Anxiety is a common and natural emotion that everyone experiences from time to time.
When anxiety becomes overwhelming, persistent, or interferes with daily functioning, it can affect one's mental well-being and quality of life. It can also lead to more serious mental health issues like depression, generalised anxiety disorder, and panic attacks.
But what if there are ways to grow resilience to anxiety and stress?
If you’re currently struggling with anxiety or another mental health problem, improving your mental well-being may seem challenging at first. Learning strategies to boost resilience against anxiety can enhance mental well-being.
What is resilience?
According to the study, resilience is "the ability to maintain adaptive functioning despite serious risks."
Resilience means responding to stress, trauma, adversity, or other significant risks without being affected. It involves finding the mental strength and resources to cope with challenges or difficulties.
Resilience can help improve mental wellbeing
The study revealed that “Individuals with high resilience can maintain their mental health despite experiencing multiple stressful life events. Conversely, those with low resilience may experience a decline in mental health as stressful life events accumulate.”
People with a strong sense of resilience in the face of anxiety feel more in control of their lives, and less stressed and anxious overall.
They recover more quickly from significant challenges. They are also more likely to have confidence in their abilities, which can boost their self-esteem and improve mental well-being.
Resilience is a learned behaviour
Are you born with resilience or is it a trait that you can develop with practice? It is not an innate quality, but a learned behaviour. This means that even if you occasionally battle with anxiety, it does not always follow that you will always do so.
When you practice dealing with challenging situations, you will improve your ability to manage stress stressful situations. Think of it like learning a new skill. The more you practice, the better you get.
By learning effective ways to respond to stress, you can maintain your mental well-being instead of adding to your difficulties. Over time, this helps you become stronger at bouncing back from hard times.
How to build resilience to anxiety
Here are some quick ideas to help you increase your resilience:
Understand your anxiety.
First and foremost, it is important to understand the nature of your anxiety. Reviewing what makes you feel anxious, and what helps you feel less anxious is important.
You can keep a journal of your anxiety triggers and symptoms and make a note of what things help you to calm down and feel better.
By identifying the triggers and symptoms of your anxiety, you can start to develop a clearer picture of what you are dealing with. That will help you to recognise when you need to take action to manage your anxiety better.
You will be prepared for potential anxiety triggers and have the tools to help you respond better, stay on top of the situation, and maintain your mental well-being.
Practice guided meditation to manage stress.
Guided meditation is a great way to relax and feel less anxious. When you're stressed, it can be hard to quiet your mind. That's where guided meditation comes in.
You listen to someone's calming voice as they walk you through relaxing your body and focusing your thoughts. They might ask you to picture a peaceful place or focus on breathing. This helps take your mind off what's making you anxious and slows down racing thoughts.
As you practice, you learn to be more aware of the present moment instead of worrying about the future.
Many people find that doing guided meditations regularly makes them feel calmer overall and better able to handle stress.
Boost your self-confidence and self-esteem with hypnosis.
Boosting self-confidence and self-esteem is key to building resilience against anxiety. A strong sense of self-worth improves your ability to handle stress and anxiety.
Strong self-esteem helps you believe in your ability to handle tough situations, which can reduce anxiety. It makes you less likely to dwell on negative thoughts or assume the worst will happen.
Self-hypnosis can be a handy tool in this process. It's a method that involves using focused attention and positive suggestions to alter one's thoughts and emotions.
According to a randomised study, self-hypnosis had a positive effect on self-esteem and emotional distress in cancer patients.
During self-hypnosis, you might repeat suggestions to yourself or imagine successful outcomes. This can help rewire your brain to focus on your strengths rather than your fears.
Regular practice of self-hypnosis can gradually build up confidence and self-esteem, making you more resilient when facing anxiety-provoking situations.
When people feel more confident, they are more likely to take risks and try new things. Hypnosis can help relieve anxiety and build confidence.
Build strong support networks
Having a strong support network can help you cultivate resilience against anxiety. This network may include people you trust, like friends, family, or even a counsellor.
When feeling anxious, these people can listen to you and offer comfort. They might share their own experiences with anxiety, which can make you feel less alone.
People who support you can help you see things differently when your worries seem overwhelming. They can encourage you to try new coping strategies or remind you of times you overcame challenges in the past. Just knowing you have people to turn to can make you feel more confident in facing your anxiety.
Over time you can develop stronger coping skills and become more resilient. This means you'll be better prepared to handle anxious feelings in the future.
Try BWRT Brain Working Recursive Therapy.
BWRT is a proven method for improving mental well-being, including your resilience and ability to cope with anxiety.
BWRT is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on changing unhelpful thinking patterns as well as changing desirable responses to anxiety-provoking situations. Learn more about BWRT.
Love yourself.
Self-love plays a big part in building resilience against anxiety. When you love yourself, you're kinder to your thoughts and feelings. This means you don't beat yourself up when you feel anxious. Instead, you learn to comfort yourself, just like you would a good friend.
Self-love helps you remember your strengths and good qualities, even when anxiety makes you doubt yourself. It also gives you the courage to try new things to manage your worries, like talking to someone or learning relaxation techniques.
When you practice self-love, you start to believe in yourself more. This makes it easier to bounce back from tough times and not let anxiety control your life.
Over time, loving yourself can make you stronger and better equipped to handle stressful situations.
In conclusion, resilience to anxiety is a valuable skill that can help people cope with stress, uncertainty and challenges in life. Everyone can learn and practise this skill through various strategies, such as cognitive reframing, mindfulness, self-compassion and social support. You can enjoy a more positive and fulfilling life by building mental strength and personal resilience.
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