How to Cope with Anxiety in Everyday Life

Living with an anxiety disorder is a constant challenge. While you may have some good days, those bad days are what tend to stick in your mind and can be unsettling reminders of how anxiety can affect your peace of mind.

Anxiety comes in many forms, making a ‘cure’ that works for everyone impossible to pin down. But the good news is that there are a lot of ways to cope; it just takes work to discover which methods work for you. Living with an anxiety disorder doesn’t have to control your life.

While there are truly so many ways to manage daily feelings of unease, some are more effective than others. To help you reclaim control of your life and wellbeing, we have made a list of some things you can try to help ease your day to day anxiety.

Emotional Service Animals

Unlike service animals that are mostly trained to help with a physical task, emotional service animals are there to help you with your mental and emotional needs.

Animals have an acute sense of when you are struggling and can be there to help you through those darker moments. Taking a break to stroke your animal or care for them can really distract you when your mind spirals. Additionally, you will never have to be alone as these animals are cleared to come with you to most public places, helping to relieve social anxiety and agoraphobia.

You can visit esaregistration.org to learn more about emotional service animals and the services they could provide to you.

Physical Activity

Getting active is a really quick way to combat any of those anxious feelings. By increasing your heart rate, you will get your endorphins pumping which will ultimately help to calm you down.

Even if you just go for a quick walk or jog outside, you’re likely to feel better in no time.

Retail Therapy

Now, this definitely isn’t a permanent solution and is something that should be done responsibly, but there is something to be said about treating ourselves when we aren’t feeling our best.

If your anxiety is getting you down, try and head to one of your favorite stores and walk around for a bit. Even treating yourself to some window shopping can be a good way to distract you and get you back on track.

Read a Book

Reading is another way to quickly soothe the mind. By escaping into a story, you can forget about the real world for a little while. This is going to help calm your mind some and hopefully placate some of those anxiety-ridden thoughts.

Even if you only sit down to read for ten minutes or so, it is a good amount of time to allow your brain to settle down and refocus on something other than your initial stressors.

Call a Friend

Oftentimes, when you are feeling anxious, it can feel like you are all alone in your struggles. A quick way to fight that feeling is to reach out to a family member or friend!

Talking to someone you know and love is a very healthy distraction and works wonders for the mind and soul.

Listen to Music

One final way to combat those anxious feelings is to turn on your favorite playlist. Music has a profound effect on the brain and is always a very healthy and useful distraction in times where your anxiety may be taking over.

Listen to some throwbacks or queue up some classical tunes – whatever you are in the mood for!

The Bottom Line

Living with anxiety is definitely a challenge, but it does not have to control your day-to-day happiness. Try out some of these ideas and see which one works for you!