Living with stress and anxiety can have a significant impact on your life, but you aren’t powerless! What is the key to taking your life back? Empower yourself by learning to recognize the symptoms and calm your mind.
**Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. I will only ever recommend products/services that I love, and feel are valuable to my community. Thank you! For more information, please visit my Disclaimer page.**
Stress and anxiety can be crippling. They can really bring your life into a state of constant chaos and misery, causing you to lose sleep, and struggle to maintain relationships with friends, family, and partners. Often, you may not realize that you under the throws of stress and anxiety until they have taken over your life. What starts as a minor amount of worrying can build up. Chronic cases can seem to have no cause and will affect every aspect of your life, even the parts that you love.
If this sounds familiar, know that you are not alone! In fact, approximately 3 million Canadians aged 18 years or older have experienced a mood and/or anxiety disorder according to the 2014 Survey on Living with Chronic Diseases in Canada. This makes mood and anxiety disorders one of the most common types of mental disorders in the country.
While it is challenging to do, it is essential that you try and manage stress and anxiety in your life. This will mean controlling the symptoms and working on avoiding the triggers. While this is easier said than done, small steps in the right direction can easily be made and over time, you will be able to improve your mental health overall.
Table of Contents
Fighting The Symptoms Of Stress And Anxiety
There are a number of things that can help in the fight against stress and anxiety. One solution may work well for one person, while someone else may favor another method. Identifying the right way for you to deal with your own condition may take trying a few different approaches to work out what is best for you. Some methods may not work initially, but over time may prove to be effective.
Commonly used techniques for dealing with stress and anxiety include; antidepressants, CBD oil, meditation, exercise, talking therapy, and mindfulness.
CBD
One method of reducing the symptoms of stress and anxiety that has become increasingly popular recently is by using CBD oil. Derived from the cannabis plant, CBD oil contains none of the psychogenic chemical THC that is typically associated with the recreational drug derived from the same plant. Instead, the oil provides the user with calmness without the high.
Mindfulness
MindfulnessMindfulness is something that takes practice. It is about focusing on your mind. Often when we leave our minds to wander off onto tangents, this is when we start to stress or get anxious. By centring yourself, you will start to think in a much clearer manner. Mindfulness may involve breathing exercises and meditation.
Exercise
When you engage in physical activity, whether it’s a walk around the block or an intense workout class, your body releases a number of ‘feel good’ chemicals within the brain. One example is serotonin, otherwise known as the ‘happy chemical’, a hormone that works to regulate a number of different functions within the body including stabilizing your mood. If you find that you are feeling down, depressed, anxious or just ‘off’, get out and get active!
Spend Time with Pets
If you’ve been following this blog, then you already know that our pets are a major part of our lives! If you share our love for these adorable furry family members, you may have one o the most powerful tools to manage your stress and anxiety at home already. A 2016 study revealed that pets provide their owners with a sense of security and routine, also offering both emotional and social support. What does this mean? Simply living and bonding with your pets can help to improve your mental health.
Finding The Root Of The Problem
While dealing with the symptoms of the problem are vital in managing your stress and anxiety levels, finding out what causes them to rise in the first place is another way of dealing with the problem. This may mean keeping a diary and looking out for things that trigger you in your day-to-day life. Looking for patterns will be helpful as once you have identified common causes, you can look at trying to find solutions in your life that will help you manage these more effectively.
If you are struggling, talking therapy may be a good option. Speak with your doctor or find a therapist who will help you find the right type of counseling or cognitive behavior therapy for you.
Do you have a go-to approaching for managing stress and anxiety in your life? Share your secrets for success in the comments below and check out the answers from other readers for new ideas and suggestions.
These are super helpful tips! I like to wake up every morning and give myself a self-love affirmation to set the tone of my day. You really do have to practice being positive and train yourself to optimistic thinking. I agree with you, exercising is not only a great distraction but it changes your mood and leaves you feeling really good!
Natonya | https://justnatonya.wordpress.com
I see a HUGE difference in my mood between days that I get a morning workout in and those where I don’t!
I wouldn’t say I suffer with stress and anxiety particularly, although I do get frazzled sometimes juggling three jobs, a family and a blog, haha. My goto for calming down and putting things into perspective is my garden – there’s been a lot of talk recently about how contact with nature and the earth can be beneficial and I think that’s certainly true for me. And pets too, of course, definitely agree with you on that one! X
Lisa | http://www.lisasnotebook.com
I am a firm believer about that connection with the environment. Running my business can sometimes get overwhelming, so during the warmer weather we make a point of taking a weekend off camping every month for exactly that reason.
These are amazing tips that I have definitely been using in my life to help!
Love, Amie ?
The Curvaceous Vegan
Thank you!
These are super helpful tips. I suffer from both depression and anxiety and people don’t always realise how crippling they can be! My cat used to be perfect for when I was having an anxiety attack. She would come and sit on my lap and I would just stroke her until I calmed down. Unfortunately she passed away last November so I’m trying to find other alternatives!
Daisy xoxo
My pup is the first one to pick up on when I’m struggling. She’ll come rest her head in my lap, and it’s the most comforting thing ever.
These were some great tips! I love the one about pets because it’s so true- pets calm us so much and I love that people are using animals more in therapies now. One therapy center I went to even had a pony show up for a group therapy! For me, going to therapy and journaling (which is probably how I find out my stressers and the roots of my problems!) help a lot. And cuddling with cats. That ALWAYS helps me. 🙂 I haven’t tried CBD but I know some people swear by it!
Emily | https://www.thatweirdgirllife.com
I have been so happy to see the shift to including therapy animals more as well, there are so many incredible benefits simply from spending time with an animal, be it a dog or a horse. I am also enjoying seeing a societal shift in relation to the perception of CBD products as they, too, offer some great benefits.
Exercise is a great stress reliever in my opinion. You can just get lost in exercising and always be proactive and healthy! It also gives you that sense of accomplishment once you finish!
Casey Anne
There is a noticeable difference in my day depending on whether I get my morning workout in or not – I find I am far more anxious and irritable without it.