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques that you learn as part of anxiety disorder treatment is a great way to reduce anxiety on the spot. Remember to do a reality check and ask yourself whether your worrying is justifiable and reasonable. Re-evaluating the situation can help soothe your nerves.
2. Breathe slowly and deeply
Deep breathing exercises are a good idea to soothe anxiety - inhaling and exhaling slowly and deeply can help calm your mind and reduce anxiety levels.
3. Distract yourself
Focusing on your anxious thoughts can have an extremely negative impact on your wellbeing, which is why you should focus on something else instead to avoid obsessing over your worries. You should ideally find something that offers relief and redirects your nervous energy.
4. Exercise
When you start getting anxious thoughts, they can be difficult to stop until you do something else. For example, a burst of exercise can help you refocus and increase concentration.
5. Listen to music
Similar to exercise, listening to music offers another great way to reduce anxiety and worries. Music can have a number of benefits regarding anxiety, alleviating stress and helping to calm your nervous system. So, grab your headphones or earphones and start your playlist.
6. Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and caffeine
It can be tempting to turn to familiar habits (which only temporarily reduces stress), such as drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and drinking caffeinated beverages. However, these can actually increase your levels of anxiety and stress, so it might be wise to avoid these when struggling with nervous thoughts.
7. Chant a soothing mantra
Creating a hopeful and safe mantra, and repeating this whenever you feel a rush of anxiety can help reduce your anxiety. Mantras can shift your mind away from debilitating thoughts that can repeat over and over in your head.
8. Meditate
When you don’t have your anxiety medication on you, or perhaps you simply don’t know what to do in the event that you have constant anxious thoughts, one of the best things that you can do on the spot is to simply stop and meditate. Meditation is an effective way to calm your thoughts and increase your mindfulness, evaluating your emotions and feelings.
9. Laugh
Laughter is a great remedy for stress and anxiety. Not only can it exercise and relax your muscles, but it also increases oxygen levels. Watch a comedy show or film on TV.
10. Reach out to trust family and friends
Not everyone wants to indulge their anxious thoughts to other people, but reaching out to others can actually help with your anxiety. They can offer new perspectives that can help reduce your anxious thoughts and offer comfort.
At The OAD Clinic, we offer anxiety disorder treatment for those struggling with anxiety symptoms, for UK residents and individuals from select countries. If you’re looking to come to the UK for generalised anxiety disorder treatment, then get in touch.