How to Control Anxiety

By: Marlene

As someone who has suffered from anxiety for a long time, I know how much it can affect your life. It sucks because it limits you from doing things that may seem so easy to others. Anxiety is a difficult thing to deal with and can get worse depending on how you approach it. You can either overcome it or let it take over you, resulting in never-ending anxiety attacks. It’s basically all in your head, and by that, I mean it all depends on how you think. Obviously, the more negative you think the more you’re going to put yourself down, stress out and panic. Save yourself the anxiety attack and just think positive. Of course, it’s easier said than done, but, just like learning anything else, all it takes is practice.

This is the time to “retrain” your brain. For someone who thinks negative all the time, thinking positive is going to be hard habit to learn. Here are some tips:

1. Take a moment out of your day to appreciate a happy memory, moment, or someone that makes you smile. This helps to ignore all the negativity going on in your life, or to just simply reassure yourself of all the good things around you when having a bad day. Do this at least three times a day, so that your brain can get used to these positive thoughts.
2. Don’t make the situation worse by encouraging your negative thoughts to affect you. For example, if you feel that you are getting an anxiety or panic attack, do not think to yourself that you’re going to die or keep inciting those bad thoughts that are causing the anxiety attack. Take a deep breath and calm yourself; tell yourself that everything is going to be okay.  
3. Imagine yourself not having anxiety. If you’re anxious about presenting in front of people, imagine yourself presenting the way you wish to present. Ask yourself: How do I want my day to go tomorrow? Imagine it. That way your brain already has an idea about what you want to think about throughout the day.

The more you practice these tips, the more accustomed your brain will get to thinking positive and getting rid of all the thoughts that cause your anxiety. Just like acne, anxiety is not something that you can get rid of overnight. It’s going to take some time. Try listening to some hypnosis videos on YouTube if you have to, there are plenty of resources out there. This is also something you have to be consistent with, so you have to be really determined if you want to get rid of anxiety. But just remember, in order to control anxiety, you have to control your thoughts.