Even in the UK, many of us have been suffering US election anxiety. Waking up to the news of a Trump presidency has compounded that anxiety. Whether or not you're one of the 26.6% of women who experience high levels of anxiety regularly in the UK, being faced with a news cycle you have no control over can leave you feeling powerless and scared.
So, what should you do? How should you cope? Here's your guide to managing feelings of anxiety.
What can anxiety feel like?
Anxiety can manifest as physical and mental unrest. Mental symptoms include feeling tense, nervous or unable to relax, having a sense of dread, or fearing the worst, feeling like the world is speeding up or slowing down and feeling paranoid. Physical ways anxiety can show up include a racing heart, clammy hands, a feeling of nausea, the feeling that you're struggling to breathe, shaking and a dry mouth and/or throat.
What is the 3-3-3 rule for anxiety?
The 3-3-3 anxiety rule is an easy formula to remember to help you ground yourself if you are feeling anxious or as though you are going to have a panic attack. Much of anxiety is caused by panic about the past or future and so rooting yourself in the present is a simple but effective way or harnessing your thoughts and focusing on something other than what is physically happening in your body.
All you need to do is look around name three things you see. Then, name three sounds you hear. Finally, move three parts of your body — your ankle, fingers, or arm.
10 ways to ease anxiety
Yes, we all know that exercise is important. But did you know that the NHS reckon that if exercise was a drug, it would be one of the most cost effective ever made?
Lena Dunham recently shared on social media about her struggles with anxiety and the positive impact exercise had made on her mental wellbeing. Not only does exercise help us to produce mood boosting hormones, but it helps to burn off excess adrenaline, distracts us and helps us to get out of our heads. Another great reason to lace up and get moving.
When we're anxious it can feel as if we're all up in our heads. Our minds are a mass of overthinking, "what if's?" and negative thoughts. Any physical sensations that go along with the anxiety, such as a racing heart or a nervous feeling in the belly, will often increase the anxious thoughts. This is because evidence shows us that often we'll use thinking to escape our feelings; leading to an overactive mind and making us feel even worse.
But my advice is this; tune into your feelings. Where do you feel them? What are they like? Give all of your attention to how you're feeling emotionally, as well as any sensations in the body. It's far more effective to tune into our feelings than to try to escape from them by overthinking them.
And you know what? You can handle your feelings. And people often find that when they pay more attention to their feelings, that they start to change all by themselves.
Here's how you can identify it.
When we're anxious we're often overly concerned about ourselves; whether it's our health, our work, the way we look or our money. An effective and simple way to help us to calm anxiety is to do something nice for another person.
When we direct our attention onto helping others, not only are we diverting our attention away from ourselves, but by doing an act of kindness, we increase our levels of feel good hormones. It's a win for all involved.
Consider including some acts of kindness into your day; giving up your seat on the bus, buying food for a homeless person, paying someone a sincere compliment or helping someone with something at work - these can all get you out of your own head and help you to start feeling better.
When you're anxious, it can feel like being trapped, in hell, inside your own head. Anxious people can have a tendency to ruminate; mulling over the same worries and negative thoughts over and over.
A fast and effective way to get some relief is by putting pen to paper and just writing it all down.
Write a stream of consciousness of any thoughts or feelings that come up for you. It's amazing how once things are out of our heads, they can begin to appear less threatening and we can gain a clearer perspective. Getting a nice notebook and a pen you love to write with, also helps.
When we're anxious, it's as if our brains are only noticing the negative things. The things that could go wrong, the dangers and the worse possible outcomes somehow just seem to come to the front of our minds.
Our brains are constantly filtering the myriad of information that comes our way each moment. This mental filtering strongly depends on our beliefs. To use a silly example, if I believe I see the number '21' everywhere, it's incredibly how often I'll see it; on receipts, when checking the time and on number plates.
This is psychological phenomenon called "cognitive bias" where we unconsciously find evidence to support our beliefs. The good news is that you can work to change your beliefs about things by changing the things that you tell yourself.
I suggest starting to tell yourself something like; "The world is a friendly and safe place and things always work out well for me" and then noticing the ways that your brain finds all the reasons that this is true.
Mindfulness is huge right now and there's a reason for it. Being present is one of the fastest way to calm anxiety and enjoy life in the moment. This is because a big part of anxiety is a fear or unease about what could happen in the future. When we practise being more present it's like exercising a muscle, the more we do it, the easier it becomes.
You don't necessarily need to practise meditation to be more present however (although that is a great idea), just practise paying more attention to whatever you're doing. If you're walking to work, really tune in to the feeling of your feet on the pavement, the breeze on your skin, and the sights, sounds and smells around you. When you're eating, focus totally on the taste, colours, textures and aromas of your food. If you're really focused on what you're experiencing it has the effect of calming the mind down and stopping you from worrying about the future.
Our bodies and minds are not adapted for this fast paced world where everything is going at full speed all day long. We need breaks and time out to function and feel at our best. An important thing to remember is that rest and activity are both equally important. Make sure you schedule in time for yourself thoughout your day; some exercise, a walk outdoors, calling a friend, listening to a meditation or relaxation recording. Treat these things with the same level of importance as your work and know that they are actually essential to your mental wellbeing, not a luxury.
“Not to spoil the ending but everything is going to be OK”.
Chloe Brotheridge is a therapist and Calm Coach. Get a FREE relaxation MP3, one of the most powerful tools for calming anxiety, by signing up at www.calmer-you.com/free
When a person is anticipating a stressful situation (for example a driving test or job interview) and voices their concerns about stress nerves and anxiety, it is common for well meaning friends and family to advise taking deep breaths to help them remain calm.
Unfortunately taking deep breaths without knowing how to do it properly can trigger the opposite effect, leading to feelings of panic and hyperventilating.
Correct methods for deep breathing involve breathing in through the nose, which helps to regulate the breathing. However when an individual follows an instruction to take a deep breath, they often gasp air in through their mouth as if they are about to hold their breath for a period of time, deregulating their breathing.
Driving confidence coaches Kev and Tracey Field from Confident Drivers suggest avoiding advise to take a deep breath and instead to take a slow, gentle full breath in through the nose, followed by breathing out through the mouth, through pursed lips to help regulate breathing and calm feelings of anxiety or nerves. This can be carried out in two simple steps.
- Breathe in as if smelling a flower
2. Breathe out as if blowing out candles on a birthday cake
It is the out breath which triggers the relaxation response, not the in breath. Focusing on making the out breath longer than the in breath increases your relaxation response by increasing your vagal tone and lowering your heart rate.
Ground yourself
Grounding yourself can help you feel more connected to the Earth and to your body. If you find your mind spiralling, this technique can help you reconnect.
“The grounding technique is highly effective for managing anxiety because it helps bring attention away from distressing thoughts or dysregulated emotions and redirect it to the present moment,” explains Educational Psychologist, Dr Patricia Britto. “These techniques anchor an individual in the ‘here and now,’ which is likely to break the cycle of escalating anxiety and overwhelming emotions.”
There are various ways to ground yourself, but a good place to start is to focus on how the feet feet on the ground and imagine them sinking into the floor. Then, focus on each of the five senses once by one. What you see? Hear? Smell? Touch? Taste?
Use the Zones of Regulation
This technique is designed to help people control and regulate their emotional states.
“Adults first need to recognise which emotional ‘zone’ they are in,” Britto says. “The Zones of Regulation break down emotional states into four categories:”
- Blue Zone: Low energy, sadness, tiredness, or disengagement.
- Green Zone: Calm, focused, and ready to engage (optimal state for functioning).
- Yellow Zone: Elevated emotions such as anxiety, frustration, excitement, or stress (not entirely out of control, but heightened).
- Red Zone: Extreme emotions like anger, panic, or terror (out of control).
|For anxiety, recognising when they are in the Yellow Zone (early signs of stress) or Red Zone (overwhelming anxiety or panic) is crucial for effective regulation," she says.
For the Yellow Zone, try grounding exercises like “deep breathing, or mindfulness to bring anxiety down before it escalates.”
For the Red Zone, “seeking support from others or practising focused breathing are essential to regain control. This might also involve removing oneself from a triggering environment temporarily.”
