coping with Anxiety

Practical tips for finding help and support.

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Everyone feels anxious

What are the symptoms?

When to get help

Tips to help when you are anxious

Resources

Faith-Based Resources

Everyone feels Anxious sometimes

We all feel anxious at times, like before taking a test, crossing a busy street, or making an important decision. It’s completely normal to feel a bit nervous, and in fact, a bit of anxiety is actually a good thing! It alerts us of oncoming danger and allows us to react quickly to emergencies. However, where you feel like these feelings last longer and are more intense, it could indicate a greater problem. Anxiety disorders often get worse over time and interfere with your everyday life. That’s why it’s important to get help - because help is out there! Although there are several types of anxiety, many have similar symptoms and treatment methods.

Who can get anxiety?

Anyone can get an anxiety disorder, but they seem to be more common for women. Some genetic and environmental factors can play a part in increasing the risk of having an anxiety disorder. Some examples of these risk factors include a stressful or negative event in early childhood or adult life and a family history of anxiety or mental illness. Regardless of your past or what’s led to the development of anxiety, you don’t have to stay as you are - there is help, and you can recover.

What are the symptoms

Remember, it’s not bad to feel a bit anxious from time to time. Where it becomes an issue is when it interferes with your ability to be involved in everyday life. Let’s look at some of the symptoms:

Restlessness, agitation, or nervousness
Tremors
Difficult to focus
Irritability for no reason
Muscular stiffness
Feelings of impending catastrophe
Irrational worries about objects or situations
Difficulty controlling worries
Difficulty falling or staying asleep
Panic Attacks

When to get help?

If you feel like you are experiencing some of these symptoms but don’t know whether to get help, have a look at some indicators below that it’s time to take things further:

When the appearance of problematic anxiety is increasingly frequent and high.
When the intensity of anxiety symptoms becomes a problem for your personal well-being

When it’s starting to interfere with other areas of your life. Sometimes anxiety begins in a certain situation and spreads to other areas like an ink stain. Imagine there is someone who develops a fear of traveling on public transport and begins to avoid traveling in general. By doing this, their mobility and independence are greatly restricted. They may stop doing things they used to do, and even find themselves unable to go to work. What started out as a fear in one area can easily spread further!
When a professional or a family member or friend recommends it.
When you have tried everything and nothing is helping. Many people try to spontaneously face the problem on their own before going to a specialised health professional.
When the duration of the episodes is getting increasingly longer

If you feel as though it would be worth seeking help, don’t do it alone - you can start by going to your local GP. They will be able to do an initial assessment and advise you of the best possible next steps! They might even give you a Mental Health Plan, where you can get up to 10 sessions of affordable therapy.

Tips to help when you are feeling anxious

Surround yourself with positive people who uplift you and help to take your mind off things.
Maintain a healthy lifestyle: eat a balancedT diet, exercise and get enough sleep.
Go for a walk or bike ride, or do stretching.
Vent your emotions by keeping a journal and writing down your feelings.
Try new things or take up a hobby; painting, literary workshop or any activity that helps take your mind off things.
Even if you don’t feel good on the inside, do your best to feel your best on the outside. On days where you feel low, wearing your favourite outfit can help you feel better about yourself.
Try to follow a daily routine, whether it be an old one or a new one that you create. Even when you don’t feel like going out and doing things, do your best to maintain your usual activities.
If necessary, ask for professional help.
Distract yourself, when you begin to feel anxious, by doing something that helps you feel like you could be anywhere in the world.
Grounding techniques really help to bring your mind and body back into the present.
Speaking positive affirmations about yourself and your life help to retrain the brain not to get stuck in the habit of anxious thinking.
Talk to others who are going through the same thing. There is no one to better help than somebody that understands you!

Resources - Worksheets and Websites

Try this ABCD Worksheet to monitor your thoughts and feelings. Worksheets on the unhelpful thinking styles can be found here.

More worksheets here
Check our self care and mental health page
Check out our mental health page with organisations, apps and other resources for support here

Faith-based resources

PRAYER

Lord, I thank you that you are my healer, my deliverer, my path, my guide, my provider, and I have nothing to worry about or be anxious for. Lord please forgive me for my unbelief. As I cast all my cares upon you and name them one by one, you said that you will take them. Your word says that you can give me a peace that passes all human understanding, and I thank you that somehow you will make a way, so that the things that I am worrying about will no longer worry me. Spirit of anxiety, leave my life in Jesus Name, and the spirit of peace come into my life and surround my circumstances.

Scriptures

Psalms 94:19 - When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.

Proverbs 25:12 - An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.
Romans 8:38-39 - And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
Isaiah 35:4 - Say to those who have an anxious heart, Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you!
1 Peter 5:7 - Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Phil 4:6: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Luke 12:25 - And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?