Adolescent counseling

If you have ever struggled with anxiety, you are pretty normal. Anxiety is our bodies’ natural response that helps us to survive threatening situations. However, when you feel constantly bombarded with thoughts, feelings, and physical symptoms of anxiety to real or even imagined threats, you may benefit from the following tools to recover from anxiety attacks. Many people even work themselves into an attack because they fear having an attack so much. Instead of focusing your energy on preventing anxiety attacks, focus on if or when any anxiety attacks come having enough tools and skills to recover from them so well that the fear is diminished and perhaps even eliminated. Here are a few you can put in your tool belt.

1. Recognize your physical, psychological, and behavioral symptoms of anxiety. Physically, do you get a stomachache, increased heart rate, shallow and rapid breathing, sweaty palms, fidgetiness or restlessness? Psychologically, do you tell stories in your mind that confirm your fears even though it is not based in reality, lose confidence in your abilities, feel feelings of fear, or have racing thoughts so you cannot fall asleep or focus? Behaviorally, do you do self-sabotaging behaviors such as addiction, nervous habits such as nail biting or restless feet? Ask your self what are ways that anxiety manifests in me? And then begin to recognize it when it is happening.
2. Separate yourself from the anxiety. When you notice the symptom tell yourself, “This is anxiety telling that untrue story in my mind, not me. This story is not true, and it is not coming from my true self.”
3. Disobey what “Anxiety” is telling you to do. If anxiety is telling you to breathe faster and shallower, consciously disobey its orders by breathing deeply and slowly or stop biting your nails etc.
4. Sit with the uncomfortable feeling of disobeying “Anxiety” and practice all of your customized self-soothing techniques. Many people do the behaviors that anxiety prescribes because they feel uncomfortable if they don’t. When you disobey anxiety, you are entering new territory and it can feel uncomfortable to not always do your routine habits. Develop a list of things you can do to self-soothe in a healthy way. Often, this may look like mindful-awareness of your senses like a nice smell, seeking support of a family member or friend, or physically doing things that comfort and calm you like take a warm bath. If you get so great at recovering from anxiety symptoms, then you will feel empowered rather than fearful when one pops up again in your life.