Feeling anxious or nervous are normal and adaptive reactions of our body to environmental demands, challenges such as a job interview or a move. Although these responses help to mobilize us and give us energy for adequate coping, managing these sensations can be key when optimizing our own resources and skills. If you want to know how to manage this type of stress and tension, keep reading this Psychology-Online article: Remedies for anxiety and nerves.
Symptoms of anxiety and nerves
Anxiety and nerves are activation responses of the organism human in the face of environmental demands and the perception or sensation of threat. These allow the mobilization of resources and coping with situations. There is a general symptomatology characteristic of anxiety and nerves that manifests itself in the physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral areas of the person. Symptoms of anxiety and nerves are:
- Physical symptoms: headache, stomach or chest pain, muscle tension, increased heart rate, increased sweating, nausea, tingling, dry mouth, fatigue, etc.
- Cognitive symptoms: decreased attention span, concentration or memory, slow thinking or repetitive thoughts.
- Emotional symptoms: restlessness, feeling of overwhelm, irritability, anxiety, worry, etc.
- Behavioral symptoms: not stopping moving, overeating or loss of appetite, nervous tics, nervous laughter, desire to cry or cry, increased consumption of tobacco and alcohol, etc.
Why does it cause anxiety and nerves?
Both anxiety and nerves are a adaptive response of our body in the face of external circumstances with the aim of promoting survival. The causes or external events that can result in an activation of the organism are infinite and depend on the person, their context, their perception of the situation and environmental demands, and their evaluation of the resources available to face them.
In other cases, this stress can be internal or self-generated through negative and repetitive thoughts, pessimism, an excess of self-imposed demands or, etc. The appearance of anxiety and nervous states is not exclusively linked to negative or aversive events, since any event that results in a emotional response can generate them. For this reason, it can appear during exams, job interviews or moves, as well as before the birth of a son or daughter or even when going on vacation.
Therefore, anxiety and nerves are reactions that allow a coping and adaptation to the circumstances in the most competent way possible by providing the body with energy, which allows a focus on the situation. Anxiety and nerves are involved in tackling small obstaclesnew challenges or changes and adjustments in our lives.
How to control anxiety and nerves
Small doses of anxiety and nerves are positive for the adaptation and survival of the organism. However, sometimes these can be too intense and affect negatively to our performance, resulting in unfavorable results. That is why it is important to be aware of our own sensations and emotions, in the same way that it is convenient to be able to find and generate a balanced response that favors our coping with situations and not an excessive one that is an obstacle and becomes disabling. However, achieving a compensated reaction is a difficult task and depends on multiple elements, which is why the most effective thing is to learn how to control or manage anxiety and nerves when they appear and we believe that they are too intense or interfere with proper functioning. What to do to overcome anxiety? How to calm your nerves? Below we specify 20 ideas to control anxiety and nerves.
20 remedies for anxiety and nerves
Below we list a total of 20 home remedies for anxiety and nerves that can be helpful to you to improve its management and control:
- Medicinal plants: There are a series of natural capsules for anxiety, some of these infusions are lime blossom, valerian, kava, chamomile, lemon balm or passionflower.
- Physical activity: Physical exercise plays an important role in managing the nerves, since, on the one hand, you focus your attention on movements and your body and, on the other, it increases serotonin levels and stimulates the brain, promoting feelings of well-being.
- Feeding: If you don’t know what to take for anxiety and nerves, there are a series of foods that can help combat it, some of them are dark chocolate, nuts, legumes, salmon, avocado, banana, etc. The components present in these foods help take care of your body and, therefore, your mind.
- Breathing: One of the exercises to combat anxiety is breathing, and greater control of this favors states of calm. Therefore, it is advisable to practice breathing habits, be aware of them, as well as perform different breathing habits that stimulate relaxation, such as abdominal inspiration or abdominal and ventral inspiration.
- Sleep hygiene: Lack of sleep increases stress and restlessness levels, so it is important to implement some guidelines such as sleeping the necessary hours, going to bed normally at the same time or avoiding exciting substances shortly before going to bed.
- Meditation: The regular practice of meditation is one of the most effective strategies when it comes to relaxing. You can learn this technique through classes or mobile applications like Headspace. In the following article you will find the.
- Display: In addition to meditation or in isolation, you can carry out imagination exercises in which you visualize yourself in a place that you identify as safe or relaxing. The more details you can project in your mind (sounds, smells, sensations, etc.) the better results you will obtain.
- Walk: Walks of at least 30 minutes help you disconnect, unwind and think more easily, as well as control anxiety and nerves. If you can, choose a quiet area with as few stimuli as possible.
- Listen to music: Music is one of the best allies when it comes to combating nerves. You can create a playlist that you find relaxing or puts you in a good mood to listen to when you feel restless or uneasy.
- Leisure: Spending part of your time doing activities that you find rewarding positively influences your emotional state because it is rewarding and makes it easier for your mind to distract itself from what worries you.
- Anticipate: If you know in which situations you are prone to feeling nervous and anxious, you can begin to address them before they appear by carrying out some of the remedies proposed in this section in advance, such as listening to music, controlling breathing, using medicinal plants. …
- Humor: Viewing funny or humorous content increases your mood and reduces levels of anxiety and nervousness in the body. This is because laughter stimulates endorphins, dopamine and serotonin, substances that promote relaxation and well-being.
- Social support: The social network is basic support in the fight against stress responses. You can use socialization to disconnect momentarily, have a good time or also to share what worries you. Verbalization helps to achieve distancing and an objective perception of the situation that makes us nervous and, in addition, we can receive valuable feedback from our close circle.
- Rationalize: Do not obsess or focus excessively on the sensations of anxiety and nervousness from a negative point of view, understand that they are a habitual and adaptive response and try to understand the exact cause or reason why they originate in you in a certain situation.
- Relativize: Sometimes we magnify those challenges that we have to face, which results in an increase in bodily sensations of stress. Even if it is an important opportunity, stop seeing it as if it were something unique that will not be repeated in your life, give it the fair and necessary value.
- Ask for help: If you have the feeling of feeling overwhelmed, it is important that you are able to delegate to other people or share part of your tasks with them, since a small relief from the load can make the difference in reducing your anxious and nervous feelings.
- Take a shower: Both a shower and a bath are comforting and facilitate the relaxation of muscles and an increase in pleasant sensations, making it a good strategy to control anxiety and nerves.
- Stretch: relax your body to calm your mind. To do this, feel the tension in each part of your body separately and stretch each part to release the pressure accumulated in each area. You can play music while you stretch to make it more relaxing.
- Get ready: If the nerves or anxiety are anticipatory, to the extent possible or if feasible, you can practice what makes you uneasy and thus reduce uncertainty. The feeling of preparation, competence and self-efficacy decreases pressure levels.
- Challenge your thoughts: The way we think affects our emotions. How to control anxiety and nerves? Be aware of your own thoughts, identify those negative ones and try to reframe or modify them from a more optimistic perspective, changing your perspective.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Fernández, MJA (2004). States of nervousness. Useful medicinal plants. Nursing ROL Magazine27(3), 8-12.
- Folch, J., & Mielgo, M. (2009). How to manage stress. Harvard Deusto business review(184), 55-68.
- Moreno, P., & Gutiérrez, A. (2011). Anxiety guide. Moreno Clinic Psychologists, Clinical Psychologists.