How to cope with anxiety
You arrived here because you think you have a problem with anxiety, and you’re looking for help. You want to know the best way to cope, so you can stop suffering and begin living your life more freely. There’s no best way to cope with anxiety, but there are many effective ways, depending on how it’s showing up in your life. Maybe you’ve tried some of them, and maybe you’re here because you don’t know where to start. I’m a counselor in Missoula, MT, and I work with people like you to help them break free from anxiety.
What does anxiety feel like?
Anxiety can feel different from one person to the next. For some people, it’s physical. For others, anxiety is about getting caught up in their thoughts. Many people might not even notice that those thoughts and feelings are feeding each other.
If you pay attention to your body, anxiety might show up as an increased heartrate, trembling hands, fidgetiness (like shaking your leg), or feeling sick to your stomach. Your face might turn red and feel flushed, or your chest might feel tight. You could be holding your shoulders up towards your ears. These aren’t all of the ways anxiety can manifest, but they are some of the more common ones. On the other hand, if you bounce your leg up and down (or experience any of these symptoms in isolation or infrequently), that along doesn’t mean you have an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety is sometimes not physical at all. Many people use words like “ruminating,” “overthinking,” and “worrying all the time” to describe their thoughts. If this is you, especially if you have a hard time focusing on what you are doing, where you are, or who you are with, you might be dealing with some level of anxiety.
Do I have to do therapy to cope with my anxiety?
If you’re starting from ground zero, and you haven’t consistently used tools or support to help with your anxiety, you might benefit from approaches that don’t require you to get therapy or counseling. These include practicing skills to help you relax, to be in the present moment, or to shift your attention to something aside than your thoughts. There are books, workbooks, and apps that help people with anxiety and are written or created by researchers and therapists. And sometimes it is helpful to talk with your support system about your fears and your feelings.
Some people use medication to manage anxiety. That choice is personal and should be made with the guidance of a medical provider (such as your general practitioner or a psychiatrist). It is often recommended that a person try a combination of medication and therapy.
If your anxiety is showing up too much to handle it alone, or if you’ve tried different things with no success, maybe you want to take a different approach. That may mean it’s time to reach out to a therapist to see how they might help you.
What types of therapy are effective for anxiety management?
When you search in Google or another search engine for different types of therapy, you might see the same approaches over and over. CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is one of the more common approaches to therapy, and it has been studied and found effective with a variety of mental health concerns, including anxiety. Still, it is far from the only evidence-based and effective approach to anxiety.
Other approaches that are just as valid and effective include, but are not limited to, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and exposure therapy. You don’t have to remember the names of all the approaches that show up on an internet search. The most important thing is that you find a therapist who you feel comfortable with and who can give you specific examples of what you will gain from working with them.
If you were to ask me my approach, I would tell you that I use ACT, but I also pull from various approaches and techniques that might work well for different clients. The name of my approach is not as important as your understanding that I will help you learn skills to respond more effectively to your anxiety so that you can live fully instead of letting anxiety control your life. You can make choices not based on fear, but based on what matters to you.
Can I ever live a normal life with anxiety?
Yes! Aside from the fact that I’m not really sure what a normal life is, I understand what you mean. Anxiety doesn’t have to control your life. Some anxious feelings are a normal part of being human. We evolved to recognize and anticipate danger so that we can keep ourselves safe and survive. The problem is that sometimes our body and parts of our mind think we’re in real danger, when the truth is that we’re safe; we just don’t feel that way.
You can learn to recognize the difference between danger and fear. You can learn how to take the power out of rumination and disempowering thoughts. You can learn how to respond to those anxious feelings in your body without reacting impulsively or shutting down.
Are you ready to free yourself from anxiety?
Call me for counseling in Missoula, MT at (406) 924-3445 or fill out my contact form to receive a free 15-minute consultation. We can talk about how I might help you and get an idea of whether we might be a good fit. You deserve to live a life where fear and hesitation don’t hold you back from peace, meaning and joy.