Overcoming Anxiety and the Freeze Response

1.   The first step in overcoming anxiety is to recognize that your job when experiencing anxiety is to make yourself as comfortable as possible while the feeling passes. Anxiety will pass. While you are waiting for the anxiety to pass, remind yourself that this feeling will go away, and concentrate on making yourself comfortable physically and emotionally. To increase physical comfort, find a comfortable position, stretch your muscles, and loosen any tight clothing you are wearing. To increase emotional comfort, continue with the rest of these 5 anxiety treatment methods - starting with positive, calming self-talk.

2.   Use calming self-talk. Much of what we say to ourselves when experiencing anxiety in fact causes us to feel more anxious. Tell yourself calming phrases such as:

“This feeling will pass.”
“I will get through this.”
“I am safe right now.”
“I am feeling anxious now, but soon I will be calm.”
“I can feel my heart rate gradually slowing down.”

3.   Acknowledge and accept the anxiety. Fighting the anxiety makes it stronger. Paradoxically, accepting that you are feeling anxious causes the anxiety to go away.

If you are feeling brave enough to try the following, it is one of the most powerful anxiety treatment strategies:
For 10 minutes, try to make yourself as anxious as possible. Think anxious thoughts. Try to get your anxiety to increase to the highest imaginable level. When your anxiety reaches a 10 out of 10 - good! - Now try to keep it there for at least 5 full minutes.
You will probably find that you are not able to keep your anxiety at a high level. This is a type of exposure technique, in which you face your fears and, paradoxically, they vanish.

4.    Distract yourself. Distraction is an effective way of putting your mind on something other than the anxiety symptoms you are experiencing, and is a surprisingly effective anxiety treatment. It is difficult for the mind to focus on more than one thing at once. If you find something to focus on intently, your mind will not be able to maintain the anxiety for long.

5.   Use relaxation techniques. Relaxation is the body’s natural anxiety cure because relaxation techniques actually reverse the stress response. Start using quick relaxation techniques to induce the relaxation response. This will counter the body’s stress response and reduce anxiety symptoms.

Head to the “Anxiety” section in the library to learn how to quickly achieve relaxation. You can also download the recent recording:  “Meditation for Overcoming the Freeze and Panic Response,” which is free all this month at mythoughtcoach.com.