Struggling With An Anxiety Disorder: Steps You Can Take
When you struggle with an anxiety disorder, whether it is a social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder or another type of anxiety, you may find yourself struggling to cope with the condition. Panic attacks or heightened anxiety in general can leave you incapacitated, and you might not know what you can or should do to improve the situation. There are many steps that you can take when you are struggling with anxiety issues. By learning some of the strategies that you can use to address your anxiety disorder, you can then begin to put these options to use in your daily life.
Use Grounding Techniques
One of the ways that you can better deal with the anxiety disorder, specifically when your anxiety gets quite high, is to utilize grounding techniques. Grounding is meant to take your mind off of your anxiety or your anxiety triggers.
One grounding option involves paying attention to the five senses and addressing them one at a time. First, look around you and identify five objects you can see. It helps to write these things down as you identify them. Next, identify four objects you can touch or are touching. After that, you will find three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one you can taste. This helps to distract your mind and take your focus away from your anxiety.
You could also do an activity where you choose a color and then look around you for as many objects as possible that are that color. Again, writing these things down can further help the process.
Start Following and Reading Positive Blogs and Podcasts
What you read and listen to can have a major impact on your moods and can either improve or worsen your anxiety. It is a good idea, when you struggle with an anxiety disorder, to find life improvement blogs, self-help blogs, or other positive blogs and podcasts that can help to keep your mind on positives and on improving your situation.
Different blogs and podcasts will speak to and impact different people. Take your time to look through several before you settle on which ones to visit or listen to regularly. It can be helpful for some people to find blogs that are focused specifically on people with anxiety disorders and on coping with the condition. Others prefer more general life improvement blogs and podcasts and the strategies that these types of resources offer.
Find two or three that intrigue you and check them at least weekly. You can always eliminate any that are not what you want or need and add others.
These resources and strategies, along with going to therapy and taking any prescribed medications, can help you when you are struggling with an anxiety disorder. Give them a try as soon as possible to see if they can be of benefit to you.
