Learn How To Manage Your Anxiety With CBT
“No amount of anxiety makes any difference to anything that is going to happen” – Alan Watts
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Worried? Feeling on edge? Scared? Afraid something bad might happen? These are psychological signs that you could be experiencing symptoms of anxiety.
Anxiety can also be experienced physically, with many people experiencing changes in their bodily sensations; these include an increased heart rate, sweating, shaking, feeling sick, dizziness or muscle tension. Ultimately, anxiety is normal and something we all experience in our day-to-day lives. Anxiety can help us cope in situations where we are faced with a physical threat. Our body’s fight-and-flight system keeps us safe and protects us from harm by deciding to fight the threat off or run away from it. Often, our fight-and-flight system is triggered by situations where there is a perceived threat as opposed to an actual threat – it's almost like a false alarm. Still, we start to experience the symptoms of anxiety. However, if we don’t learn how to manage it, this can often build up and happen more frequently and, as a result, anxiety can start to have an impact on our daily functioning.
What is CBT and how can it help to manage your anxiety?
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment to help manage anxiety and worries. CBT looks at how your thoughts, feelings and behaviours impact each other. Here are 5 CBT tips for managing anxiety:
Break it down!
It’s essential to understand your anxiety: why it makes you feel the way it does and why it impacts your life. One way of understanding this further is to break situations down. Write down:
What has triggered you to feel anxious, worried, scared, or nervous?
What thoughts has this triggered? For instance, you could be saying to yourself, “what if things don’t work out?”, “what if I don’t make it on time?”, “what will people think?”, “what if something bad happens?”.
What feelings am I experiencing? (Anxious/nervous/scared/on edge?)
What physical bodily sensations am I having?
What behaviours have I engaged in? What have I done or not done to cope with this feeling?
By breaking down a situation, we can understand better how our thoughts, feelings and behaviours impact each other to keep us trapped in a vicious cycle. Check out the example below to help you break down your own situations:
2. Keep a diary!
Keeping a diary can assist you to identify patterns and themes in your thinking and behaviours. Keeping a regular log can help to recognise unhealthy thinking patterns and coping behaviours. Be as specific as possible and keep it regular to capture accurate responses. See below for an example:
Situation - Worrying about not meeting my work targets
Thoughts - What if I can’t hit the target? Will my boss be upset? What if I get sacked? What if people think I am incapable?
Feelings - Anxious, on edge, worried
Behaviours - Seeking reassurance; becoming snappy, irritable; over working; over thinking, worrying; not attending social events to focus on work.
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3. Know your worry type!
When we feel anxious, we often find ourselves worrying more which can lead to worry chains. However, many people don’t know that there are different types of worries. When keeping your diary, write down what kind of worry you think you are having. This way, you can differentiate between concerns you can and can't solve. Here are the two different types of worries:
Practical worries
We can solve these concerns and do something about them. For example, if a warning light has come on in your car, this could trigger some anxiety and worry. Still, if we think about it practically, we can do something about it such as we check the car manual or call the car garage; it's solvable!
Hypothetical worries
Hypothetical worries are those that are focussed on the future and we have no control over. These worries become a problem when we focus on them more often. For example, what if I don’t find a car parking space at my appointment tomorrow or if something bad happens to my child? No matter how much you worry about these issues, you have no control over the outcome. One way to manage your anxiety and worries is to recognise your type of worry.
4. Solve it!
If you can do something about your worry, then solve it! Problem-solving is a great way to solve practical worries and act as a filter which can, as a result, reduce your anxiety. Try listing all of the possible solutions to solve that worry; even if they feel pointless, add them to the list of solutions. Subsequently, decide which solutions you are likely to do, unlikely to do or might do. This simple process will allow you to find the most practical solution for you.
5. Let it go!
For the worries that we have no control over, why hold on to them? Let them go! Letting go of worries isn’t easy but practising letting go becomes easier over time. Start by asking yourself, “can I do something about this worry?” If your answer is no, then start by putting these worries aside and refocusing your attention on the present moment. Tell yourself, “I will come back to that worry”. You may find that this worry may come back again; if this happens, practice the same technique. Eventually, you will pay less attention to the concern and have trained yourself to let it go.
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References
Saulsman, L., Anderson, R., Campbell, B., & Swan, A. (2015). Working with Worry and Rumination: A Metacognitive Group Treatment Programme for Repetitive Negative Thinking. Perth, Western Australia: Centre for Clinical Interventions
Wells, A. (1997). Cognitive Therapy of Anxiety Disorders: A Practice Manual and Conceptual Guide. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Wells, A. (2008). Metacognitive Therapy for Anxiety and Depression. New York: Guilford Press.