Using coping skills to manage anxiety
One of the leading reasons people seek out therapy is for help managing anxiety symptoms. If you are one of the 40+ million Americans with anxiety, learning to cope with your symptoms in a healthy way is often the first step toward living the life you want. Here are some of the “go to” techniques that work for a large number of individuals. When you meet with your therapist, you can discuss which worked for you and use them as a launching pad for creating a personalized toolbox of coping skills together!
Coping skills can be categorized into three “buckets”; behavioral activation (i.e. doing things), distraction (i.e. shifting your attention to something else), and mindfulness (i.e. paying attention to the present moment and observing your thoughts and feelings without judgment). For some people, using just one of these skills can help reduce anxiety enough that they feel functional again, however many people need to use a combination of skills from each of these buckets.
Behavioral Activation
Get some exercise, like going for a walk, run, doing yoga or playing basketball. Moving our bodies can help us release adrenaline rather than keeping it pent up.
“Shock the system” by doing something like splashing cold water on your face, doing jumping jacks, turning on the AC or stepping outside.
Take a break by walking away for a few minutes. This can help ground us, and gives us the space to practice other coping skills such as deep breathing.
Distraction
Use imagery to think of your happy place, taking note of everything about the place using all of your senses. How does it look, feel, sound, taste and smell?
Read something backwards, like a book or a poster on the wall. For instance, “A dog chases a ball” would be “ball a chases dog a.” This exercise is challenging and meaningless enough that it distracts you from your own thoughts.
Mindfulness
Engage in deep breathing, using a technique like “box breathing” (breathing in for four seconds, holding your breath for four second, exhaling for four seconds, and pausing for four seconds before repeating) or finger breathing (breathe in as you trace up the outside of your thumb, and breathe out as you trace down. Repeat for all five fingers).
Meditate by sitting and focusing your attention on the act of breathing. If your mind begins to wander, simply re-focus on your breath. You can choose a word to repeat to yourself to help you stay focused.
Which of these coping skills worked best for you? If none of them are cutting it, remember that change is a process. Recognize the progress you’ve already made, however small. Reading this blog post was a huge first step!
As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions about this post. You can reach out to us via email, our online form or at 804-372-3975. If you are ready to consider mental health treatment, we would be happy to connect you with the right therapist for you.