Dec 5, 2016
Becky and Diana explore the frustrating sensation of anxiety and share strategies on how to cope with it when it strikes. They also discuss the difference between normal anxiety and anxiety disorders.
- Decide if your anxiety is being caused by a real situation or a perceived expectation.
- Uncertainty is one of the biggest factors causing anxiety.
- To lower your anxiety level, assess what is most important and drop the rest.
- Anxiety is one of the most contagious negative emotions.
- The desire to be in control is another factor that contributes to anxiety.
- The Cycle of Anxiety:
- Calm > Anxiety Activator > Perceived Danger > Brain Signals Fight or Flight > Body Prepares > Perceived Danger. This cycle continues until it is interrupted.
- Strategies for battling anxiety include: reworking anxiety provoking thoughts and writing them down, calming self-talk, and grounding.
- Grounding is a strategy where
you re-direct your 5 senses to break the anxiety cycle.
- Look around you and
- Describe 5 things you can see right now.
- Describe 4 things you can touch right now.
- Describe 3 things you can hear, or describe your favorite 3 sounds.
- Describe 2 things you can smell right now or that you like to smell.
- Describe 1 thing you can taste right now or that you like to taste.
- We assign importance to things and then react to that importance. The things are not important on their own.
- Anxiety Disorders differ from typical anxiety because they create a constant anxiety loop and need interventions to stop them.
- Occasional anxiety is usually situational, and strategies can be taught to cope with the anxiety when it arises.
- The actions you take to deal with your anxiety depend on your personality.
- Look around you and
