Stress And Anxiety Management Techniques
In the short-term, stress can help us defend ourselves from danger and it can motivate us to accomplish tasks. However, chronic stress can lead to mental and physical health problems, including anxiety and high blood pressure.
Chronic stress is very common, with 77% of people surveyed stating that stress impacts their physical health, and 73% stating it impacts their mental health. There are several evidence-based techniques that are shown to reduce stress and anxiety, including meditation, exercise, deep breathing, and tapping for anxiety. If you’re still experiencing overwhelming stress or anxiety, a therapist can help.
Are Stress And Anxiety The Same Thing?
Stress and anxiety are not the same thing, though they are similar. Stress is an emotional response that is often triggered by something external (such as a deadline at school or work, or discrimination), whereas anxiety is an emotional response characterized by worrying that won’t go away even if a stressor is not present.
Symptoms of stress include:
High blood pressure
General body aches or pain
Weakened immune function
Chronic stress can impact both physical and mental health, contributing to the development of anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
Symptoms of anxiety include:
Fatigue or exhaustion
Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
Oftentimes, anxiety is a short-term response that is related to an external stressor. However, anxiety is sometimes severe or persistent when the stressor is no longer present. If you’re experience excessive worrying that will not go away, it is possible you may have an anxiety disorder. Scheduling an appointment with a medical professional is a good first step. Your doctor can conduct an evaluation to rule out other conditions and provide you with a diagnosis.
Healthy Ways To Manage Stress And Anxiety
Research demonstrates that stress and mild anxiety both respond well to healthy lifestyle adaptations and coping mechanisms. You can try using some of the following techniques as a “spot treatment” when you’re feeling stressed, or you can try incorporating some of them into your daily routine.
A 2018 study found that yoga can effectively reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. In addition to the physical health benefits of yoga, it can encourage mindfulness, positive thoughts, self-awareness, and body-connectedness. Additionally, many people find yoga increases their self-esteem and self-confidence.
Anyone can practice meditation, regardless of physical fitness or ability. It can be a good free alternative to yoga, and it can be practiced whenever you feel stressed or anxious. Meditation can effectively reduce stress and encourage deep relaxation, which is shown to improve physical and mental health. People who practice meditation often experience a new perspective, improved self-awareness and ability to stay present, more positive thinking, increased patience, and better sleep quality.
Talk With Loved Ones
Studies show that social support improves our physical and mental health and makes us more resilient to stress. In addition to offering help and advice, loved ones can improve your self-esteem and make it easier to handle stress on your own.
Deep breathing is an effective technique to quickly reduce tension and stress by activating the vagus nerve. There are many types of deep breathing exercises, but you may want to start with belly breathing.
Try it: Sit down, lean forward, and prop your elbows on your knees, and then breathe normally. This is the sensation of breathing from your belly (rather than your chest), and you can practice a few slow, deep breaths in this position whenever you feel stressed.
Light, moderate, and vigorous exercise can all be helpful stress-management tools. In addition to releasing endorphins that feel good, exercise can provide a healthy distraction from excessive worrying. Long, repetitive exercise (such as walking, jogging, swimming, or biking), can act as an active form of meditation, and it can improve your self-esteem and mood.
To stay consistent with an exercise routine, Mayo Clinic recommends setting SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-limited), recruiting a friend to exercise with you, trying different exercises, or breaking up you day with small bursts of exercise.
Establish A Sleep Routine
Stress and anxiety can harm sleep quality. Establishing a routine sleep schedule (even on weekends), avoiding excessive caffeine and alcohol use, using blackout curtains, avoiding electronics before bed, getting enough exercise, and engaging in relaxation techniques (like deep breathing, yoga, and meditation) can all help improve your sleep quality.
Music therapy for stress management is one popular way to cope with a stressful situation. Listening to music you enjoy can help relieve stress, however, to be effective it’s important that you’re present and actively listening to the music.
Practice Positive Self-Talk
Negative self-talk (such as blame, magnifying, and polarizing) can make symptoms of anxiety and depression worse. Positive self-talk, however, can reduce stress and general pain, and improve physical health, self-esteem, and life satisfaction.
You can start to shift negative self-talk to positive self-talk by identifying harmful thoughts and asking yourself if you would say that to someone else.
An example of negative self-talk might be: “I shouldn’t try that because I probably won’t be good at it.”
A more positive thought might be: “I haven’t tried this before, but this could be a good opportunity to learn from others.”
Get Help From A Professional
If your stress and anxiety is not resolved with self-help strategies, you might want to consider reaching out to a licensed mental health professional. They can work with you to identify stressors and formulate a plan to address your symptoms.
Studies show that one type of talk therapy, called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), is very effective at addressing the symptoms of anxiety disorders and general stress. During CBT sessions, therapists help clients identify and reframe unhelpful automatic thoughts, which can improve feelings and behaviors. The goal of CBT therapy is to provide you with the tools you need to manage your symptoms in a healthy way on your own.
Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy can be a good alternative to traditional in-person therapy. A 2018 study on chronic stress found that online CBT is effective at reducing symptoms of stress. In a separate study, researchers found that online CBT can effectively reduce generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms.
For people with busy schedules, online CBT can be more convenient than in-person therapy. And sites like BetterHelp offer 24/7 in-app messaging, so you can reach out to your therapist whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Most people encounter stress and anxiety in their daily lives. In the short-term, these emotional responses can help you navigate potentially dangerous situations, and they can be good motivators. However, chronic stress and anxiety can lead to adverse physical and mental health outcomes.
There are several evidence-based strategies that can reduce stress and anxiety, including deep breathing, yoga, meditation, maintaining social support, exercising, getting enough sleep, and listening to music. If you cannot reduce your stress on your own, you may want to consider trying therapy. Research shows that online cognitive behavioral therapy is effective at addressing chronic stress and anxiety, and many people find it more convenient than in-person therapy.
Other Commonly Asked Questions
What are the five stress management techniques?
- Deep Breathing: Taking a deep breath is a great way to manage stress and anxiety in your life. Deep breathing brings nearly instant stress relief, since it can help relieve anxiety symptoms by bringing down your heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure. Deep breathing also alleviates muscle tension. By easing these physical symptoms of stress and anxiety, deep breathing sends messages to your mind to relax. It can also relieve stress by giving you a moment to reflect before you react.
- Healthy Diet: Getting the right vitamins and macronutrients is a key to living a life without chronic stress. It is one of the more effective methods for managing both the physical symptoms and mental implications of stress and anxiety. Managing stress in your body is easier when you stick to healthy diet. Plus, foods that are high in fat and sugar can cause extra strain on your body and mind, which could add to the existing effects of anxiety.
- Getting Enough Sleep: Sleep is a crucial ingredient for a healthy sympathetic nervous system. This is the system of nerves that sends messages from your brain to your whole body. When you have better control over these messages – that is, when the nervous system is sending clear messages – you can better assess and manage stress and anxiety. You can improve sleep schedule by cutting back on coffee, energy drinks, and alcohol. Plus, you can try making a schedule to help standardize your sleeping schedule.
- Doing Plenty of Exercise: Exercise is a great way to reduce the symptoms of anxiety in both the short term and the long term. In the moment, physical activity feels good and helps with managing stress. It can help you feel in control of your body and mind, which is a great form of stress management. Regular exercise is a healthy way to ward off anxiety and reduce stress. It can also provide a boost to your self esteem and help improve your overall mental health over time.
- Strong Social Connections: Turning to others in your personal life for help and social support is one of the healthy ways for reducing stress and anxiety. Just talking through the stressors and triggers can be a healthy way to reduce stress and put those stressors into perspective.
What are 3 strategies to reduce stress anxiety that you can do at home?
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation: With this exercise, you focus on different muscle groups one by one. As you employ abdominal breathing, relax each of these muscle groups. Feel each muscle in your body, and breathe out any stress that is stored in that muscle. Start with your head and scan all the way down to your toes, being careful to hit every part of your body. This is a great way to start or finish a self care routine, and it’s perfect to relieve stress and muscle tension.
- Meditation: This is a great way to clear your mind of any racing thoughts and focus on deep rest and relaxation. For short periods of time, practice spending time alone with your thoughts, accepting everything that comes with a non-judgmental attitude.
- Mindfulness Exercises: With these exercises, you can accept and appreciate the physical sensations of the world around you. Focus on what you can hear, see, taste, smell, and touch in the present moment. Let those sensory experiences be an anchor that holds you to the here and now. This can be a great way to reduce stress and improve your overall mental well being.
What is the most effective stress management strategy?
The most effective stress management strategy is deep breathing, especially if you find you need an immediate way for reducing stress. It’s an effective form of anxiety management because deep breathing impacts your whole body as well as your mind. You get more oxygen, which can help you focus and think more clearly. Your body slows down and relaxes, which can also send messages to your brain to reduce stress levels. Taking a deep breath can reduce stress in a short time. And making a habit of deep breathing can help reduce stress in the long term and contribute to your overall mental well being, too.
How can I stop my anxiety?
If you are suffering from a generalized anxiety disorder, including panic attacks and abnormally high stress levels, then you should talk to a mental health professional. These people deal with anxiety disorders all the time, and they are specially trained to help people deal with their anxiety disorder. If your anxiety disorder also includes a high fear or social phobia, there are specialists who can help with that, too.
Talking to a therapist is a great way to learn more anxiety management techniques that can help bring your stress levels down and keep them down. They can also offer insights into self care, and help you create a to do list that can guide you through improvement and recovery. If you suffer a panic attack, a therapist or psychologist is the professional who will be able to understand and treat the problem at the source.
Therapy for stress and anxiety management doesn’t happen overnight, though. The treatment will be likely take several months. But this process is worth overcoming your anxiety and fear!
Which technique is an example of healthy stress?
The most common healthy stress example is the fight or flight instinct. This is a built-in response that humans employ when their bodies release stress hormones. Our ancestors were spending time in wild and dangerous places, so they needed this stress to motivate them to survive. When their bodies sensed something harmful or dangerous, their minds responded. The high stress levels from their environment is what ultimately lead to their survival and the rise of our species.
These days, we are constantly bombarded with input from our environments, too. However, most of it isn’t harmful or life threatening, even though it causes us to experience anxiety. Think about your stress levels when you’re walking through a dark and unfamiliar hallway: your senses are heightened and you feel jumpy and stressed. That’s probably for the best, because you don’t know if there’s something lurking around the corner that can harm you. Here, your stress response matches your situation.
On the other hand, think of walking through the well-lit and familiar corridor at work. You see the people that you know, and it’s a normal day at the office. However, you might still feel a stress response. You might be wondering if your coworkers are thinking bad things about you, or you might be nervous about what the next meeting might hold. These are not immediate threats to your personal safety, but they still cause a stress response. This is an example where you don’t experience a healthy anxiety; the response is incongruent to the perceived daily life threat.
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