5 Top Tips for Tackling Anxiety…

Written By Emma Lawton

Life is about living in the here and now, but anxiety is rooted in worries about the past and the future. We can’t change the past, and whilst we can’t fully control the future, we can shape our future with conscious action. Try these 5 steps to tackling anxiety today:

1. Make two lists—one for all things you enjoy and one for those you don’t. Start with the things you don’t like first and determine which activities you can gradually eliminate from your life. Then complete a list of things you do like and make a plan to increase doing these things. Planning to do more positive activities can help you focus more on the good in your life.

2. Stop watching the news as often. The news keeps many people in the loop with the world. However, the news is designed to bring big stories, and often, these stories are sad, worrying or politically stressful. Watching the news too often can make you feel negatively about the world, which has a negative impact on your mental wellbeing.

3. Stop dwelling on the economy. Understanding issues around the current economic state is essential, but how you feel and what you do in your day-to-day life is more important. Rather than dwelling on the issues you can’t change, you could take various actions to impact others’ experiences positively during the economic crisis, such as volunteering, making donations or fundraising. As a byproduct, you will feel better about yourself.

4. Tell people what you need. Many people do not want to ask for what they need. Yet if they were to ask, their loved ones or friends would likely oblige, relieving some of those pressures you feel. We are often too proud to ask for what we need emotionally or physically from others and have been taught to just get on with it. However, by not asking for what we need, we actually deny others the ability to be there for us.

5. Laugh more. Laughter is the best medicine. Put a comedy on Netflix or see one at the cinema. Actively watch or listen to things that make you laugh! Laughing will send the body positive signals and release feel-good chemicals. Even getting a good funny book or audiobook will do the trick.

Anxiety can get better if treated, but there are things we can do to reduce symptoms, like self-care or accessing support. If you need support with your anxiety, drop me an email at unknotcoaching@gmail.com

Written by Emma Lawton – Coach & Therapist.