My friend was completely submerged underneath a pile of papers and books when she decided to take out her daily planner to see what other work was going to overload her upcoming week. As she scanned over the days, I could see in her eyes that her list of things to do grew and grew, along with the stress weight that began to push down on her. She began to worry so much that she became short of breath, her chest felt constricted and she thought she was going to pass out. She had just experienced an anxiety attack.
One out of every 75 people in the world experience anxiety attacks. They can be frightening, but with a few tips from Reader's Digest.com, dealing with anxiety is nothing to worry about.
1. When it feels like an attack is coming on, get on your bike, pull out your walking shoes or grab a gym bag. There's no better way to feel like you can breathe again than exercise.
2. Cut out caffeinated food, drinks and medications. Caffeine adds to the jittery, tense feeling of anxiousness.
3. Avoid conversations which could increase anxiety when feeling tired, overwhelmed or stressed. Try to maintain a "trouble free" time, especially before bed. Also try to stay focused on relaxation as much as possible.
4. Buy a white-noise machine to use when sleeping. The soothing sound guarantees a good night's sleep and lowers stress levels.
5. Choose one thing that may cause anxiousness and rank it on a scale of 1 to 10; 10 being most likely to happen. Most people will find that a majority of items don't rank above 5. Understanding the chance of anxiety will greatly reduce the feeling.
6. Rent a comedy and watch it. Laughing out loud releases endorphins that help lower stress hormones.
7. Follow the Relax, Detach, Focus steps. Detach from your thoughts, center yourself in the moment and focus on who you want to be and how you want to feel.
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