Hello everyone, I'm Amy from the blog 'Relief From Anxiety'. I write all about anxiety and mental health from my own experience, alongside the occasional lifestyle post. Aimee has kindly asked me to write a post for her, giving some tips on how to cope with anxiety. Here goes!
My first tip would be to seek professional help if you feel you are really struggling. It was the first thing I did and my doctors firstly advised counseling. Your doctor should have knowledge on the condition. But if they don't, there's always the option to see another one. They should know what's the best thing for you.
Secondly, it's really important to talk. If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know it's the thing I write about the most. However, I understand that not everyone has someone to talk to. But, there is so much support about these days, whether that be through charities, or talking to someone you trust, like a parent or a teacher. I have listed some good charities over on my blog that have online counsellors, for example.
Education is another great tool to help you to understand your condition. You can find out how anxiety works by looking on the internet and which I have also written a post about. Try not to get sidetracked into self diagnosing as that can only lead to a downward spiral. It's just good to know why your body is reacting in certain way, so you can notice it when it happens.
Breathing is a main technique of controlling anxiety. By breathing in through your nose for a shorter time than you exhale through your mouth, your nervous system will begin to calm. Do this repeatedly.
A final tip that I can offer, is having faith in yourself. I know it may sound somewhat cheesy, but believe me it's very important. Unfortunately, you may come across some people who can be negative towards mental health (still - I know!) but, you'll be glad to know this number is decreasing. So, you may have set backs, a person may make a comment and you may feel it all gets too much. But, it's important to keep going and find the strength to do so. You can recover.
I hope these tips have helped and thank you to Aimee for asking me to write. You can keep up to date or contact me through the following links:
Blog: www.reliefromanxiety.blogspot.com
Email: reliefromanxiety@gmail.com
Bloglovin: www.bloglovin.com/reliefromanxiety
Twitter: @reliefofanxiety