Anxiety

Anxiety can affect people in different ways.

Physical Symptoms:

• Breathlessness,
• Feeling dizzy,
• Butterflies or feeling sick.

Thoughts: 

• Worrying thoughts that you cannot cope with daily things (school, friends or social situations).
• Expecting the worst possible scenario.

Behaviours:

• Withdrawing yourself and avoiding situations that cause anxiety such as going to school, being in groups or social situations, being away from parents or trying out new things.

Making positive changes may not completely resolve your anxiety overnight – but it is important to persist and keep trying. This is the first, very important step towards feeling less anxious.

Nothing lasts forever, even anxiety, and learning to cope with your difficult feelings will only make you stronger.

Recognise and Understand Anxiety

There are some strategies you can use that help to recognise and understand anxiety:

Talk about your anxiety. The most powerful way to control anxiety is by talking about it with a trusted person like a parent, friend, teacher or counsellor.

 Write down or keep a diary of how you feel; what you notice in your body; what your thoughts are and what you do.

Make a worry box. Writing down worries and putting them in a worry box where they can be ‘held’.

Have worry time.  You can set aside some ‘worry time’ during the day when you can discuss all your worries.

 Draw your anxiety. Drawing your anxiety can be helpful as an outlet, especially when it’s hard to put it in words.

When you have problems, there are some strategies you can use to help solve them:

You can think about whether there is anything that is making you feel anxious. Anxiety can happen due to problems with friendship, schoolwork or relationship with a family member. It can also be a combination of things. Are there any changes that you or others can make to help you cope with the challenges or make things easier?

Find and try out solutions. Write down as many solutions as you can think of. Then write down the advantages and disadvantages of each solution. You can then choose one or a combination of the solutions and try it or them out.

Ask for help. Sometimes worries are outside of our control and it is important to ask for some help from a trusted person. If you are unsure about how to manage your worries it is also good to speak to someone about them.

There are some coping strategies you can use to manage your anxiety:

Relaxation. You can do meditation, mindfulness, or deep breathing. There are many free apps that can help with this:

  Smiling Mind, Calm, Chill Panda, Self-help for Anxiety Management (SAM)

• Take a deep breath. Breathe in slowly through your nose and hold the air in your lungs. When you are ready to release the air, put your lips together and pretend that you are blowing through a straw.
• Stop and listen. Spend a few minutes just listening to the sounds around you. What sounds do you hear? Are they loud or soft? Pay special attention to interesting sounds you have never noticed before.
• Imagine your favourite place. Think of a place where you feel calm, comfortable and happy. It may be a beach, a forest, your bedroom, or somewhere else. Imagine what this place looks and sounds like and imagine how good you feel when you are there.

Self-soothe box. You can fill up a self-soothe box with items that help you manage anxiety. This can include fidget toys, photos, scented oils, positive quotes, toys, colouring sheets (e.g. mandalas). You can find out how to make a self-soothe box. 

Write a happy ending. When feeling worried, it is common to imagine the worst-case scenario. Try writing a positive ending.

Activities can also help you to feel calmer:

 Exercise

 Listen to your favourite music

 Practice a hobby

 Write in a journal 

 Talk to friends

Thought Challenging

There are some strategies you can use to help you to challenge anxious thoughts:

• Think about it. When you feel worried, you probably imagine that bad things happen/things go wrong. Think about what actually happens.
• Fact or opinion. Sometimes we tend to interpret thoughts as if they are facts. You can challenge your anxious thoughts by asking ‘Is it an opinion or a fact?’ Look for concrete evidence.
• What is your interpretation? Feelings are not based on events but how we interpret, or understand them. You might assume that an event is bad or threatening and this makes you anxious. You might help your anxiety if you take the time to consider whether the assumptions you make are correct, or whether events are less worrying than they first seem.