Knowing what tools are available is a good first step when it comes to dealing with anxiety, or helping someone in your life work through theirs. Mental Health First Aid not only teaches you how to identify an anxiety disorder, but also where to go for help and what you can do to manage anxiety with self-care.

You can BeTheDifference for someone living with anxiety. Find out more by registering for a Mental Health First Aid course near you. Get the latest MHFA blogs, news and updates delivered directly to your inbox so you never miss a post.

Anxiety , Be The Difference , News , Self-Care. By Mental Health First Aid USA on July 16, Name Required First Last. Email Required. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Anxiety can be brought on by different situations or experiences.

Anxiety can be an understandable response to a stressful event in your life, for example:. Sometimes it can be difficult to know what is making you anxious.

This can be upsetting or stressful. If you learn to recognise what is making you anxious, it can help you deal with the uncertainty. Anxiety can also be part of stress. There are many things you can try to help you learn how to manage feelings of anxiety. Every day, for at least 2 weeks, make a note of how you are feeling at different times of the day.

This will help you see what situations are most likely to make you anxious. Think of anything you might be able to do to make these situations easier.

Make a list of the things you are anxious about. If you think there are things you can do to help with them, write a plan. If there are things you can do, do them as soon as possible or set a time for when you can. Start with the small or easiest ones first.

Gradually build up to facing your bigger problems or fears. If the anxiety returns, remind yourself that you have either taken action or have a plan in place.

If you don't stick to your plan, don't be too disappointed. Focus on small achievements. Screen time is the time you spend looking at a device such as a phone, tablet, computer, games console or TV. Screen time can take up time that could be spent outdoors, socialising or being physically active.

It can also expose you to stress, bullying or negativity through social media. Try 15 to 30 minutes each day to start with. When the time is up, focus your thoughts on other things until tomorrow. Negative thought patterns can make anxiety worse. They can lead to unhelpful feelings and actions.

Try to change a negative thought for a more helpful one. Sometimes you will be able to, but it is OK if you cannot. Change your thinking and improve your mental health.

If you feel anxious, it can help to talk to a friend or family member about how you feel. Telling someone about how you are feeling can help to make things clearer for you. It can help you understand why you are feeling anxious and to get help with how to manage it.

How to talk to someone about what's troubling you. Breathing exercises can help your mind and body get control of a difficult situation.

They only take a few minutes to do and can help you manage strong emotions and reduce stress. Relaxation tips and breathing exercises.

Mindfulness teaches you to become aware of the present moment. This helps you enjoy things more. Instead, you notice your thoughts, feelings and sensations.

How to practice mindfulness. Anxiety can make you feel more tired than usual. It can also make it more difficult to get or stay asleep. Sleep is important for mental health. It helps you to think clearly and gives you the energy to deal with problems.

Most people need 5 to 9 hours sleep a night. More than 7 hours is recommended for adults. The ideal amount is 8 hours, but everyone's different. Tips for better sleep. What you eat can make a difference to your mental health.

A diet rich in foods such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds can boost your energy and mental health. Physical activity can help you sleep, relax and feel better. It can help reduce stress and burn off anxious energy.

It can also be a good way to meet people and get more involved in your community. Any activity is useful, as long as it is suited to your ability and you do enough of it. Find something that you enjoy doing. This will help keep you motivated to do it every day.

Physical activity and your mental health. Alcohol affects your mental health and can make anxiety worse in the long-term. Some people call the effects of alcohol the next day ' the fear '.

This is when you feel you have done yourself some lasting damage after a night of drinking. Using alcohol to cope with difficult feelings can create long-term problems, including addiction.

Tips for drinking less. Get Clear Fear from the App Store. Get Clear Fear from Google Play. A free app that helps you reduce worry, stress and panic.

It is based on cognitive behavioural therapy CBT. Get Mindshift from the App Store. Get Mindshift from Google Play. Get Headspace from the App Store. Get Headspace from Google Play. Five videos that help you learn more about mindfulness, gratitude, self-care and resilience.

Watch the Minding Your Wellbeing Programme videos. For many people, stress can include or be linked to feelings of anxiety or low mood.

Then you can decide together if it is right for you. Taking medicine and going to talk therapy can get you started on the road to feeling better. Taking care of your body and relationships can help improve your condition. Here are some helpful tips:. If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call or text or chat lifeline.

You can also call TALK. You can also call or the local emergency number or go to the hospital emergency room. DO NOT delay. If someone you know has attempted suicide, call or the local emergency number right away. DO NOT leave the person alone, even after you have called for help.

American Psychiatric Association website. Anxiety disorders: what are anxiety disorders? Updated June Accessed June 15, Barnhill JW, Jongerden L, Bogels S, et al. Anxiety disorders American Psychiatric Association.

In: Barnhill JW, ed. D iagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing; chap 5. Glass SP, Pollack M H, Otto MW, Wittmann CW, Rosenbaum JF.

Anxious patients. In: Stern TA, Freudenreich O, Smith FA, Fricchione GL, Rosenbaum JF, eds. Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of General Hospital Psychiatry. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap Lee RA. In: Rakel D, Minichiello VJ, eds. Integrative Medicine.

Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap 7. Wecker L, Sanchez DL, Currier GW. Drug therapy for depression and anxiety. In: Wecker L, Taylor DA, Theobald RJ, eds.

Keep reading to learn more about treating anxiety without medication, including through psychotherapy, diet, alternative therapies, and more.

Exercise can help manage symptoms of anxiety and, in some people, may even be a substitute for other types of treatment. A systematic review and meta-analysis found that aerobic exercise — especially high-intensity exercise — could be particularly beneficial.

However, the authors of that study caution that the wide variability in types of exercise included in the review and the small sample sizes of many studies limits the data. Scientists must continue their research to prove conclusively that exercise is an effective treatment for anxiety.

Learn more about the physical and mental health benefits of exercise here. Psychotherapy is a highly effective intervention for anxiety. In fact, the American Psychological Association emphasizes that therapy is typically more effective than medication.

This is because psychotherapy gives a person the chance to talk about their anxiety, explore coping mechanisms, and work through experiences that contribute to their anxiety.

Cognitive behavioral therapy CBT may be particularly effective. This treatment focuses on helping a person understand the connection between their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

Through treatment, a person learns to disrupt automatic negative thoughts and find alternatives to anxious patterns of thinking. Learn more about different types of therapy here. Learn more about them here. Anxiety can be very isolating. Support groups help people with anxiety feel less alone.

They may also offer practical wisdom that can help a person find the right provider, talk to their loved ones about their anxiety, or manage the process of seeking workplace accommodations.

Support groups come in many forms, such as anonymous online message boards, in-person meetings, and virtual sessions.

Some therapists also facilitate support groups. A person should consider their schedule, comfort level, and goals when deciding which type of support group to try. People with anxiety need support from loved ones.

Education about anxiety may help families better support children and other loved ones. Educational and workplace accommodations may also help. They can prevent anxiety from causing additional stress, such as from the loss of a job or a failing grade.

Some people find that complementary and alternative treatments, such as massage, acupuncture, or chiropractic care, help their anxiety symptoms. A systematic review of 13 mostly small studies suggests that both acupuncture and electro-acupuncture may ease anxiety. While some studies report promising results, there is no conclusive data showing these treatments work.

So people trying alternative remedies should use them as a complement to other treatments, not substitutes for care. Learn more about herbs for anxiety here. Transcranial magnetic stimulation TMS is a newer anxiety treatment that uses magnets to create a weak electrical current in the brain.

This current may stimulate the release of neurotransmitters that relieve anxiety or change how the brain processes anxiety. Keeping track of experiences of anxiety can help clients identify patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

For example, the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy situational formulation cycle can be used as part of psychoeducation. Relaxation strategies calm bodily sensations, cognitive skills aim to shift anxious thinking, and behavioral strategies help to reduce safety behaviors.

Different tools work for different people in different situations. It can be helpful for clients to develop a written list or toolkit of strategies that work for them. Here are 10 evidence-based anxiety management tools adapted from Leahy et al.

Controlled breathing aims to reduce physiological symptoms of anxiety by regulating breathing. Controlled breathing involves breathing deeply into your lower abdomen for four counts and out for six counts, repeating for at least a few minutes.

Progressive muscle relaxation aims to relax the muscles to ease the bodily sensations of anxiety, such as muscle tension.

You tense and relax each muscle group in turn, working progressively throughout the body. Visualization is the idea of building an image in your mind of a calm, safe place e. This soothes the anxiety response and distracts from anxious thinking Hart, ; Welford, You can distract your brain from anxious thoughts by refocusing on another activity.

This strategy can also help clients feel empowered to use their existing strengths and interests as helpful anxiety tools, for example, doing an enjoyable hobby.

Thought challenging involves identifying evidence for and against anxious thoughts. The aim is to weigh up this evidence and then reframe the thought as a more balanced view of the situation, moving away from anxious predictions.

Use this Questions for Thought Challenging worksheet to get a balanced view on a situation. Anxiety partly stems from self-criticism, such as believing that you do not have the skills to cope Welford, Compassionate self-talk can help reduce anxiety and self-criticism. This involves allocating specific worry time e.

If worries pop up, these can be written down and saved until worry time. This reduces the amount of worrying and rumination.

Use our Worry Bank worksheet for further practical guidance on this tool. These involve facing your fears by reducing safety behaviors. Behavioral experiments involve writing down the initial anxious prediction, facing the feared situation, and then reflecting on what actually happened.

This often provides evidence against the initial anxious belief. Use this Behavioral Experiment to Test Beliefs worksheet to plan out experiments. Build up to facing fears through graded exposure by breaking down the task into small steps. Physical activity can be an effective way to reduce anxiety levels.

Feeling anxious can negatively impact sleep, and lack of sleep can mean a lower threshold for feeling anxious. Grounding tools can help when someone is feeling overwhelmed by anxiety about the past or future by bringing focus back to the present Peckham, Focusing on the breath can help to anchor you initially and lay the foundations for other grounding skills.

You can also have written reminders of other grounding skills. It is normal for your mind to wander during mindfulness and grounding techniques, and it is important not to fall into self-critical thinking. We can use the mindfulness concepts of nonjudgmentally noticing when our mind wanders and refocusing back to the grounding exercise.

It may help to use a cognitive defusion tool Harris, , such as seeing thoughts as leaves on a stream floating by while doing mindful grounding. You can access the Leaves on a Stream exercise as part of this free Mindfulness Tools pack.

Mindful breathing helps with the cognitive effects of anxiety. Instead of focusing on anxious thoughts, the mind focuses on the breath, helping to ground in the present and shift focus away from anxious thoughts about the past or future.

Focusing on the breath is core to compassion-focused strategies, such as soothing rhythm breathing Gilbert, This involves finding a breath rhythm that helps to self-soothe when feeling anxious Welford, , with a focus on using self-compassion if your mind wanders from the task.

This helps to foster skills in both self-soothing and self-compassion. The anxiety tools above are also effective for children. The key is to ensure that they are adapted for age and developmental stage, such as by using different creative formats like worksheets, videos, and apps.

Example ideas include our Deep Breathing for Kids worksheet, as well as this anxiety psychoeducation video for kids. When supporting children with anxiety, parents and carers play a vital role.

Parents can use tools such as graded exposure and set goals with their children to reduce safety behaviors. Children often seek reassurance from adults when feeling anxious. Instead of giving reassurance, it can help to empower the child to manage their anxiety by using strategies from their toolbox.

Parents can try to model to children how they positively manage day-to-day anxiety themselves. Parents can allocate a specific time to discuss worries with children.

This helps to reduce the amount of focus on worries and reassurance seeking, making them less dominant in day-to-day life. Parents can help children overcome anxiety by empowering them to manage and problem-solve anxiety-provoking situations themselves, to help build independent coping skills.

It is also important to reinforce positive and brave behaviors using praise and rewards. Download 3 Free Resilience Exercises PDF These detailed, science-based exercises will equip you or your clients to recover from personal challenges and turn setbacks into opportunities for growth.

These tools are open-access self-report questionnaires to assess for anxiety across different client groups, based on recommendations from Beidas et al. Anxiety is a normal hard-wired threat response that our brain uses when it perceives danger.

This is when anxiety can become problematic and when therapeutic intervention may be recommended. There is a range of evidence-based therapies and anxiety management strategies that therapists can use to support clients. The key message is not to strive for the impossible task of getting rid of anxiety, but rather to build strategies to manage it successfully.

The aim of this article was to give practitioners a summary of the key advice and strategies available for anxiety management. We hope you enjoyed reading this article. About the author Laura Wells is a Clinical Psychologist, passionate about taking a compassionate and non-judgemental approach to psychological distress, moving away from a medical diagnostic model.

Laura is interested in psychology outreach, such as blog writing and developing educational resources, and is the creator and author of the Psy Fiction project, which aims to be an educational platform for learning about psychological case formulation.