How to get rid of Anxiety and understanding Anxiety symptoms

I am going to tell you exactly what defines anxiety, anxiety attacks / disorders and then tell you exactly how to deal with it. How to capture anxiety and panic attacks and then also how to control it long term to help prevent it in the future.

Anxiety is an intense powerful emotion that effects you physically and emotionally. You may believe it is perfectly normal behaviour to feel nervous and anxious; which it is. However you may be mistaking many of these emotions for anxiety. Which is a real mental health issue. Do not be alarmed, self awareness is the first step and even reassuring. 

Anxiety can include:

• Excessive worry, the state of intense fear
• Tense emotions, worried thoughts, intrusive thoughts, serious concerns
• Nervous, overthinking which spirals out of your control of your mind and even your body, unable to relax
• Derealization; everything feels foggy, fuzzy, you may think you are ill or going crazy. you do not feel any attachment to reality, almost like a dream state or very real numbness. you can feel really disconnected from people around you and find it difficult to communicate because you feel so distant and apart from others

Those who suffer with anxiety disorders commonly have avoidance behaviour as they believe this will help prevent future anxiety attacks. You do not always realise you have anxiety, which also starts this cycle of fear and worry. Anxiety is extremely common.

Physical symptoms that are common can include:

• Increased heart rate, heart palpitations, feeling your heat beat elsewhere on your body and being aware of your heart beat a lot of the time
• Struggling to breath or breathing rapidly (hyperventilation) 
• Sweating
• Shaking
• Trembling
• Feeling weak and really tired
• Chest pain
• Muscle twitches / tremors / cramping / spasms 
• Intense pins and needles
• Light headed and dizzy
• Gastrointestinal issues (bloating, cramps, pain in stomach, acid reflux, feeling sick / nauseous and vomiting)
• Panic Attacks; which is the intense physical sensation that makes you feel like you're having a heart attack. Your heartbeat is fast, loud and heavy and you are convinced you are dying. You feel it throughout your whole body
• Nit picking, Nail biting, Mouth biting, lip biting  

Physical symptoms that are uncommon can include:

• Digestive issues, burping, struggle using the toilet, passing gas and heartburn. 
• Hearing loud sounds, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) loud shouting, unrecognisable voices, roaring, humming, buzzing or any sound really that alerts you and makes you feel alarmed or its unexplainable.
• Hot sensations, burning sensations; this feels like a sore uncomfortable area is really irritable, feels little like sunburn or as I once described "my blood has got really hot." You can feel it on your skin, your eyes, your lips literally anywhere on you. Can also be described as a prickly sensation or just a sharp pain
• Irregular heart beat, many experience heart palpitations and panic attacks but some experience when they are worrying about their heartbeat, they actually feel their heart stop beating and this causes an even more intense fear of death 
• Feeling numb, weak and even tingling
• You can't stop yawning
• Phantom smell, smelling something that isn't there, its unpleasant and is called Phantosmia which is an olfactory hallucination. An example of this: I get crazy anxiety about my car. I always have problems with them and because of this I go through phases and anxiety attacks where I think my car is going to blow up and I can smell strong smell of smoke and burning gas
• Brain shiver or zaps, feels like electricity jolts in your brain, like tremors, shaking, shivers or vibrations. Doesn't always last long but it can cause fear and worry. Freaks you out!
• Phantom Vibrations; have you ever felt your phone vibrate but you have no notifications? This could be attachment anxiety. I get this one all the time even when I turn the vibration off!

Take a moment to familiarise yourself with the comparison of physical symptoms to mental symptoms. There are so many more also. Even though you know it is in your mind, this blew my mind when I was really struggling with anxiety. Why are we not aware of all the physical symptoms and why it is not discussed more?! I experienced so many of these symptoms. 

Anxiety makes you feel like you have lost sense of reality. You do not feel like yourself and it causes extreme fear. You are worried and find it difficult to notice it and control it. It can be caused by so many things.

There are many different types of anxiety disorders:

• Generalised anxiety disorder
• Panic Disorder 
• Health Anxiety
• OCD ( Obsessive compulsive disorder )
• PTSD ( Post traumatic stress disorder )
• Social Phobia ( Social Anxiety disorder )
• Specific Phobias
• Situational Anxiety
• BDD ( Body Dysmorphic disorder )
• Perinatal Anxiety / OCD (Occurs after pregnancy)

Did you know your body can be subconsciously stressed and you can still experience these symptoms?

There are so many anxiety symptoms related to sleeping. You can have nocturnal panic attacks. You can wake up hyperventilating. I spent almost a year experiencing sleep apnea symptoms. 

Now I will be uploading another blog for how to deal with panic attacks for the long term and short term. How to capture them fast which I hope can help calm some people and help them understand what is happening to them.

For now here are some important ways to help your anxiety:

• Practise self-care and positive thinking
• When you get in a obsessive state of worry, ask yourself - Am I in control of this? Try not to worry about things you can not control. It is not your fault.
• Write a diary, get a new journal and write an entry everyday or even just when you feel like you need to take time to relax, unwind and unbottled all those bottled up emotions and events causing you stress
• Get plenty of rest. A huge trigger for anxiety is not getting enough sleep. When I am over tired I can feel the anxiety / panic attacks brewing so leave yourself enough time to prepare for bed
• Mindfulness and meditation. The internet, Youtube and many influencing figures are all over the internet. Please use them to help you meditate and take control of your thoughts. Channel your thoughts into the right direction. Today, the internet can be a huge help if not overused.
• Distract yourself, practise grounding techniques. This can help bring yourself back to reality. I do this by walking on cold floor. Putting your hands in water, pick something up and describe it to yourself. How does it affect your smell, touch, taste, sight and how does it sound?
• Breathing exercises and techniques is another grounding technique. Focus on every single exhale and enjoy the relief of stress and anxiety leave your body. Allow the positive energy to inhale and take slow deep breaths in and out to help you relax and calm down. 
• Enjoy scented fragrances. Light a candle, burn some incense. Put a new or favourite wax melt fragrance on. Burn some essential oils and mix them with essential oils that target anxiety. (Chamomile and lavender I must recommend).
• Move your body, shake it off, exercise, go for a walk, maybe try some yoga!
• Visualise a task you enjoy doing or don't mind doing. This can increase motivation and distract you. Then fulfil the task if you can.
• Visualise somewhere you enjoy. Like the sound of the waves crashing on a beach.
• Practise kindness to yourself. Manifest these things into your life. You are amazing, you are strong, you are smart, you are healthy, you are healing.
• Wrap yourself in a fluffy blanket, something soft and comforting and give yourself a huge cuddle and love yourself!

There are medical professionals out there that can give you medication. This blog is focused on natural remedies that you can start yourself, at home and at your own pace. If you continue to suffer please do not hesitate to request cognitive behaviour therapy from a professional, or ask for the right steps to take. 

You are not crazy. What you are experiencing is scary. Your feelings are valid but you must try to help them otherwise you will experience new symptoms and it can be overwhelming.