How to deal with Stress & Anxiety
Relax. You deserve it, it’s good for you, and it takes less time than you think. During anxiety, it is difficult to relax because your mind and body both are affected by the anxiety feeling.
You don’t need a spa weekend or a retreat. You just need to learn the technique to cope up with all types of anxiety.
Common anxiety disorders
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) – A person feels anxious on most days regardless of what might be happening around them.
Social phobia – A person has intense fear of being criticized, embarrassed or humiliated, enough to avoid speaking publicly, eating in public, or being assertive at work.
Specific phobias – A person feels a strong enough fear for a particular object or situation, such as getting an injection or flying, that they go to great lengths to avoid it.
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) – A person has recurrent and persistent thoughts, images or impulses that are intrusive and unwanted. Obsessed, they perform repetitive and ritualistic actions that can be excessive, time-consuming and distressing.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – A person experiences anxiety following a traumatic event, such as an assault, accident, death or disaster. Symptoms can include difficulty relaxing and avoidance of anything related to the event, flashbacks and upsetting dreams.
Panic disorder – A person who experiences panic attacks or overwhelming feelings of fear when faced with certain situations. Symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness and excessive perspiration.
Workplace anxiety – A person develops fears, phobias, or hypochondriac anxieties specifically regarding working conditions, interacting with colleagues and superiors, and fears of inadequacy or judgement.
Workplace anxiety is a learnt response to stress and can be triggered from a range of factors, with some cases more severe and debilitating than others. While most people experience some levels of stress in the workplace, workplace anxiety differs in that it goes beyond the body’s natural response to fear.
It’s important to distinguish between healthy, productive levels of stress and that of anxiety, which can impinge on an individual’s mental focus, satisfaction, motivation, and ability to carry out their work duties. Common work anxieties include:
When these anxieties are not addressed, they can worsen and cause serious implications to both emotional wellbeing and workplace performance. Ignoring the warning signs can lead to bigger problems, such as missed opportunities, cut work hours, salary reduction, and even job loss.
Stress in the workplace and recognizing the signs of anxiety
Recognizing the signs of workplace anxiety is the first step in making improvements to your mental health.
Signs and symptoms to look for include:
Primary solutions for the anxiety that can work are listed below, but when you are top of the anxiety level, they may not work and you would have to seek some psychology doctor.
Meditate
It’s simple. Sit up straight with both feet on the floor. Close your eyes. Focus your attention on reciting out loud or silently -a positive mantra such as “I feel at peace” or “I love myself.” Place one hand on your belly to sync the mantra with your breaths. Let any distracting thoughts float by like clouds.
Breathe Deeply
Take a 5-minute break and focus on your breathing. Sit up straight, eyes closed, with a hand on your belly. Slowly inhale through your nose, feeling the breath start in your abdomen and work its way to the top of your head. Reverse the process as you exhale through your mouth.
Be Present
Slow down.
“Take 5 minutes and focus on only one behavior with awareness,” Tutin says. Notice how the air feels on your face when you’re walking and how your feet feel hitting the ground. Enjoy the texture and taste of each bite of food.
When you spend time in the moment and focus on your senses, you should feel less tense.
Reach Out
Your social network is one of your best tools for handling stress. Talk to others -preferably face to face, or at least on the phone. Share what’s going on. You can get a fresh perspective while keeping your connection strong.
Tune In to Your Body
Mentally scan your body to get a sense of how stress affects it each day. Lie on your back, or sit with your feet on the floor. Start at your toes and work your way up to your scalp, noticing how your body feels.
