Anxiety is a natural emotion that humans have to a certain extent. It is considered normal to feel anxious occasionally. However, when the anxiety becomes excessive, the problem can become problematic. The symptoms that accompany this condition are varied and can be mistaken for normal stresses. Several methods can be used to deal with anxiety disorders.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is one of the most common anxiety disorders. A person suffering from GAD has repeated episodes of extreme worry and panic, accompanied by fatigue, restlessness, and irritability. This disorder may cause problems at work and home, interfering with interpersonal relationships. Also, physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach aches, shortness of breath, indigestion, and insomnia may occur.
Relaxation is a method that is often recommended for helping to treat anxiety and its associated symptoms. Relaxation techniques include deep breathing, imagery, and muscle relaxation. These techniques can be learned through books, tapes, or DVDs. Many people find that learning relaxation techniques on their own is more helpful than visiting a therapist. Learning relaxation on your own is also a lot less expensive than enrolling in a therapy session.
When learning how to relieve anxiety, helps us to understand how our bodies work. Our bodies need to be at a balanced level of acidity and alkalinity to function normally. Acidic foods can upset the balance and cause our blood pH levels to fall. Alkaline foods will restore the balance. For instance, drinking water that is too cold can make us overly sensitive to the cold temperatures of the outside world. When thinking of something stressful, the first thought that comes to mind is drinking cold drinks, not thinking of lemonade.
Our thoughts also influence our mood and therefore our state of mind. One way to help control our thoughts is to learn to clear our minds before we begin to get anxious. We can learn to clear our minds by taking slow deep breaths. When we breathe, we are filling our bodies with oxygen and giving our minds a chance to relax. When we are stressed, our body responds by drawing on more energy from our reserves. This extra energy can lead to feelings of fatigue, overeating, and overall poor health.
Learning how to relieve anxiety is also a matter of changing the way we think. If we continue to think of negative things instead of positive thoughts, negative thoughts will take over. Eventually, our thought process becomes such that we become anxious. Thinking of an alternative topic of replacing anxiety with something else can help calm us. For example, if we are worried about the cost of college education, we could replace the word “expensive” with “free” or “affordable”.
Another good way of dealing with stress and learning how to relieve anxiety is to write down what worries us and deal with them as soon as possible. For example, if we begin to worry that we won’t be able to quit our current job because of cash flow problems, we can write down how we could change this situation and work toward quitting. We can then see that we have changed our thought process so that we no longer think about money as being a problem.
If we learn how to relieve anxiety and use this method regularly, we will find that it begins to work wonders. Our thought processes will become calm and we will begin to feel better. If we can manage to change the way we think and replace those unpleasant thoughts with more positive ones, we will find that we don’t feel so stressed. We will be on the road to recovery. For more information on relieving anxiety.