Understanding Anxiety
Living With Anxiety
Being Single and Dealing with Anxiety
Parents dealing with Children's anxiety
A Poem About Anxiety
Couples and Anxiety
Questions about Anxiety
Questions to ask about anxiety
Case Study
Solutions for Anxiety - Do's and Dont's
Audio Workshops

Anxiety

Solutions for Anxiety - Do's and Dont's

Do's

  • Notice how it is affecting you and pay attention to how you would rather be feeling.

  • Remember to breathe.

  • Focus on something interesting and engaging: a hobby, a project, a conversation with a friend, an activity.

  • Play with a pet. Arrange flowers. Play a sport. Watch a movie.

  • Stay active in your life. Continue going to work and/or school. Take care of children. Keep your house clean. Take care of your personal hygiene.

  • Surround yourself with people who care about you. Spend time with your spouse, children, parents, colleagues, friends, neighbors.

  • Engage in conversation that is interesting and meaningful.

  • At other times, engage in trivial talk!

  • Try to limit discussion about the anxiety to less than 5% of your conversation.

  • Pay attention to whether what you are doing or thinking is what you want to be doing or thinking and whether or not it fits for you.

Don'ts

  • Don't isolate yourself. Anxiety will try to get you to think you should be alone. Don't listen to it.

  • Don't spend time thinking about how you feel. Anxiety will take over.

  • Don't talk about anxiety more than 5% of the time and then only about your successes over it.

  • Don't let anxiety get you to second-guess yourself.

  • Don't let anxiety get you to imagine what others are thinking.

  • Don't fall prey to anxiety's ploy to engage in repetitive behaviors.

  • Don't let it put images of disaster in your head.