Anxiety & panic attacks

There are different things that can help you manage your anxiety. Below are some suggestions.

Identifying and challenging unhelpful thoughts

Our thoughts can contribute to our anxiety.

Although we can't always control our thoughts, we can try to challenge them if they're negative or unhelpful. 

Find out more about challenging unhelpful thoughts.

Grounding

'Grounding' is a term we use for techniques that can help us focus on the present, and stop feelings of anxiety snowballing. 

Find out more about grounding.

Breathing

Taking slow and deep breaths can help you stay calm and manage anxiety. 

Put your hand on your stomach and breath deeply, expanding your stomach so it lifts your hand. Try breathing along with the video below, filling your chest and belly with air as the shape expands and breathing out as it disappears. 

Relaxation and self-care

When you feel anxious, you can try to calm yourself by doing something comforting or relaxing.

Go to our self-care section for suggestions.

Problem-solving

Sometimes we are anxious about certain problems. One way to manage our anxiety around these problems is to try and identify possible solutions.

Identify a time in the day that you can spend 20 minutes problem-solving. If you think of a problem outside this time, write it down and come back to it during your problem-solving time. This can help reduce the amount of time you spend worrying in the day.

You can download this resource to guide you through each step:

1. Identify a problem and write down a list of possible solutions.
2. Choose a solution from this list. If you're finding it hard to pick a solution, use a 'pros and cons' list against each of your ideas.
3. Break your solution down into manageable steps.
4. Try your solutions and review. 

Avoiding avoidance

When situations make us anxious, it is tempting to avoid them. Although this makes a lot of sense, it's not always helpful. It can actually maintain and increase our anxiety in the longer term.

If we always avoid uncomfortable situations, we reinforce the idea that they are too difficult for us to cope with. This can mean we carry on feeling anxious. But if we expose ourselves to these situations, we can learn that we can cope, or that the situation is not as bad as we imagined. This can reduce our anxiety. 

Instead of avoiding situations that make you anxious, you might want to try confronting them for a small amount of time. This might show that you can cope, or that the situation is not as bad as you thought.

1. Start by writing a list of situations that make you anxious.
2. Group them into situations that cause you a little anxiety, a medium amount and high anxiety.
3. When you feel ready, confront the situation.
4. It may be that the longer you stay in the situation, the more your anxiety will reduce, so try to stay in the situation until you feel your anxiety lessen.
5. Try to repeat this exercise everyday if you can, and gradually move from situations that cause you a small amount of anxiety to situations that evoke a stronger feeling of anxiety. 

You can use this downloadable resource to help you.

Keep a diary to record situations you confronted and how anxious they made you feel. In the future you can look back and compare how anxious you feel in these situations before and after challenging your avoidance.