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3: Be Mindful Being aware of our body and surroundings in a non-judgemental way can reduce feelings of anxiety and bring a state of calm. Close your eyes and observe your 1: Nurture Yourself breathing: notice your body, how the intake Eat regular well-balanced meals (e.g. three ANXIETY of air feels and what sensations you nutritious meals a day). observe. MANAGEMENT: Avoid or reduce alcohol, nicotine, and Shift your awareness to what you can hear, caffeine intake. 10 TECHNIQUES smell, and touch, being aware of the Exercise regularly, particularly with a environment outside your body. cardiovascular or relaxation component. Anxiety can affect your body, mind and Shift awareness back and forth from your Perform regular self-care - such as relaxing behaviour. Here are some helpful tips* for body to your surroundings several times. activities and regular planned breaks. managing anxiety by addressing these three Have a good sleep routine. areas. We suggest you choose a few to 4: Use Cues to Relax start with that seem most relevant to you. When you are aware that your body is tense or 2: Breathe you feel that you cannot let go of worry or Breathing well can slow down or interrupt the stress, use this as a cue to practice more anxiety response, and provide a sense of calm, regular relaxation. grounding, or relaxation.ยท Try tightening and releasing different muscle Practice conscious deep breathing for 1 HEALTHY BODY groups, to practice relaxing the ones that minute at a time, whenever you are waiting are most tense. for something (e.g. waiting in line, for an Imagine when you breathe out that any Physical symptoms of anxiety can include exam to start, when stopped at a traffic tension in your body is flowing outward, and muscle tension, racing heart, dizziness, light). as you breathe in, imagine it is being sweating, and shortness of breath. These can Try lengthening your exhalation or outward replaced by warmth, energy, and peace. occur unexpectedly and be quite distressing. breath - breathe in for 4 seconds and Think of an image or scene that is relaxing to They can be prevented or reduced by regular breathe out for 5 or 6 seconds. Practice this you, and picture this when feeling tense or self-care and relaxation. cycle a few minutes each day, or whenever under stress. you think of it. Schedule regular relaxing and enjoyable activities - such as massage, warm baths, exercise, or being in nature. 7: Contain Your Worry If your worry is hard to control, distracts you from your daily tasks, and consumes your thinking, try some ways to limit the worry and HEALTHY MIND allow yourself a break. Identify if your worry is solvable (has an Anxiety can be accompanied by mental activity aspect within your control) or that is distressing, distracting and 6: Interrupt Anxious Thinking unsolvable (outside of your control). unproductive. This includes worry and Sometimes it's hard to use logical thinking, Use problem-solving to focus on solvable preoccupation with fears or imagined negative especially when anxiety is high. Temporary worries. Clearly identify the problem, outcomes. The more you worry, the more it is disruption of anxious thoughts can help you brainstorm possible solutions, use pros and likely to occur. access your logic and choose what you would con lists to decide on the best solution(s), prefer to focus on. and make an action plan to address the 5: Be Realistic Identify if endless and aimless worry or problem. Often when people are anxious, they think of 'what if?' thinking is a problem for you. For unsolvable worries, use relaxation and the worst possible outcome to their situation, Try some different (and silly) ways to other techniques to reduce your negative even if this is unlikely to occur. This increases interrupt this negative process such as: reaction to the situation. anxiety and its effects. Sing your worries to a silly tune, or speak Worry well and only once - use a worry Notice if you are thinking the worst about them in a funny cartoon voice. journal or diary to list your worries once a your symptoms or situation. Pick a pleasant thought to focus on or day (up to 20 mins). When and if those Remind yourself that feelings are not facts - imagine, such as something you look worries re-occur during the day, remind just because you dread a certain outcome, forward to or are proud of doing. yourself that you have already worried does not make it more likely to occur or make Listen to music or an audio book. about that today. your worries come true. Intentionally revert your attention back Imagine an empty container to store your Employ logic - challenge yourself to think of to the task you are performing, reminding worries - picture yourself placing your an outcome or conclusion that is less yourself that worry is unhelpful. worries into this, naming them as you go, catastrophic, and more likely to occur in then mentally put on the lid. Invite a reality. You may need to ask others to help in peaceful thought or re-focus onto the task the start. Write down your response as a you are working on. future reminder. Think of times in the past when your worries have proved false. HEALTHY MIND CONTINUES... Make a list of ideas for back-up activities 8: Coach Yourself during unexpected free time, preferably a Some anxiety is normal in life, but avoiding range of relaxing or enjoyable activities (e.g. HEALTHY things in everyday life that we fear only makes go to the art gallery, read a book) with a anxiety stronger. If we are able to approach range of durations. During an unexpected BEHAVIOUR valued but anxiety-provoking situations, they free time, choose one from your list. become easier over time and with practice. Do not do tasks that are not your Assess your avoidance - be aware of places responsibility. Sometimes, allow others to In overcoming anxiety, it is usually not enough and situations you avoid due to anxiety but contribute to tasks or help you, even if you to change our thoughts alone. Improving the which you would like to approach. believe they won't do it the way you would. way we manage stress and approach anxiety Rate your fear of these on a 1 to 10 scale Practice doing small tasks imperfectly (e.g. provoking situations can often be the most (with 1 being low levels of anxiety and 10 intentionally miss a spot when sweeping the important step. being the highest possible anxiety). The goal floor, or leave out a full-stop in an essay). of coaching is to decrease this fear. This will feel uncomfortable, but will help you Assess your self-talk - What unhelpful things 9: Reduce Over-Activity relax more by reducing your focus on are you telling yourself about the situation unnecessary details. Some people do more when anxious. Whilst which increase anxiety? Balance your time Use a diary, schedule, or high activity can reduce anxiety in the short- List your goals - How is avoidance pie-chart to track how you are spending term, as you might achieve some goals, it interfering with these? Write down what you time in different areas. Make sure the can worsen anxiety in the long-term as you would like to do if anxiety was not in the categories that are important to you are begin to feel over-worked and way. included e.g. sleep, eating, exercise, overwhelmed. Begin to practice in small doses tolerating social/relationships, work, study and so on. Check if over-activity is a problem for you: some anxiety without trying to escape it Laugh and have fun - a revolutionary idea, Do you feel the need to be constantly immediately (you may need some help with but practice laughing from your belly. Have busy? this if your levels are high).Practice coaching on hand some things that make you laugh Do you find it hard to slow down or relax yourself in more useful statements to counter (e.g. funny pictures, messages) for use on and get more anxious when you have negative self-talk e.g. 'I may feel anxious stressful days. unplanned free time? but I am still able to do this.' Think of occasions when you have coped well or when the feared outcome has not occurred. Write them down to help remind you. HEALTHY UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN BEHAVIOUR DEPARTMENT OF STUDENT AFFAIRS CONTINUES... STUDENT WELLNESS SERVICE 10: Make a Plan and Practice Counselling services: To feel confident and competent using the We are a student counselling service, offering strategies you have chosen, make a plan to predominantly short-term counselling and practise these regularly so they can become CONCLUSION psychotherapy, with the aim of ensuring that new, healthy habits. whatever personal, emotional or psychological Learn about anxiety. It will reduce if you can These skills require patience and problems you experience, the impact of these unlearn the fear through good coping determination. However, once learnt, on your academic studies are kept to a minimum experiences. and your capacity for achievement is optimised. Become well-practised at quick calming you can build confidence in overcoming techniques such as deep breathing for use anxiety through your own effo when anxious. Health services: Set meaningful goals for your life and The Student Wellness Service offers a identify the skills you need to achieve these. comprehensive outpatient medical service by Find out where/how you can learn these both medical practitioners and nurses, who are skills, and build on them through practice. dedicated to helping students to remain Get help with this if it seems daunting. Start healthy, and to make the correct life choices with one small step (the least scary) to while pursuing their academic goals. approach your goal, and practice this until you feel ready to try the next level. For appointment please use the Remember that nothing is perfect - setbacks *Derived from Margaret Wehrenberg (2012). online booking system: The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques: will occur and this is normal. Reflect on what http://www.dsa.uct.ac.za/student- Workbook, W.W. Norton & Company Inc., New York. you could learn and do differently in the wellness/about-student-wellness future. Modify your plan if needed.
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