Anxious thoughts and feelings often lead to certain behaviors. Social anxiety, general anxiety, or panic attacks can enter your life unexpectedly. Taking steps to increase your distress tolerance will help you move towards more joy in your life.
1. Remember to Breathe: Pay attention to your breathing. Really focus on your exhale this engages your parasympathetic nervous system calming down your fight or flight sympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic is the more relaxed, balanced part of this system.
2. Move your body In any way you can, walking, running, riding a bike, dancing, swimming.
3. Sleep You know you need it. Step two may lead to more of step three.
4. Avoid Caffeine This can exacerbate anxiety.
5. Keep a Gratitude Journal. How the New Science
of Gratitude Can Make You Happier, shows that simply keeping a gratitude journal—regularly writing brief reflections on moments for which we’re thankful—can significantly increase well-being and life satisfaction.
6. Challenge those negative thoughts with your counselor with a counselors help you can work to challenge those thoughts running through your mind.
7. Expand your social support this is a core component in managing stress and coping with anxiety reach out, go to lunch, call someone you haven't talked to in a while. It is all about connection.
8. Stay away from drugs or alcohol Perhaps they work in the short term but they often do the opposite in the long term.especially with panic attacks. Talk to your therapist if you feel you cannot stop using.
If you work towards implementing these steps you will begin to manage your distress in more healthy ways.
