6 Smart Ways to Deal With Anxiety Attacks

According to research done by the University of Adelaide, men and women who suffer from panic disorders are more likely to suffer from heart disease as they grow up.

So, what can you do to deal with anxiety attacks, if you are prone to them? How can you deal with an anxiety disorder? What are some of the ways to deal with anxiety attacks when they occur? And how do you deal with anxiety attacks naturally?

In this article, I want to show you how to deal with anxiety attacks so that you can reduce the risk of suffering heart disease.

Now, what strategies can you use?

1.    Remind Yourself That You Are Not Dying

One way to deal with anxiety attacks is to tell yourself that it shall be well when you start feeling overwhelmed. When you experience anxiety attacks, you may feel that you have come to the end of the road. That can make you feel even more anxious, which can help to worsen your chest pain and the tension you may be feeling in your muscles.

However, acknowledging your symptoms and describing them to yourself or to somebody else can help you to reconcile with reality, which can make you see that what you are going through is not such a big deal, and that can help you to calm down.

So, when the anxiety attack starts, say something such as this to yourself, “Isaac Nunoofio, all that is happening is that you are feeling anxious about the fact that you have still not found a job. The racing heart, the heightened breathing rate, the tightness in your chest are all occurring because your sympathetic nervous system is responding to the worries that come to your mind because of your joblessness. These feelings will go away. They cannot do any harm to you. You have faced and overcome worse symptoms than these in your life. Nothing in this world is permanent and these feelings are also temporary and they will go away. So relax. Keep calm. You will be okay, okay?”

2.    Move To Another Environment

Another way to overcome anxiety disorder without medication is to move physically when the panic starts. This is because sometimes we get anxiety attacks because we feel we are losing control of a situation and that makes us feel helpless and overwhelmed, which causes us to feel anxious. Additionally, feeling that you cannot escape from a situation can cause an anxiety attack.

However, when you move physically from space that you have occupied for a long time, or when you move away physically from a location where you usually experience anxiety attacks, you will tell your subconscious that you do not need to be imprisoned by negative thoughts. Furthermore, you will tell your subconscious that there is a way to escape from bad situations and that can make you see that there are unlimited possibilities and unlimited ways to get out of your troubles, and that can help you to calm down.

• So, for example, if the attack occurs whilst you are in your sitting room, walk out into the fresh air, take in a few deep breaths, enjoy the scene around you and the change of scenery may make fresh ideas come into your head as you watch people, buildings, cars, trees and so on, which may make you see that there is no reason to fear.
• Or, if you are driving and you have an anxiety attack, stop in a serene spot such as a wooded lot, walk into the lot, walk around slowly for a few minutes and make positive confessions to yourself and it will help you to feel that you are in control of yourself again.
• Or, plan your annual leave to coincide with times in the year when you normally experience anxiety attacks. Visit a country you have not visited before during that time, or go to another town or city so that you can meet new people and make new friends and that will help you to broaden your experiences in life and give you a sense of escape. Additionally, you may meet people who have found effective ways to deal with their anxieties and you can learn lessons from them to help you handle your anxiety attacks.

3.    Eat A Balanced Diet

Research carried out at Ohio University has revealed that eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids can help one to reduce his or her anxiety.

Omega-3 fatty acids lower the heart rate and the blood pressure and so eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids often will help you to deal with some of the physiological symptoms of an anxiety attack and you will find it easier to relax and calm down when you are stressed.

Therefore, eat foods such as chia seeds, flaxseed, canola oil, soybean oil, salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines, mussels, octopus, walnuts, eggs, chicken (without the skin), and lean beef, often.

Additionally, research suggests that foods rich in zinc, such as liver, oysters, and foods rich in magnesium, such as corn, wheat, barley, brown rice, sorghum, millet, rye, taro leaves, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, yellow nutsedge, cashew nuts, macadamias nuts, and cowpeas, can all help you to feel calm when you experience anxiety attacks.

Furthermore, ensure that you eat three meals a day because skipping meals can make the levels of sugar in your blood reduce significantly, which can make you feel nervous, and that can increase the risk that you can suffer an anxiety attack.

4.    Exercise Regularly

Several studies have shown that exercising regularly can help a person to deal with anxiety. When you expose yourself to some of the symptoms of anxiety which you may be scared of, such as the rapid beating of the heart, you will find it easier to tolerate such symptoms. And when you continue exercising, you will get used to those symptoms, which will help you to lose your fear of such symptoms.

Additionally, exercising makes your body produce endorphins, which are a group of chemicals that help to relieve pain, as well as help to give one a feeling of euphoria.

Furthermore, exercising can help to fill your mind with some else apart from the thoughts that may be causing you anxiety and that distraction can give you time to look at your challenges from a more positive perspective, which can help you to lose your fear of what is tormenting you.

5.    Take A Hot Shower

When you feel very anxious and overwhelmed, go into your bathroom and enjoy a hot bath. Warm water and hot water stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, and an activated parasympathetic nervous system can make you feel calm.

Rid your mind of all worries and fears as you bath. Additionally, try to breathe in slowly, and breathe out slowly, as the water flows over your body. Focus your mind 100% on the feelings that the warm water generates in your body and enjoy the warmth it creates in you.

Furthermore, close your eyes as you bath, take in the smell in the bathroom, listen to the sound of the water as it touches your skin and as it hits the bathtub, and imagine that you are in a safe, peaceful environment in which no one and nothing can harm you.

The feeling of warmth you create in the bathroom will help you to feel that there is nothing to fear and you will find it easier to feel relaxed as a result.

6.    Pray

Prayer can help to remind you that you have a Powerful Helper who can help you to handle your challenges and that can be very reassuring. Additionally, praying and asking for God’s help can give you a sense of security and hope.

So, for example, if you get anxiety attacks often because you are jobless, you may say a prayer such as this one often, “Dear God, be merciful to me a sinner. Please forgive me for my sins. LORD, I give You the glory for Your kindness and goodness that has kept me alive, that has protected me, saved me from trouble in the past, provided my needs, kept me healthy and strong, and helped me to overcome challenges in the past. I thank You, God, for the love of my parents and my friends. I thank You that I have somewhere to lay my head. I thank You that I get food to eat every day. I thank You that I have clothes to wear. I thank You that I had the opportunity to be educated. I give You the glory and the honor for that. LORD, I am very worried about the fact that I still cannot get a permanent, good-paying job to do. LORD, I want to live a responsible life. Please make a way for me to get a job. Please show me what I should do so that I can earn money to take care of myself. Please touch the hearts of people to show me favor. Please give me ideas that I can use to create my own job and please help me to be able to mobilize the human and financial resources I need to be able to build a successful business. I know You have heard me and I know that because of Your mercy and grace and Your love which is deep, wide, and high, You will answer me and help me. Amen.”

And God will answer you and help you just as He helped this woman to overcome her anxiety attacks. 

Conclusion

To deal with anxiety attacks, remind yourself that the symptoms will pass when you feel very tense, change your environment from time to time, do your best to eat a balanced diet, exercise every day, create a sense of warmth when you feel anxious, and communicate with God and cast your burdens on Him when anxiety becomes unbearable.

Additionally, you may read these tips, and these tips too so that you can deal with anxiety attacks effectively.

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