How To Manage Stress And Anxiety - 3 Effective Ways

Everybody will experience stressful situations of varying levels at some point in their lives. We can feel anxious because we don't feel like we're in control of events. We can become dissatisfied with our circumstances in life. We can be wracked with worry about things turning from bad to worse and dealing with uncertainty can be very hard. Here's how to manage stress and anxiety with 3 proven, effective methods.

The fact is that anxiety is a normal feeling for millions of people indeed, it's a normal sign of  being human.

Sadly, anxiety can dominate the lives of many sufferers. It erodes their self-confidence, harms their relationships, causes problems at work and effects their health. They are hounded every day by a constant inner voice saying that that things are not right and that they will probably get worse.

What may have initially a short episode of anxiety that ebbs and flows and shows up in minor non-debilitating ways becomes something more.

At this point, anxiety can become as serious problem. A sufferer can feel totally out of control, and absolutely terrified of what life holds for them.

Panic attacks are common, and irrational behavior, both at home and in the workplace just pour more fuel onto the fire.

For these suffers, many of whom have endured months or even years of suffering in silence, help is needed and available.

More often than not, this will be through the help of a cognitive therapist. They will be someone who can listen to the sufferer and help them to develop new perspectives and to normalize and re-introduce control over events. They can also suggest solutions to problems by offering different, positive outcomes and possibilities.

Close friends or family members who can lend support are also invaluable. People who suffer from anxiety can feel an urge to isolate themselves so having people who they can trust and who can lend support will help prevent this.

A visit to your family health practitioner is also a good idea and medication may well prove to be helpful - along with cognitive therapy - to help the suffer find lasting relief.

Anxiety is not an untreatable condition and the good news is that help and support is available to help sufferers experience a sense of freedom and relief from what otherwise may be a predominant way of being.

Do You Have These Physical Symptoms Of Stress And Anxiety?

It is widely believed that stress, anxiety and depression are "all in the mind". In fact, these conditions have physiological symptoms and it's necessary for sufferers to recognize them so they know how to manage stress anxiety and depression by first understanding what's happening to them. In this article, you'll find 3 of the most common physical symptoms of stress and stressful illnesses experienced by almost all sufferers.

Symptoms Of Stress One: Exhaustion - When you're in an episode of stress, anxiety or depression,  your usual sleeping routine will be disturbed. Getting to sleep isn't easy. And when you do finally manage to nod off, you won't enjoy a good sleep because you're in an episode of stress, anxiety or depression. Lack of deep sleep means your body cannot repair and restore itself leaving you feeling exhausted. Indeed, many sufferers have stated that they have slept for 12-14 hours yet still feel absolutely exhausted. The more lack of deep sleep you have, the more fatigued you will become. When you feel so exhausted, you're much more prone to assigning bad-outcome meanings to situations and you're now entering into the stress spiral. Breaking out of the stress loop is the only way to restore your usual sleep pattern.

Symptoms Of Stress Two: Pain In The Muscles - The second physical symptom most commonly experienced by sufferers is muscle pain, mainly in the legs. During my five years of anxiety, I would experience intense pains in my legs, especially the tops of my thighs and my calf muscles. At times, the pain would be excruciating. Muscle pain is a consequence of your disrupted sleeping routine, as described above. As you cannot repair your body, first exhaustion arises and then aching muscles and as you're in a highly-stressed state, both of these are making life very hard. The good news is that once you've broken out of the stress loop and restored your sleeping pattern, these aches and pains will disappear.

Symptoms Of Stress Three: Loss Of Libido - Losing your sex drive is a big part of stressful illnesses, especially depression and it affects both sexes. With males the clear indication of this is the inability to achieve an erection. For women, it is usually a total loss of interest in sex, with the sexual spark extinguished. As the individual concerned will be in an episode of a stressful illness, feeling absolutely shattered with aching, painful muscles, one can easily see why a loss of libido results. A zero appetite for sex also exacerbates the stress further lowering the already low mood level. Losing your libido is worrying, particularly if you have a partner thus increasing the anguish. If you've lost your sex drive, then please don't let it get to you because as soon as you're getting a good night's sleep, it will gradually return.

These are the three main physical symptoms of stress, anxiety and related stressful illnesses. There are others, but the ones above are experienced by almost all sufferers. When it comes to knowing how to manage stress and anxiety and similar problems, what is very important to know is that breaking out of the harmful stress spiral is the crucial step to making these symptoms disappear. To do that, you first need to understand what it is and how it maintains stressful illnesses. Then you apply powerful life skills to help you break out of the stress loop once and for all.