British researchers reveal the most effective techniques for reducing stress and anxiety.
Anxiety can manifest in different ways. Mild but constant discomfort, lack of concentration, insomnia, irritation, varying pains, or panic attacks. Untreated, it increases the risk of depression and suicide. When treatments are not effective, especially in the long run, these are small daily gestures that can change the way anxiety affects us. Researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, have decided to present the most effective techniques, according to science, at the 30th Congress ECNP (European College of Neuropsychopharmacology). Medical Xpress has published the three main:
Quick decisions
If you feel like you are losing control of your life and making decisions requires a lot of effort, a way to accelerate the process is to get started without thinking. By trying to do something perfectly or waiting for the ideal moment to come, we risk procrastinating and increasing the dose of stress and anxiety. Diving into action allows you to spend less time worrying and gaining efficiency.
Forgive yourself
If one of your friends spent time criticizing you and pointing your finger at each of your mistakes, you’d make sure you don’t go around. So why don’t you treat yourself with more kindness? People who suffer from anxiety tend to judge and criticize themselves harshly. Try to limit this reflex. Another trick is to shift the anxiety. When you feel the anxiety going up about a particular subject, you can tell yourself that you will think about it later. In this way, your unconscious will have time to step back and you will avoid to “feed” your anxiety.
Find a goal
To have a developed social life would be, according to science, one of the most effective ways to strengthen its mental health. “For people who think they don’t have enough good reasons to live, those who don’t expect anything from life, it’s important to realize that other people need them,” says neurologist Viktor Frankl. Caring for a child or an elderly person, volunteering, participating in a group activity… every way is good to give back a meaning to his life.
