It often happens: it’s night, all the work is done, a person is tossing and turning in bed, something that prevents him from falling asleep.

And, it seems, the dishes are washed, the children are fed, the shirts are ironed - in general, the conscience is clear.

But something else gnaws at a person - some kind of unconscious anxiety, or a premonition, or a sediment, or two-in-one.

And the morning of such a person, who on the eve of grief still fell asleep in half, will begin with the same thing that ended the evening: with incomprehensible anxious feelings. And there is no end to them.

Familiar story?

How to get rid of anxiety: causes

Joking aside, but, apart from the explanation “I am such an anxious and suspicious person” and “I now have a black streak in my life”, the causes of anxiety states can be phenomena less harmless than simple excuses and everyday interpretations.

From a psychological point of view, your anxiety can be explained by:

Stress (say, an anxiety neurosis can form due to fear of changing jobs, housing, partners; uncertainty, danger);

Activated under the influence of certain factors, deep emotional drives of various origins, including sexual ones.

From a physiological point of view, your anxiety can be explained by:

Violation in the endocrine system and, accordingly, hormonal failure in the adrenal glands and some parts of the brain, whose products - hormones - are responsible for fear and anxiety;

Severe illness.

If you feel that your anxiety state does not lend itself to your own tricks and self-persuasion, then a visit to the doctor is inevitable.

Only one specialist, a psychiatrist, can diagnose such a condition. Often, the very word “psychiatrist” causes the layman to feel that he is about to be “packed” in Kashchenko, and reverse will no longer be. But the devil is not so terrible as the consequences of neglected anxiety states. Try to check yourself before contacting a professional.

Check and remember:

How “persistent” are your symptoms: increased anxiety, fear, disturbances, etc.;

How long the symptoms persist: if several weeks or longer, it is best to “surrender” to the doctor

Did the symptoms “grow up” from scratch: nothing threatens your life and health, your loved ones are in order, there is no war nearby;

Do you have angina attacks along with anxiety (they are easily confused with panic attack);

How long have you been examined by a general practitioner;

In what conditions does anxiety appear, what provokes it, what foods or drinks do you eat.

Diagnosing anxiety disorders is usually not a very difficult task. An experienced psychiatrist will easily determine its presence, variety and prescribe the right treatment.

How to Get Rid of Anxiety: Professional Treatment for the Disorder

Anxiety is treated with both rational persuasion and drugs, and sometimes with a combination of the first and second.

Psychotherapy helps to understand the causes and teaches you to gradually deal with them. Any means are used: relaxation, biofeedback, meditation.

Psychotherapy anxiety states allows you to detect real reason development of the disorder. Special techniques, developed by psychiatrists, reduce sensitivity to factors that provoke exacerbation of anxiety, and the effectiveness of treatment directly depends on the patient's desire to correct the situation.

The medical treatment includes various drugs, including those widely advertised on TV. In this case, TV advertising can harm the patient with a real, not far-fetched problem. Drugs that help a person get rid of extreme fussiness, muscle tension or inability to sleep may be safe and effective when prescribed by a qualified physician. The same remedies will only exacerbate the problem if taken on the advice of neighbors, passers-by, and television "doctors."

A number of medicines that you won’t see in advertisements and won’t be sold in pharmacies just like that, when self-medicated, can make a relatively healthy person deeply ill: at least addicted to pills. Therefore, antidepressants, tranquilizers and adrenoblockers, which are designed to save your sleep, soul and quiet life, should also be prescribed to you by your doctor, and not by a neighbor from the second floor or a colleague from the office opposite.

If not thousands, then certainly hundreds of books have been written on the topic of getting rid of anxiety. These are the works of experienced psychologists and people who have gone through various stages of such disorders and have gained useful experience.

Book Andrew Page "Anxiety and Fear... How to Overcome" teaches "alarmists" and "alarmists" to cope on their own with obsessive anxiety. Here the reader finds clear and consistent instructions for following the slow breathing technique, which has already helped many to cope with the disorder without drugs and doctors.

Lifelong student of game psychology Stuart Brown, I am convinced: only the game will save your sound sleep and a positive daytime mood. He believes that even physical exercises should be not work for a person, but a game, he advises to play with friends more often, get off the Internet, turn off the computer and phone.

Canadian writer Robert Sawyer believes that news is one of the main sources of anxiety. News, reality shows, horror films deposit an information “seed” in our subconscious, which later gives unprecedented and dangerous sprouts. Yes, and our Russian literature in the person of the great Professor Preobrazhensky in "Heart of a Dog" voices the opinion of the writer Mikhail Bulgakov: "Do not read Soviet newspapers before dinner."

Psychologists advise:

Get more sleep.

Ventilate the room: the air in the room should be fresh, and best temperature- 20 degrees.

Draw curtains, put on a sleep mask - provide darkness that will help you fall asleep.

Limit yourself to alcohol, nicotine and other addictive nervous system substances.

How to get rid of anxiety: non-traditional methods and means

Have you tried becoming your own psychologist?

Sometimes an alarming residue remains after recent unpleasant events that ended happily. Play projectionist: rewind today like a movie reel.

It happens like this: the unpleasant news received in the morning disturbed you all day. In the evening, you found that everything was decided in your favor, your head calmed down, and the nerves stretched during the day continue to maintain an alarming “lump” in your throat and chest. Moreover, you have no obvious reasons for worrying.

Having rewound the “film” back until the morning, remember the whole day every minute, and pay special attention to the moment when the issue was resolved positively. Perhaps this technique will save you from many hours of causeless insomnia.

How to get rid of anxiety: not without meaning, but sometimes conflicting advice that you can hear from neighbors, colleagues, acquaintances

Stop thinking and planning too much. Imagine that everything you feared has already happened a long time ago.

Calm down, take a deep breath and imagine that everything that happens around you is for your own good.

Do something household: cleaning, washing dishes, sewing, knitting. Buy some old groceries for your neighbor.

Give up meat for a month or two. Many vegetarians are very laid back.

Read How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. Dale Carnegie

Get more physical activity, walk.

Try drinking green tea or mate - it helps a lot.

Check the heart, blood vessels and thyroid gland.

"Drink" the course of "Afobazole".

Do not drink "Afobazol" - it helps for a short time.

Go to a dating site to find yourself a new partner.

Go to gym.

Suffering is natural for a woman.

How to get rid of anxiety and no longer worry

Psychologists advise:

1. "Speak" the problem out loud or "to yourself."

This method is called affirmation. Its essence is a short life-affirming statement that does not include particles of “not”. Affirmation directs thinking in a positive direction and calms well. Psychologists recommend repeating any affirmation for three weeks, so the statement will become your good habit.

2. Breathing practices and muscle relaxation.

During an anxiety attack, a person breathes quickly and shallowly. Breathe slowly and deeply, so you will quickly relax and find peace. Perform the following exercise: inhale slowly, hold your breath, count to ten and exhale for a long time, twice as long as the inhale. Massaging tired muscles during the day will enhance the effect.

3. Take a break to drive away anxiety.

Focus on something positive, read good literature(“Anna Karenina” or any Poe book will not do) or while watching an entertainment program. If you combine this technique with affirmations and breathing practice, the effect will not be long in coming.

4. Relax!

We are always running somewhere, “launching” our health, nutrition and psychological state. The bustle generates stress and tension, which, without quality sleep and rest, become the masters of the situation, developing into anxiety disorders.

Go in for sports, go to the theater or cinema, walk more often before going to bed.

Anxiety will recede if you wish to get rid of it. Be healthy and don't worry!

Most of the representatives of mankind know an extremely unpleasant feeling, accompanied by a sharp change in the temperature of the hands, sticky sweat and a swarm of thoughts about some abstract danger that awaits us at every corner. Statistics claim that up to 97% of adults suffer from periodic anxiety attacks.

There are times when a feeling of real anxiety brings tangible benefits, forcing a person to take certain steps or prevent possible negative events. Unfortunately, most often a person is visited by anxiety that is unfounded and has no real basis. Here's how to get rid of this type of anxiety, we'll talk in this article.

Anxiety is characterized by hard-to-define forebodings, with a clear negative connotation, an implicit expectation of trouble, a state of complete uncertainty and uncertainty about anything. This is a rather exhausting feeling that takes a lot of strength and energy, devouring joy and optimism, preventing you from fully enjoying life.

Feelings of anxiety: how to get rid of with the help of relaxation techniques

1. Saying affirmations (out loud or to yourself).

An affirmation is a short life-affirming statement that does not have a “not” particle in its text, which has a rather powerful effect on a person. psychological impact. On the one hand, they direct thinking in a positive direction, on the other hand, they have a good calming effect. Psychologists advise repeating each affirmation for 21 days, it is during this period that the statement becomes your useful habit.

This technique, as a means of getting rid of anxiety, helps much better if a person is aware of the cause of his anxiety, for example, fear of public speaking or jitters before an interview. “I am an excellent speaker. The audience loves me” or “I am confident. I am the calmest person in the world."

According to experts, even if a person does not initially believe in the essence of these statements, then regular repetition does its job, and the brain begins to perceive the information as reliable and adapts to it. Within a few hours, a positive statement begins to build into your life position, which changes your attitude to the situation, and therefore sets your brain to solve this problem.

2. Breathing practice and muscle relaxation.

During an attack of inexplicable anxiety, a person breathes shallowly and quickly. Slow deep breathing with full concentration on it helps to quickly relax and find peace. One of effective ways how to get rid of anxiety - perform the following exercise: a slow breath, holding the breath, internal counting to ten and a long exhalation, twice the duration of the inhalation. Repetition is required until complete relaxation. You can ask someone to do an intense rubbing of the muscles in the shoulders and neck.

One of the causes of anxiety is the accumulated tension in the body, which must be dissolved. After breathing exercise, lie down on the floor or sit in a chair, close your eyes and concentrate on those muscle groups that are most clamped. As a rule, this is the head, neck, upper back and arms. Tighten one muscle group in sequence, count to 10, and then relax it. You can conduct a session involving the entire body, starting from the tips of the fingers and ending with the top of the head. A visit to a professional massage therapist is also great for relieving tension in the body and dissolving blockages in the muscles.

3. Distraction as a way to get rid of an anxiety attack.

This technique helps to switch attention and wait until the anxiety subsides. Focus your attention on something positive, like reading spiritual literature or watching a motivational show. Dream or direct your thoughts to an interesting activity, block access to the head of disturbing messages. Later, when the anxiety subsides a bit, you will be able to take control of your feelings. Combine this technique with affirmation and breathing practice.

4. Quality rest.

Living in modern world, we are constantly running, not paying attention to our health, nutrition, or psychological state. And in the constant bustle, tension and stress accumulate, which do not find a way out. Without proper sleep and regular rest, it is almost impossible to defeat anxiety attacks.

Set aside one day a week for family vacations, visiting the sauna, chatting with friends, trips to the countryside or fishing, going to the theater, etc. Go in for any kind of sport, walk before going to bed for at least an hour, give up junk food, and your well-being will improve significantly, and anxiety attacks will visit much less frequently.

We all experience feelings of anxiety, fear, and apprehension that something bad is about to happen from time to time. This feeling deprives us of peace and prevents us from relaxing. Sometimes the anxiety goes away, but many people, unfortunately, continue to live with this feeling. And in order to help yourself get rid of it, you first need to change your lifestyle.

Steps

Change your thoughts

    Determine the source of the concern. Sometimes it comes from feeling like you're buried under a lot of little things that you need to do. If you consider them separately, then they will not seem like a big source of stress at all. But when there are a lot of them, then they can be an unbearable burden. Therefore, the faster you start to get rid of them, the more confident and calm you will feel.

    • Get rid of small but unpleasant problems without delay. Don't let them accumulate. Pay your rent on time, pay your taxes early, sign up for classes early, don't miss doctor or dentist appointments, and so on.
    • If you think that there is no way you can change a situation, then try to approach the problem from a different angle. For example, if you can’t avoid the upcoming meeting with your relatives, whom you can’t stand, then set aside a certain amount of time for yourself that you will spend with them.
  1. Try to always look differently at problems that you cannot control. Some sources of anxiety will definitely not leave you alone anytime soon. For example, you will not be able to quickly heal a loved one, solve a financial problem, or resolve a discord in the family. But if you look at it from a different perspective, then you can certainly reduce stress and feelings of fear.

    • Do your best to improve the situation. For example, you can talk to a financial advisor to help you sort out your financial issues. Or go to a psychologist about your family problems.
    • Try to think less about your main problems. Constantly thinking about them will only make things worse. Of course, do your best to get rid of the problem as soon as possible, but don't forget to also take a walk in the park or watch your favorite movie.
  2. Train your mind to calm down faster. Have you tried meditation? It is very helpful in relieving stress and anxiety. If you practice regularly, you can significantly improve your mental health.

    • If you are still new to this business, then buy a meditation CD or sign up for meditation courses. There you will be taught how to calm your mind in stressful situations.
    • You can think about your problem while meditating. Focus on what triggers it. Find a quiet place in your home. Spend 5 minutes thinking about the problem and how it can be changed. After that, try not to think about it during the day.
  3. Share your feelings with others. Don't keep your worrisome thoughts inside, but discuss them with someone. They will help you look at the problem from a different perspective and even give you a couple of ideas on how to deal with it.

    • First, talk to your loved one. This could be your spouse, parent, brother, or a close friend who knows you well. Although, on the other hand, close people themselves are often sources of anxiety.
    • Talk to a psychologist. They are specially trained to be open-minded listeners, and they will help you find a way out of the current situation. So if you are experiencing a feeling of chronic anxiety, then go to a psychologist.

    Change your lifestyle

    1. Stop eating foods that can make you feel anxious. They only reinforce it.

    2. Add mood-enhancing foods to your diet. In addition to eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats to maintain your health, you should also eat the following foods that will improve your mood:

      • Acai berries, blueberries, and other foods high in antioxidants. Detoxing the body can help reduce feelings of anxiety.
      • Foods high in magnesium and potassium that help fight stress. Eat nuts, dark chocolate, and bananas.
    3. Get rid of the clutter. These piles of books, papers, and files will only increase the feeling of unease. Tidy up your home and workplace so that everything is in its place. Try to keep order every day.
    4. Refurbish the rooms. Refresh your apartment: put new wallpaper in the bedroom or living room, buy new sheets or pillows, rearrange the furniture.
    5. Discover new places. Travel. Go somewhere on the weekend, or just take a walk in the park on the other side of the city. Stimulate your brain with new experiences, sounds, and smells. And your mood will change.

How to conquer fear:

Squeeze and release.
As you inhale, strongly tighten and squeeze your feet and palms. Pull in and contract the muscles in your legs, shoulders, neck, and abdomen. Exhale and sharply relax the body. Continue to tense and relax the muscles until you feel a slight warmth in them.

Shake out excess.
Raise your right leg and shake it 7 times. Then do the same with your left foot. Shake well after that. right hand and palm, and then the left. Gradually reduce the number of movements performed in each direction from 6 to 1 repetition.

Shall we dance?
Put on your headphones or just turn on some music at home. Dance for 3-5 minutes while the song lasts. If you want to restore spiritual harmony, choose a dynamic kirtana.

Relax completely.
Sometimes just taking a warm bath or hot shower is enough to help you feel better. In other cases, a soothing massage session helps.

Breathe deeper.
Direct your attention to those parts of the body where there is a lot of tension. Exhale into each center of tension, saying: "I let go."

Understanding where and how anxiety starts will help you find ways to release it.

Worry can be your teacher. It shows in which part of the body the accumulated stress is hidden and unprocessed emotions are stored. Worry is a reminder that there is something you need to take care of. It is important that the feeling of anxiety indicates the need for internal growth or the fact that you need to reconsider your views. Every time you encounter anxiety precisely when a recurring situation arises related to issues that are problematic for you. You may be afraid of the responsibility that comes with any opportunity to enter a new life. way. Scenarios can be very different.

And only when you are fully ready to become aware of the feeling of anxiety, pay attention to the sensations in the body, hear your thoughts and understand what kind of life situation caused this feeling, then you can curb anxiety. Anxiety, like stress, is an echo of fear.

The original meaning of the word "fear" is numbness. According to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, fear is the last link in the chain that begins with avidya (ignorance) - the primary misunderstanding of one's nature. This means that man has lost touch with the universe. Ignorance leads us to a very limited understanding of who we are. Not understanding our true nature, we inevitably find ourselves in a situation where we stop understanding other people and push them away from us.

Fear arises when we want to get something in life and do not get it. For example, you dream of a brilliant career, but you get stagnation in the professional field, or you want to get married, but you can’t build an ideal relationship with your loved one. Fear also arises when we get what we don't want: sickness, poverty, broken relationships.

The biggest fear is the fear of death. Since the very idea of ​​fear grows out of doubt about our ability to survive and live well, the fear of death is the deepest cause for experience.

At the same time, scientists note that fear exists for a reason. This feeling is necessary in order to protect us. Inside the temporal lobe of the human brain is the amygdala (or amygdala) - the amygdala. She is responsible for the development of primary emotions - anger and fear. The amygdala instantly affects your well-being and can change it in seconds, because if you are in real danger, you need to act very quickly. The moment the body realizes that something is going wrong, the amygdala reacts rapidly, sending signals to the brain. And the amygdala response at this point bypasses the rational part of the brain responsible for making informed decisions. If there is a suspicion that a snake is in front of you, you will not begin to think and analyze, but jump aside. Often in the role of such a "snake" are memories from the past, which were resurrected by the events taking place at the moment. For example, when a mother raises her voice and gets angry at them, children often feel that her cry threatens their lives. And then, in adulthood, when someone starts talking in raised tones, people can feel uncomfortable: everything shrinks inside, tension builds up in your neck, and you begin to respond as if you were on the defensive. The source of anxiety is in your past, but the emotional response is here and now.

However, paradoxically, anxiety mostly lives in the future. Brain scientist Joseph LeDoux associates anxiety with anticipation. For example, a person whose palms sweat at the moment when the plane takes off from the ground is afraid that something will happen to the plane. We often think that worry can protect us from a bad ending.

How to get rid of anxiety? Recognize this emotion. Right now, think about how anxiety affects the state of your body. What parts of the body begin to shrink when you are nervous? What happens to your shoulders when you're energized and all you think about is work? After thinking about it now, next time pay attention to what is happening to your mind. What dialogue are you having with yourself?

Ask yourself the question: "What is my feeling of anxiety? Can I let go of this feeling?"

If you are still feeling anxious, then you should listen to any of the other emotions that are currently bothering you - sadness, anger, resentment, or envy.

As you work with anxiety, you may become familiar with, and even become friends with, the sensations, thoughts, and emotions that accompany your habitual anxiety. This may not happen as quickly as you would like. Sometimes it takes a while just to feel the sensations in the body
and recognize negative thoughts. But when you begin to pay close attention to the feeling of anxiety that accompanies you, the iron shackles will begin to fall. You will feel lightness in your shoulders, the internal dialogue will become softer and kinder, and negative emotions stop hurting you.

One day you will realize that worry is essentially pure energy. This matter can be perceived as anxiety, but it can be viewed in a slightly different way: as excitement or as a readiness for action. Such energy can signal to you the need to cheer up and ignite the inner fire. The more often you practice mindfulness of this feeling and work with it, allowing it to stay with you, but not interfere, the faster you will notice that it can dissolve. Using the feeling of anxiety as a signal to let go of any emotions. You will notice that you will begin to find your own means of releasing old emotional traumas.

Then you will be able to understand one of the main secrets of the human body: all the energy that is in us, and even negative emotions that can cause pain and discomfort, carry the pure energy of life. This energy, if you can get to it, will open true bliss for you. It turns out that behind such an unpleasant feeling as anxiety, there may be an endless life energy available to you.

This is the essence of life that yogis were able to understand: as soon as we let go of emotions and break through psychological blocks, something incredible happens. Primary negative emotions that live in the amygdala and form there, show us a different face. They will point out to us the existence of an energy, which in yoga is called shakti - this is the energy that provides the potential for joy and bliss.

Many of us often experience an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety, which is very difficult to control and sometimes we cannot even explain what caused it to be so unpleasant phenomenon. Anxiety, fear and other feelings of anxiety are usually accompanied by other problems. Along with anxiety, insomnia may appear. This suggests that the nervous system is out of order and is in stressful condition. Therefore, first of all, you need to adjust the nervous system in order to get rid of constant anxiety.

Stop constantly remembering the past and thinking about the future

The past stays in the past, so put past failures out of your mind. No need to grieve in vain, it is better to learn from the experience and continue to move on. Get rid of the burden that is holding you back.

Many people do not stop looking back and trying to look and predict the future. We do not know what will happen tomorrow, then we should not guess: "What will happen if ...". Stop constantly worrying about tomorrow, start living and enjoying today.

A good cure for inner anxiety is to find something to do

The causes of feelings of fear and anxiety are sometimes incomprehensible to a person. Therefore, in order to get rid of feelings of anxiety, you need to find a useful activity. A busy person doesn't have time to worry. Since our brain does not allow us to think about two things at the same time, then one thought has to crowd out the other.

The best way to overcome inner anxiety will expand the scope of their own interests. You will be doing interesting things for you that will help you stay afloat. It can be any hobby, like sports, and creativity, go in for tourism, embroidery, work.

When should you see a doctor?

It is common for everyone to experience feelings of anxiety or fear of anxiety from time to time. If it becomes difficult for you to overcome the state of anxiety on your own, it does not leave you for a long time, interferes with work, then you need to see a doctor. Three reasons to see a doctor:

  • When, in addition to constant anxiety, you are short of breath, chest pain and dizziness.
  • During panic attacks, you have periods of unexplained intense fear.
  • To get rid of feelings of anxiety, you begin to avoid people or situations.

Breathing exercises help to get rid of the constant feeling of anxiety.

People who often experience anxiety are recommended to practice yoga. This helps not only to relax the body, but also get rid of negative emotions. With the help of these exercises, the muscles of the chest and abdomen are strengthened and relaxed, and the flow of vital energy is restored.

  1. To do the exercise correctly, you first need to kneel, put one hand on your stomach, and the other on your thigh. It is important here to feel how your abdominal wall rises when you inhale and retracts when you exhale.
  2. The palms should be placed on the chest, while inhaling - raise the chest, while exhaling - lower the chest, pressing on it with your hands.
  3. For this exercise, you need to tighten your abdominal muscles. While inhaling - raise your shoulders with the upper part of the chest, while exhaling - lower your shoulders, while relaxing the abdominal muscles.

Feelings of anxiety and fear during pregnancy

During pregnancy, almost every woman will be accompanied by such a feeling as fear. Feelings of anxiety may come with the thought that is growing inside you new life and you have a huge responsibility for it. These feelings will visit you day after day, but you will not always be able to explain what they are caused by. In order to overcome these emotions, you first need to figure out what causes them.

The first and most important reason is hormonal changes in a woman's body. Each woman will react differently to these changes. One becomes calm, balanced, the other becomes whiny and irritable.

The initial disturbing background also plays an important role. It is influenced by the experience of a previous pregnancy, the state of health of the mother, various psychological factors, such as attitudes in the family, the desirability of this pregnancy.

Often, fears are associated with medical information that falls on the expectant mother. Stories of familiar women about their pregnancy and their feelings. All this leads a pregnant woman into confusion, who does not know who to believe. The main advice in this case is to remember that all women are different and each pregnancy is individual and unique.

Book by Dmitry Kovpak How to get rid of anxiety and fear. Practical guide for a psychotherapist " (brief review of the book)

I would like to draw your attention to the book of the famous psychotherapist Dmitry Kovpak How to get rid of anxiety and fear. A practical guide for a psychotherapist. This book describes well-known fears, anxieties, anxieties that are fraught with consequences. This book will be a good help to people who want to solve this problem.

Video on how to cope with fear and not succumb to panic at a decisive moment.