Home » Misc » Tools for coping with anxiety

Tools for coping with anxiety


20 Best Anxiety Tools for Helping Your Clients Cope

Anxiety is part of our brain’s hardwired threat response, which has helped humans survive for thousands of years.

We have all experienced anxiety at some point, whether it’s hearing a bump in the night or preparing for an exam.

However, over-activation of the anxiety response can have a debilitating impact, and anxiety difficulties are one of the most commonly presented mental health problems (Stansfeld et al., 2016). Thankfully, there are many evidence-based anxiety management tools available.

This article provides key information for practitioners, with over 20 helpful anxiety tools to help clients cope with and overcome anxiety difficulties.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Strengths Exercises for free. These detailed, science-based exercises will help your clients realize their unique potential and create a life that feels energizing and authentic.

This Article Contains:

  • What Is Anxiety According to Psychology?
  • How to Cope With Anxiety and Worries
  • 10 Effective Anxiety Management Tools
  • 5 Helpful Grounding Tools for Adults
  • A Look at Calming Breathing Techniques
  • 5 Anxiety Tools for Supporting Youth
  • How to Measure Anxiety in Therapy
  • 4 Screening and Assessment Tools
  • Resources From PositivePsychology. com
  • A Take-Home Message
  • References

What Is Anxiety According to Psychology?

Anxiety is a normal and adaptive emotional response, defined as feelings of distress, worry, and physiological symptoms in the context of apprehensively anticipating future danger or misfortune (American Psychological Association, 2013).

Anxiety is the activation of the body’s fight, flight, or freeze response, which is often experienced as restlessness, trembling, poor concentration, sweating, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and irritability (Clark & Beck, 2011).

Although anxiety is a normal experience, it can become a problem when it exceeds the reality of potential danger. This can lead to excessive fear, hypersensitivity to threat, and unhelpful behavior change that impacts daily functioning (Clark & Beck, 2011).

Medical professionals can categorize these difficulties as anxiety disorders, such as panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder (American Psychological Association, 2013).

Beck, Emery, and Greenberg’s (2005) cognitive theory suggests that anxiety difficulties stem from an overestimation of danger and underestimation of coping ability. In this theory, negative cognitions (e.g., predictions and appraisals) start the vicious cycle of anxiety, triggering associated physiological responses and safety behaviors (e.g., avoiding or escaping feared situations).

Although safety behaviors alleviate anxiety in the short term, they can lead to anxious predictions never being challenged, which maintains or worsens anxiety in the long term (Wells, 1997).

This brief TED Talk video introduces anxiety and the fight, flight, or freeze response.

How to Cope with Anxiety and Worries

Here are four steps for helping your clients cope with anxiety.

1. Psychoeducation

It is important to normalize anxiety initially and provide information about the brain’s threat response (Donker, Griffiths, Cuijpers, & Christensen, 2009).

Normalizing anxiety helps to reduce a client’s sense of shame or feeling that there’s something wrong with them (Welford, 2010). Here’s an example of an anxiety psychoeducation video.

For further reading about psychoeducation, this article offers 48 Ways to Apply Psychoeducation as a Coach, while our article Coaching for Anxiety offers podcasts and techniques that you can use with your clients.

2. Anxiety monitoring

Keeping track of experiences of anxiety can help clients identify patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. They can write down triggers or keep an anxiety diary as a way to gain a deeper understanding of these patterns (Leahy, Holland, & McGinn, 2011).

3. Understanding maintenance cycles

Psychological formulation (Johnstone & Dallos, 2014) can help clients understand maintenance cycles of anxiety (i. e., how their anxious thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interlink to keep anxiety going). For example, the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy situational formulation cycle can be used as part of psychoeducation.

4. Building a toolkit of strategies

There are different types of tools that target different areas of the anxiety cycle.

Relaxation strategies calm bodily sensations, cognitive skills aim to shift anxious thinking, and behavioral strategies help to reduce safety behaviors.

Different tools work for different people in different situations. It can be helpful for clients to develop a written list or toolkit of strategies that work for them.

10 Effective Anxiety Management Tools

Here are 10 evidence-based anxiety management tools (adapted from Leahy et al., 2011; Westbrook, Kennerley, & Kirk, 2011; Kennerley, 2014).

1. Controlled breathing

Controlled breathing aims to reduce physiological symptoms of anxiety by regulating breathing. Controlled breathing involves breathing deeply into your lower abdomen for four counts and out for six counts, repeating for at least a few minutes.

2. Progressive muscle relaxation

Progressive muscle relaxation aims to relax the muscles to ease the bodily sensations of anxiety, such as muscle tension. You tense and relax each muscle group in turn, working progressively throughout the body.

3. Calming imagery

Visualization is the idea of building an image in your mind of a calm, safe place (e.g., beach, forest, familiar place). This soothes the anxiety response and distracts from anxious thinking (Hart, 2008; Welford, 2010).

4. Distraction

You can distract your brain from anxious thoughts by refocusing on another activity. This strategy can also help clients feel empowered to use their existing strengths and interests as helpful anxiety tools, for example, doing an enjoyable hobby.

5. Thought challenging

Thought challenging involves identifying evidence for and against anxious thoughts. The aim is to weigh up this evidence and then reframe the thought as a more balanced view of the situation, moving away from anxious predictions. Use this Questions for Thought Challenging worksheet to get a balanced view on a situation.

6. Compassionate self-talk

Anxiety partly stems from self-criticism, such as believing that you do not have the skills to cope (Welford, 2010).

Compassionate self-talk can help reduce anxiety and self-criticism. For example, “I’ve coped before, I can get through this.”

7. Worry time

This involves allocating specific worry time (e.g., 5–10 minutes per day). If worries pop up, these can be written down and saved until worry time. This reduces the amount of worrying and rumination. Use our Worry Bank worksheet for further practical guidance on this tool.

8. Behavioral experiments and graded exposure

These involve facing your fears by reducing safety behaviors. Behavioral experiments involve writing down the initial anxious prediction, facing the feared situation, and then reflecting on what actually happened.

This often provides evidence against the initial anxious belief. Use this Behavioral Experiment to Test Beliefs worksheet to plan out experiments. Build up to facing fears through graded exposure by breaking down the task into small steps.

This video animation explains how to build a graded exposure ladder.

9. Exercise

Physical activity can be an effective way to reduce anxiety levels. It helps burn off the adrenaline caused by the fight, flight, or freeze response and serves as a distraction (Kennerley, 2014) and also helps with sleep (Kredlow, Capozzoli, Hearon, Calkins, & Otto, 2015).

10. Sleep

Feeling anxious can negatively impact sleep, and lack of sleep can mean a lower threshold for feeling anxious. It is important to strive for a good night’s sleep, through a relaxing bedtime routine, regular sleep pattern, and using other sleep hygiene strategies.

5 Helpful Grounding Tools for Adults

Grounding tools can help when someone is feeling overwhelmed by anxiety about the past or future by bringing focus back to the present (Peckham, 2021).

The following grounding strategies are drawn from Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (Hofmann & Gómez, 2017) and trauma-focused interventions (Peckham, 2021).

  1. Mindful breathing
    This involves bringing your attention to your breathing, which refocuses your brain away from anxious thoughts to solely attending to the present moment and the physical sensations of the breath.
  2. 5-4-3-2-1
    This strategy helps you to connect to your environment using all senses. It involves naming five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.
  3. Grounding object
    It can be helpful to carry a grounding object, such as a stone or fidget toy. When anxious, you can hold the object and focus your attention on it, such as the textures and colors, to bring your attention back to the present.
  4. Ground through the feet
    Place your feet on the ground and focus on the sensations this connection brings. This simple tool aims to foster a sense of feeling centered, present, and grounded to the earth.
  5. Body scan
    Bring your awareness to each part of your body in turn. The aim is to notice different sensations in your body, either internally or how the body feels when in contact with the external environment (e.g., touching a chair).

How to practice grounding for anxiety relief

Tip 1: Start with mindful breathing

Focusing on the breath can help to anchor you initially and lay the foundations for other grounding skills.

Tip 2: Create a grounding box

Also called a self-soothe box, this pre-made collection of grounding objects and reminders can make it easier to use grounding strategies when you’re very anxious. It helps to have multi-sensory tools, for example, a grounding object or something pleasant to smell/taste. You can also have written reminders of other grounding skills.

Tip 3: Be kind to yourself

It is normal for your mind to wander during mindfulness and grounding techniques, and it is important not to fall into self-critical thinking.

We can use the mindfulness concepts of nonjudgmentally noticing when our mind wanders and refocusing back to the grounding exercise. It may help to use a cognitive defusion tool (Harris, 2009), such as seeing thoughts as leaves on a stream floating by while doing mindful grounding. You can access the Leaves on a Stream exercise as part of this free Mindfulness Tools pack.

A Look at Calming Breathing Techniques

Now that we’ve introduced how to do breathing techniques, let us explain why they work from a biological and psychological perspective.

Biological changes

Fast, shallow breathing (associated with anxiety) can result in hyperventilation, which disrupts the blood’s oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, leading to feeling faint and dizzy.

Self-regulation of breathing helps to calm these fight, flight, or freeze physiological anxiety symptoms (Jerath, Crawford, Barnes, & Harden, 2015), by allowing oxygen levels to return to normal (Hazlett-Stevens & Craske, 2004).

Cognitive distraction and grounding

Mindful breathing helps with the cognitive effects of anxiety. Instead of focusing on anxious thoughts, the mind focuses on the breath, helping to ground in the present and shift focus away from anxious thoughts about the past or future.

Self-soothing and self-compassion

Focusing on the breath is core to compassion-focused strategies, such as soothing rhythm breathing (Gilbert, 2009). This involves finding a breath rhythm that helps to self-soothe when feeling anxious (Welford, 2010), with a focus on using self-compassion if your mind wanders from the task. This helps to foster skills in both self-soothing and self-compassion.

5 Anxiety Tools for Supporting Youth

The anxiety tools above are also effective for children. The key is to ensure that they are adapted for age and developmental stage, such as by using different creative formats like worksheets, videos, and apps.

Example ideas include our Deep Breathing for Kids worksheet, as well as this anxiety psychoeducation video for kids.

When supporting children with anxiety, parents and carers play a vital role. Here are five additional anxiety management tools for parents/carers to implement (Creswell & Willetts, 2019):

1. Manage parents’ role in safety behaviors

Sometimes parents can unintentionally feed into children’s safety behaviors. It is understandable that parents don’t want to see a child in distress; however, it is important not to fall into the traps of safety behaviors such as avoidance, which can make a child’s anxiety worse in the long term (Wells, 1997).

Parents can use tools such as graded exposure and set goals with their children to reduce safety behaviors.

2. Manage reassurance-seeking behavior

Children often seek reassurance from adults when feeling anxious. Although parents will naturally want to ensure the child is okay, too much reassurance can actually make anxiety worse in the long term (Creswell & Willetts, 2019).

Instead of giving reassurance, it can help to empower the child to manage their anxiety by using strategies from their toolbox.

3. Model positive anxiety management

Children observe adults’ behavior to learn what to be afraid of and how to cope. Parents can try to model to children how they positively manage day-to-day anxiety themselves.

4. Talk time

Parents can allocate a specific time to discuss worries with children. This helps to reduce the amount of focus on worries and reassurance seeking, making them less dominant in day-to-day life.

5. Encourage independence

Parents can help children overcome anxiety by empowering them to manage and problem-solve anxiety-provoking situations themselves, to help build independent coping skills.

It is also important to reinforce positive and brave behaviors using praise and rewards.

How to Measure Anxiety in Therapy

  1. Creating a 0–10 anxiety scale can help the client measure and log anxiety intensity between therapy sessions, as well as categorize anxiety levels in different situations (Westbrook et al., 2011).
  2. Anxiety diaries can be a helpful way for clients to keep a record of anxious thoughts, feelings, and behavior, and to monitor change over time (Kennerley, 2014; Westbrook et al., 2011).
  3. Goal-based outcomes (Law & Jacob, 2013) are therapeutic measures where clients set goals around anxiety and then rate themselves weekly on a scale from 1 to 10 on how close they are to reaching those goals.
  4. Validated questionnaires for anxiety (see below).

4 Screening and Assessment Tools

These tools are open-access self-report questionnaires to assess for anxiety across different client groups, based on recommendations from Beidas et al. ’s (2015) review of free outcome measures, as well as from the United Kingdom’s Child Outcomes Research Consortium (CORC).

Adults:

  1. General Anxiety Disorder questionnaire (Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams, & Löwe, 2006). This seven-item questionnaire can be found at PHQ Screeners.

Adults with intellectual disability:

  1. Glasgow Anxiety Scale for People with an Intellectual Disability (Mindham & Espie, 2003). This 27-item tool is included in Mindham and Espie’s (2003) original article.

Children:

  1. Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (Chorpita, Yim, Moffitt, Umemoto, & Francis, 2000). Both child and parent versions can be downloaded from CORC.
  2. Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS; Spence, 1997). This 45-item scale can be located on the SCAS website.

Resources From PositivePsychology.com

Here are some additional helpful anxiety worksheets for children:

  • When I’m Scared
    This worksheet helps parents speak to their children about their anxiety in a structured, age-appropriate way, exploring triggers, thoughts, and bodily sensations of anxiety.
  • Draw Your Fears
    This worksheet allows a child space to explore their anxieties by drawing their worries. This is helpful, as some children experience anxious images, rather than words, in their mind.
  • My Body and My Worries
    This worksheet explores bodily sensations associated with the fight, flight, or freeze response, helping children learn about normal anxiety signs.
  • 17 Strengths-Finding Exercises
    If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others develop their strengths, check out this collection of 17 strengths-finding tools for practitioners. Use them to help others better understand and harness their strengths in life-enhancing ways.

A Take-Home Message

Anxiety is a normal hard-wired threat response that our brain uses when it perceives danger. However, our brain can sometimes take a “better safe than sorry” approach by overestimating danger, which results in our fight, flight, or freeze response being triggered too often. This is when anxiety can become problematic and when therapeutic intervention may be recommended.

There is a range of evidence-based therapies and anxiety management strategies that therapists can use to support clients. The key message is not to strive for the impossible task of getting rid of anxiety, but rather to build strategies to manage it successfully.

The aim of this article was to give practitioners a summary of the key advice and strategies available for anxiety management. The hope is that this can be used to foster clients’ confidence to use their inherent strengths and build new skills in order to overcome anxiety difficulties and live the life they choose.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Strengths Exercises for free.

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Author.
  • Baldwin, D. S., Anderson, I. M., Nutt, D. J., Allgulander, C. , Bandelow, B., den Boer, J., … Wittchen, H.U. (2014). Evidence-based pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder: A revision of the 2005 guidelines from the British Association for Psychopharmacology. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 28, 403–439.
  • Beck, A. T., Emery, G., & Greenberg, R. L. (2005). Anxiety disorders and phobias: a cognitive perspective. Basic Books.
  • Beidas, R. S., Stewart, R. E., Walsh, L., Lucas, S., Downey, M. M., Jackson, K., … Mandell, D. S. (2015). Free, brief, and validated: Standardized instruments for low-resource mental health settings. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 22(1), 5–19.
  • Clark, D. A., & Beck, A. T. (2011). Cognitive therapy of anxiety disorders: Science and practice. Guilford Press.
  • Creswell, C., & Willetts, L. (2019). Helping your child with fears and worries: A self-help guide for parents (2nd ed. ). Robinson.
  • Chorpita, B. F., Yim, L. M., Moffitt, C. E., Umemoto, L. A., & Francis, S. E. (2000). Assessment of symptoms of DSM-IV anxiety and depression in children: A revised child anxiety and depression scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 835–855.
  • Donker, T., Griffiths, K. M., Cuijpers, P., & Christensen, H. (2009). Psychoeducation for depression, anxiety and psychological distress: A meta-analysis. BMC Medicine, 7(1), 1–9.
  • Gilbert, P. (2009). The compassionate mind. Robinson.
  • Harris, R. (2009). ACT made simple. New Harbinger.
  • Hart, J. (2008). Guided imagery. Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 14(6), 295–299.
  • Hazlett-Stevens, H., & Craske, M. G. (2004). Breathing retraining and diaphragmatic breathing techniques. In W. T. O’Donohue, J. E. Fisher, & S. C. Hayes (Eds.), Cognitive behavior therapy: Applying empirically supported techniques in your practice (pp. 59–64). John Wiley & Sons.
  • Hofmann, S. G., & Gómez, A. F. (2017). Mindfulness-based interventions for anxiety and depression. Psychiatric Clinics, 40(4), 739–749.
  • Jerath, R., Crawford, M. W., Barnes, V. A., & Harden, K. (2015). Self-regulation of breathing as a primary treatment for anxiety. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 40(2), 107–115.
  • Johnstone, L., & Dallos, R. (2014). Formulation in psychology and psychotherapy: Making sense of people’s problems (2nd ed.). Routledge.
  • Kennerley, H. (2014). Overcoming childhood trauma: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioral techniques. Hachette.
  • Kredlow, M. A., Capozzoli, M. C., Hearon, B. A., Calkins, A. W., & Otto, M. W. (2015). The effects of physical activity on sleep: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 38(3), 427–449.
  • Law, D., & Jacob, J. (2013). Goals and goal based outcomes (GBOs). CAMHS Press.
  • Leahy, R. L., Holland, S. J., & McGinn, L. K. (2011). Treatment plans and interventions for depression and anxiety disorders. Guilford Press.
  • Mindham, J., & Espie, C. A. (2003). Glasgow Anxiety Scale for People with an Intellectual Disability (GASID): Development and psychometric properties of a new measure for use with people with mild intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 47(1), 22–30.
  • Peckham, M. (2021). Self-care and grounding. In A. Hershler, L. Hughes, P. Nguyen, & S. Wall (Eds.), Looking at trauma: A tool kit for clinicians (Vol. 23) (pp. 13–20). Penn State University Press.
  • Spence, S. H. (1997). Structure of anxiety symptoms among children: A confirmatory factor-analytic study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106(2), 280–297.
  • Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J. B., & Löwe, B. (2006). A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: The GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(10), 1092–1097.
  • Stansfeld, S., Clark, C., Bebbington, P. E., King, M., Jenkins, R., & Hinchliffe, S. (2016). Common mental disorders. In S. McManus, P. E. Bebbington, R. Jenkins, & T. Brugha (Eds.), Mental health and wellbeing in England: Adult psychiatric morbidity survey 2014 (pp. 37–68). NHS Digital.
  • Welford, M. (2010). A compassion focused approach to anxiety disorders. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 3(2), 124–140.
  • Wells, A. (1997). Cognitive therapy of anxiety disorders: A practice manual and conceptual guide. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Westbrook, D., Kennerley, H., & Kirk, J. (2011). An introduction to cognitive behaviour therapy: Skills and applications. SAGE.

15 Powerful Tools to Manage Anxiety In 2022

If you are looking for the most effective tools to manage anxiety (and even eliminate it), you are in the right place.  

In this article, we will look at the 15 best strategies you need to master to get your anxiety under control. 

Table of Contents:

  • What is Anxiety?
  • Tools to Manage Anxiety
    • Strategy 1: Deep Breathing
    • Strategy 2: Progressive Muscle Relaxation
    • Strategy 3: Exercise
    • Strategy 4: Get Organized
    • Strategy 5: Self-Care
    • Strategy 6: Acceptance
    • Strategy 7: Mindfulness
    • Strategy 8: Journaling
    • Strategy 9: Positive Affirmations
    • Strategy 10: Do Something Fun
    • Strategy 11: Get Out In Nature
    • Strategy 12: Break Out of Isolation
    • Strategy 13: Face Your Fears
    • Strategy 14: Challenge Your Thinking
    • Strategy 15: See a Therapist

Let’s jump right in!

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is a feeling of worry, tension and unease, which can be mild or severe. Everyone feels anxious from time to time – it’s a natural reaction to situations that we perceive as threatening, challenging or unpredictable. 

In most cases, anxiety will quickly go away once the stressful or worrying situation has passed. In some cases, however, feelings of anxiety persist and can interfere with everyday life – you may find it hard to control anxious thoughts and behavior. 

Persistent anxiety is the result of an overactive fight-or-flight response in the body. Your body is preparing for danger, even when one does not exist. 

This over stimulation of the body can cause symptoms like:

  • Tense muscles
  • Rapid heartbeat and breathing
  • Increased blood pressure and body temperature 
  • Upset stomach or nausea
  • Dizziness or faintness
  • Restlessness 
  • Heart palpitations
  • Nausea
  • Trembling
  • Shortness of breath
  • Cold/clammy hands and feet
  • Muscle tension
  • Dizziness/lightheadedness
  • Dry mouth
  • Excessive perspiration 

There are a number of different reasons why people feel anxious: – It could be the result of a traumatic event in your past e. g., early childhood abuse or bullying – It could be because you have a tendency towards “negative thinking” and interpreting everyday events as threatening – Your genes might also make you more vulnerable to feeling anxious.

An estimated 40 million American adults suffer from some form of anxiety disorder, which makes finding ways to cope an important part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 

Fortunately, there are several positive coping strategies available that can help manage symptoms when they arise.Take control of your stress levels with these helpful tools to manage anxiety.

Tools to Manage Anxiety

Strategy 1: Deep Breathing 

Although it may seem simple, deep breathing is one of the most important tools for anxiety management. 

People often find themselves breathing irregularly or holding their breath without realizing it during moments of high anxiety or stress. This is because the body reacts to stress by attempting to prepare for danger or fight it off (the fight or flight response).  

During this process, the body drastically reduces blood flow to non-essential muscle groups (such as the skin and digestive system) in favor of muscles that may be used during the impending stressor (this is why your stomach hurts if you get nervous before giving a speech). 

Deep breathing forces the body to send blood back to these muscles, releasing excess chemicals associated with stress and  promoting relaxation. Deep Breathing also slows the heart rate, relieves muscle tension/headaches, and triggers your body to release endorphins- chemicals that help you feel relaxed and less stressed.

In order to regain control over your breathing, sit in a comfortable position with your back straight and shoulders relaxed. Inhale slowly through your nose and exhale through your mouth, focusing on the muscles that line the stomach as you do so. 

Repeat this process several times for 10-15 minutes, focusing on breathing deeply from your diaphragm (not your chest). Don’t underestimate the power of deep breathing – it can have a profound impact on your anxiety symptoms.

Strategy 2: Progressive Muscle Relaxation 

Progressive muscle relaxation is a simple exercise where one tenses and then relaxes each major muscle group (beginning with the feet and moving up through the body) in an effort to slow down the body’s fight-or-flight response. 

By forcing your muscles to relax, you are effectively telling your mind that there is no danger present and reversing any negative effects caused by the acute stress response. This particular tool works best for people who tend to feel their anxiety in their shoulders or stomach. 

Strategy 3: Exercise 

Exercise works like a charm for many people who suffer from anxiety. Physical activity gets the blood pumping, which can reduce feelings of nausea and lightheadedness associated with panic attacks.  

Exercise also reduces levels of cortisol (a hormone released by your body in response to stress), making it easier for your body to keep inflammation under control and releases dopamine, serotonin and endorphins – feel good chemicals that can improve your mood and help you feel relaxed. Even taking a brisk walk for 20-30 minutes will help your mind and body feel more at ease.

Strategy 4: Stay Organized 

As strange as it may sound, studies have actually shown that a messy environment can make the mind feel more anxious. In contrast, being surrounded by things that are well-organized and tidy reduces stress levels.

Stress is often caused by having too much to deal with at one time. Because of this, it’s very important for you to stay organized in order to reduce your anxiety levels.

Take stock of what you would like to accomplish and break those goals down into manageable tasks. Envisioning yourself accomplishing these goals can help you feel more relaxed, as can having a concrete plan in place. This can help improve your mood and make you feel more in control of the outcome, which are two key components for minimizing anxiety.

Strategy 5: Self-Care

Take care of yourself by getting plenty of sleep, eating a balanced diet and avoiding alcohol and drugs. Healthy habits make it easier for your body to regulate inflammation, which can reduce feelings of anxiety.  

Foods that contain high amounts of sugar or caffeine can cause anxiety by sending blood sugar out of whack. Make sure to avoid sugary snacks and drink plenty of water; your brain needs it! 

Strategy 6: Acceptance

 

At times, there is nothing you can do about the things that are causing you anxiety. True peace comes from accepting and letting go of the things you can’t control while taking ownership of the things you can.   

By letting go of what you can’t control, you REFRAME the situation and let go of any negative thoughts or feelings that come with it. While this tool may not provide immediate relief, it can help decrease symptoms of anxiety over time by changing your perspective and your reaction to the source of distress.

Strategy 7: Mindfulness

Meditation is the practice of focusing the mind on a single point of reference for an extended period of time. For people suffering from anxiety, meditation works by quieting the mind, releasing negative thought loops that perpetuate stress and increasing your awareness of bodily sensations. 

This forces you to remain in the present moment and takes away from any anxious feelings caused by an overactive “what if” thinking pattern. 

Mindfulness exercises are particularly helpful for people who struggle with intrusive thoughts because it keeps your mind occupied with something else so that your thoughts cannot easily wander down dark alleyways of worry or fantasy.

You can get access to our free mindfulness recording → HERE

Strategy 8: Journaling

Writing is a powerful tool for processing and managing emotions. This can be used in combination with mindfulness exercises, where you focus on what is causing you anxiety and write about it to create distance between yourself and the source of distress. 

In many cases, simply having this negative thought outside of your head provides enough relief that you no longer need to attach importance to it or dwell on it.

Gratitude journaling is another tool in which you reflect upon one or more things that you are genuinely grateful for each day. 

This can include tangible items, such as your favorite outfit, the delicious dinner you ate last night, or your dog’s unwavering loyalty; it can also include intangible aspects of life, like having supportive friends and family members who care about your happiness, or even your ability to read this article on the internet!

The goal of gratitude journaling is to help you recognize that you have plenty of reasons to be happy and optimistic about the future – even if certain aspects of your life are challenging at present.  

In addition, regularly taking time out of your day to focus on the positive things in your life can help bring about feelings of calmness and more satisfaction with what you already have.

Strategy 9: Positive Affirmations

Affirmations are declarations of truth that you make to yourself, often recited daily or before going to bed.  Their purpose is to remind you of your worth, value, and strength – that are frequently overlooked or forgotten amidst the chaos of everyday life. 

By repeating positive affirmations, you can begin to see yourself in a more positive light and learn how to be your own source of encouragement rather than relying on approval from others.

Start by choosing an affirmation that resonates most deeply with you or has some significance in relation to what you’re experiencing at the moment (for example, “I am strong and safe,” “I will breathe through this anxiety” or “This anxiety is only temporary”).   

Replace any negative thoughts about yourself with positive affirmations. For example: If you are feeling nervous about an upcoming interview at school or work, it might make sense for you to replace “I’m going to bomb this” with “I’ve prepared enough – I’ll do great!”. 

If you find yourself thinking, turn those negative thoughts into positive ones such as “I am a capable person who will figure this out” or “I have been through difficult situations before and I can overcome this one too.”

Check out this article for a list of anxiety reducing affirmations → HERE

Strategy 10: Do Something Fun

Switching your mindset from stress to relaxation can be as easy as doing something you enjoy. Spend some time laughing, watching your favorite movie, taking a bath, reading, or playing with your pets. 

Laughter really is the best medicine! Studies have shown that laughing lowers levels of cortisol and other stress hormones. In addition, laughing also improves blood flow throughout the body which brings more oxygen to your brain and reduces feelings of nausea or dizziness associated with panic attacks.

Although engaging in a hobby or activity that you find pleasurable may not seem like the solution to all of your problems, it’s hard to argue with the fact that there are many benefits associated with it. 

Aside from the fact that hobbies help you relax by giving your mind something to focus on, studies have shown that hobbies can also help reduce anxiety levels and improve overall happiness by providing positive experiences that help you get through difficult moments.

Many people have found success using arts and crafts as a way to cope with their anxiety. Other hobbies such as baking, painting, gardening, crocheting, and playing an instrument help to keep the mind grounded in the present.

Strategy 11: Get Out In Nature

As hard as it may be to believe at times, the world is a beautiful place! If you’re having trouble seeing anything positive about your surroundings, try getting outside for some fresh air instead.

Nature has certainly been shown to have many positive effects throughout the mind and body. And while enjoying the outdoors in itself can help reduce anxiety levels, being active in nature  (e.g., walking through a park) can be even more therapeutic.

Strategy 12: Break out of Isolation

It is easy to slip into a negative thought loop when you are alone with your own mind so it’s important to get out of the house and surround yourself with people who care about you. This helps keep those anxious thoughts at bay as your brain refocuses on socializing instead of worrying.

Social support also sends signals to your brain that make it easier for you to be resilient when facing difficult circumstances, so do not hesitate in reaching out if you are feeling overwhelmed or in need of help!

Strategy 13: Face Your Fears

While this may seem counterintuitive, confronting your fears is a powerful tool for managing anxiety.   This can be as simple as trying something new or getting out of your comfort zone.

For example, if public speaking strikes fear in you, take a public speaking class or volunteer to speak at a local event. Over time, repeated exposure to the source of your anxiety will help you learn that it is actually not as bad as you think.

To learn more about facing your fears, check out this great video on how exposure therapy can help you overcome anxiety → HERE

Strategy 14: Challenge Your Thinking

A big part of managing anxiety is challenging the thoughts that perpetuate it.  When you find yourself spiraling down into a cycle of negativity, ask yourself: “Is there another way to look at this?” or “What evidence do I have that supports and disproves my negative thought?” 

Cognitive Distortions are thinking patterns that are not necessarily realistic or logical but become the status quo in your brain when you struggle with anxiety.  

Review this list of common cognitive distortions to learn more about what they are and how to stop them in their tracks. 

  • Jumping to Conclusions: Making assumptions without any evidence or information at all. For example, if your friends didn’t return text messages, you might assume they were mad at you and purposefully ignoring you.
  • Catastrophizing: Overestimating the likelihood that something really awful will take place or that one little incident can completely derail your life, for example “If I don’t get an A+ on this assignment my whole GPA will drop.”
  • All-or-nothing thinking: Black and white, extreme thinking – “I failed. I am a failure”
  • Discounting the Positive:  Ignoring positive experiences and focusing only on the negative aspects of life. For example, if your boss gives you feedback on your performance at work it would be easy to focus only on any areas for improvement instead of taking in and appreciating all the things they liked about your work.
  • Personalization: In this thinking trap, everything always revolves around you whether or not it truly does. For example, if someone cancels plans last minute, you think they did it because they don’t like spending time with you.
  • Should Statements: You hold yourself and others to a very high standard, which leaves little room for mistakes or imperfections. In addition, this way of thinking can make you feel resentful when you fail to live up to the standards that you set for yourself and others.

Strategy 15: See a Therapist

Therapy is an invaluable tool in the process of managing and overcoming anxiety. Working with an experienced therapist can provide you with the support and guidance you need to identify your triggers and develop new coping skills to better manage anxious thoughts and improve your everyday life.

Therapy isn’t always easy but it is one of the best ways to build the self-confidence and emotional strength needed to break free from anxious thoughts and feelings.

If you think you may have anxiety find out by taking our free anxiety questionnaire → HERE

That brings us to the end of 15 Powerful Tools to Manage Anxiety.

Which tool did you find most helpful? Let us know in the comments!

TOP 9 Anxiety and Stress Management Apps

Like everyone else, marketers are having a hard time right now due to the state of uncertainty and anxiety. But we manage. :) We interviewed our colleagues at UIS and CoMagic and found out which stress-relieving apps they use. Catch our selection of services that will help you calm down and relax.


1. Calm

The application with the speaking name Calm will help to relax even the most anxious person. It is based on meditation practice. The application includes dozens of audio tracks with music, nature sounds, meditations. Duration - any that allows you to use the application during the day, making pleasant breaks for rest, and in the morning / evening. For example, there is a practice for going to bed.

2. Happify

This app helps you stop thinking negatively and become more empathetic to your emotions. Simple exercises disguised as games teach you to look at the world more positively and become happier as a result.

The system is thought out on the basis of research in the field of Psychology of Happiness. As a result of simple training, users around the world, if they do not turn into absolute happy ones, then at least begin to look at everything that happens in their lives more calmly and optimistically.


3. Headspace: Mindful Meditation

The creator of this app is Buddhist monk Andy Puddicombe. Originally from England, he developed an early interest in meditation while practicing Kung Fu. Then, having survived the crisis associated with the loss of loved ones, Andy went to a Buddhist monastery. After several years of practice, he nevertheless abandoned the quiet monastic life for the sake of his main goal - to popularize meditation. To do this, Andy came to America and, together with Rich Pearson, launched Headspace, an application for meditation. Today, millions of people use it.

What makes Headspace different from other similar apps? It allows you to choose your way of meditation - technique and time - what will work for you. So, even if you only have 10 minutes a day, it may be enough to start practicing introspection (as mindfulness meditation is also called) and become calmer and happier every day because of it.


4. How Are You?

The How Are You app doesn't just ask how you are doing, as you might first think. It allows you to track your mental state throughout the day, as well as write comments for each answer. It is very convenient to subsequently view the calendar of your moods, analyze the graph of changes, explore what events or situations preceded this or mood, draw conclusions and deliberately reduce stress levels.

5.7 Cups - anxiety and stress chat


Not only to meditate, but also to talk allow applications to deal with stress. For example, 7 Cups is an ideal "hot line" for a modern person. In it you will find a chat to discuss any problem: from prolonged depression to just a bad mood due to increased anxiety. Also in the application you will find specific exercises to develop positive thinking or information with steps to solve a particular life task.


6. Universal Breathing - Pranayama Free

This application, the purpose of which is to teach you how to breathe correctly, measuredly, was developed based on the knowledge of experienced yogis. Its main idea is that with the normalization of inhalation and exhalation in the body, the production of cortisol, the stress hormone, stops. As a result, we calm down on a physiological level, which inevitably leads to a more relaxed and positive overall state.

Using Universal Breathing is as simple as possible: you open the application and immediately start a first level pranayama session. Indeed, why waste time :)

7. I am – Daily Affirmations

To deal with stress, all means are good. This service offers to remove anxiety with the help of affirmations - repeated repetitions of positive beliefs about yourself or the world. I am - Daily Affirmations offers you to set soothing wallpapers on your smartphone with the right affirmations, which will allow you to surround you with the right positive thoughts. Repeat these words every time you see the screen of your smartphone and become less anxious and happier.

8. Fabulous – Daily Routine Planner

The Fabulous project was born in the Behavioral Economics Lab at Duke University. Its idea is simple - harmonize your mental state with the help of daily good habits. The service will offer simple actions, by performing which you will become calmer day by day. For example - morning exercises, meditation, reading, etc. morning workout, walking, meditation, reading books. What we like about Fabolous is the encouraging comments and handy progress analysis.


9. Serotonin

Most of the really worthwhile stress reduction apps are in English, so the Russian-language Serotonin app is the icing on the cake today, that is, in our selection. The service has as many as 4 blocks:

  • Sleep - audio tracks for going to bed;

  • Meditations are of several kinds;

  • Motivation - useful tips;

  • Breathing - practice with a timer.

All classes are easily customized for you - you can choose the time for practice, the voice of the coach, background music, etc.


Anxiety is not just an unpleasant feeling. This is also an extremely unhealthy experience for our body. When you are stressed, your body is in fight or flight mode. In other words, you are mobilizing all your forces to defeat the enemy - real or potential. At the same time, this condition is very exhausting to your health: it worsens both the physical (the immune system is weakening) and the psychological state. In general, nothing good. So, stop enduring it. :) Smartphone in hand and start working with anxiety right now. Become calmer, healthier and happier.

(2)

5/5

Rate the article

Share with friends

How to cope with anxiety: 7 ways to help ‹ GO Blog

Anxiety is an emotional state caused by the expectation of danger or threat. While fear is a basic human emotion associated with the instinct of self-preservation, and appears directly at the moment of danger.

The terms "fear" and "anxiety" are not synonymous, but they can be used interchangeably when it comes to situational anxiety (state at a given moment in time).

In the normal state, the self-preservation function encourages action, but there are also moments of apathy when anxiety intensifies.

We will tell you how to cope with anxiety on your own and determine its level in yourself.

Read more: "9 Proven Ways to Beat Procrastination"

How to Measure Anxiety

American psychologist Charles Spielberger studied more than 117 signs of human anxiety and created a scale to determine its level. His "assessment of the level of anxiety" is divided into situational and personal. Situational is responsible for the state at a given moment in time and the influence of external circumstances - for example, self-isolation. Personal - character of a person.

To determine "your level" of anxiety, you can take a test of 40 short questions.

What causes anxiety

The main factors that provoke increased anxiety in us are loneliness, problems at work, problems in relationships, health, environment and all sorts of conflicts.

Our lifestyle also has a great influence. For example, we are more likely to experience anxiety states if we are constantly on the phone or watching the news on TV. Digital progress has certainly made our life faster and better, but we pay for this comfort with an additional level of stress, new fears and complexes due to the large flow of news.

Try to minimize the number of hours spent on the Internet. Go outdoors, read, do yoga, cook, cross-stitch, build LEGOs – there are so many more options than you might think.

Stages of anxiety

– Waiting alarm. People who foresee the most unfavorable of all possible situations suffer. Such anxiety can appear at certain moments or haunt a person constantly.

– Anxiety in the form of phobias is associated with certain situations and objects. For example, fear of loneliness, spiders or darkness. May be a clinical case if expressed in the form of panic attacks.

- Neurotic anxiety. This form of anxiety is the most serious and is found in many psychological diseases: hysterical, schizoid. There is a pathological level of fear here that destroys a person's mental health.

Now the entire planet is in fear of waiting because of the incessant flow of news and uncertainty. "Fear of waiting" or "free fear" is formed due to the information flow in which we are constantly immersed. The tools that help to cope with situational anxiety, which has no connection with clinical cases, will be described below.

False alarm

Feelings of fear are easily confused, so before we talk about how to get rid of anxiety, we will learn how to identify it.

There are situations when we do not distinguish between emotions, so the so-called "false alarm" is formed. In this case, the first thing psychologists can advise is to learn how to isolate anxiety from a large stream of other emotions. Observe for yourself - in what situations you are overcome by anxiety. Divide these situations into those in which anxiety is justified and those where it is not.

For example, you are on a bus and as you approach the bus stop, you are overtaken by a feeling of anxiety. On the one hand, this may be due to fear that you will miss your stop, or a sense of shame, as it is embarrassing to ask the driver to stop the car.

Or another example - you want to ask a question to the teacher in the class, but you are afraid to raise your hand. This fear may arise from self-doubt and the expectation that classmates will laugh at you.

Sometimes anxiety is born from some other feelings, such as shame or insecurity. Realizing this and overcoming it, you no longer have a reason for concern, and with it the state of anxiety disappears.

Read more: “How to stop being shy and get rid of the language barrier”

How to cope with anxiety

Details. Detail an alarm often due to uncertainty in the actions and feelings. First, try to find out what causes anxiety. For example, you are worried about being fired from your job. Before you panic, look at the facts: look at the state of the market and the area in which your company operates, evaluate the workload at work now and predict the task plan for the next month. And this applies not only to work, but to any area in which you feel anxiety.

Usually this exercise helps to see the true picture. If you understand that while everything is under control, you can exhale, if not, proceed to your detailing. Write out a detailed plan of action that will help you avoid uncertainty and tell you how to act in any situation:

  1. Write down what skills you have and where they can be useful. For example, being an illustrator or photoshop, having a driver's license and owning a car, copywriting skills, etc.

  2. Edit your resume and prepare some cover letters to the employer about yourself.

  3. Decide on your own range of services, from the most preferred activities to the least interesting.

  4. Leave a list of potential employers to whom you can offer your services. The bigger, the better.

  5. Write to them!

The work done will help you feel more confident and have a plan to get out of a crisis situation.

Sometimes anxiety arises from the belief that we will not cope with this or that action. A visual picture of your skills will always help to believe in yourself. When you read your list, you will realize that you can achieve a lot, despite the circumstances.

Read more: “4 things on your resume that will help the employer to choose you”

Use exposure therapy

A complex combination of words with a simple meaning - a face-to-face meeting with your problem. It is important to understand that this is NOT a fight against a problem. The point is to acknowledge the existence of anxiety, not to get rid of it completely.

Don't ignore things that make you feel anxious. For example, to move up the career ladder, you need to learn English, but you haven’t opened your textbook for three days and you constantly scold yourself for it. This lowers your self-esteem and increases your anxiety about your success at work and in life.

Give yourself a full day of rest without worries or self-criticism. Imagine that this is an official vacation or vacation. And then gradually get down to business: you can start with one page of English text per day or a five-minute video. Gradually, you will accustom your body to the load and develop a habit.

Keep a sleep schedule

It is during sleep that growth hormone is produced, which is responsible for the restoration of our body, including the nervous system. Especially if we go to bed before 12 o'clock at night.

The BBC TV program Trust Me I'm a Doctor, in collaboration with the University of Oxford, did a little experiment on the effect of sleep on our psychological state. The study involved people who are distinguished by "strong sleep". During the experiment, the participants were given conditions: in the first three nights they had to sleep for 8 hours, which is the norm, and the next three nights - for 4 hours. Every day, the subjects answered questions that helped determine changes in their psychological state, behavior and emotions. The results showed that after two nights of sleep deprivation, negative emotions began to predominate in the subjects, as well as an increase in distrust of others and aggression.

The study also shows that insomnia is not always the result of mental disorders, sometimes it is lack of sleep that provokes the appearance of psychological problems.

Switch

It is important to periodically switch from one activity to another - for example, from physical activity to mental activity. So, when you go in for sports, there is a restoration of brain functions due to the supply of oxygen. And with mental stress, the muscular system is restored by improving blood flow in the muscles.

A simple alternation of work and study with a small amount of physical activity will improve the functioning of the body's metabolic processes, and at the same time accelerate the restoration of the nervous system, contributing to its strengthening.

Meditate and breathe

Meditation and breathing are sure helpers in overcoming psychological instability. A Johns Hopkins University study found a relationship between meditation practice and reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety. The team of researchers found that the effect of meditation is comparable to the effect of depressants - in this case, being a more useful solution to the problem, as it does not cause side effects. Meditation also helps to switch the work of the brain and focus on yourself, and not on the "noise" around.

Breathing techniques are equally beneficial: they improve blood circulation and help to speed up the overall metabolism.

Learn more