How To Cope With Stress And Anxiety
Stress and anxiety are a normal part of life—we may contend with the demands placed on us by our academic or professional lives, family issues or caregiving responsibilities, health, finances, or any number of other life domains. These worries and stressors can become overwhelming, and without healthy coping mechanisms, mental and even physical health can suffer.
Learning how to cope with stress and anxiety, however, can be transformative, allowing you to contend with day-to-day challenges more effectively and maintain a higher level of productivity and well-being. Here, we’ll explore the nature of stress and anxiety, plus offer 9 strategies for effective coping. With these tools, you’ll be equipped to handle life’s difficulties with grace and resilience.
Understanding stress and anxiety
To understand why the coping skills discussed here are effective, it is helpful to understand the biological mechanisms at the root of stress and anxiety. When your body perceives a threat, it triggers a stress reaction, also known as the fight or flight response. This state of alertness—known as stress—can be beneficial in short bursts, helping us respond effectively to challenges.
The stress response is an adaptation that allowed our ancestors to survive when faced with direct threats. However, the stress response can be triggered even by the everyday pressures of modern life—think traffic, finances, or parenthood. Without effective stress management, chronic stress can take a toll on wellbeing, impacting not only mental health, but also physical health and cognitive functioning.
Anxiety describes the worry that can accompany stress—for example, the stress of a busy school schedule could lead to anxiety about failing an exam. Anxiety also triggers the body’s stress response, causing symptoms like increased heart rate, racing thoughts, sweating, and muscle tension. Like chronic stress, persistent anxiety can have negative implications for long-term health and well-being.
Recognizing anxiety disorders and stress
In some cases, anxiety can arise in response to seemingly benign situations, or become so severe that it impacts the ability to function. This excessive anxiety can indicate an anxiety disorder, which are common mental health conditions characterized by symptoms such as:
- Persistent worry or fear
- Restlessness
- Difficulty concentrating
- Irritability
- Sleep disturbances
- Physical symptoms (e.g. racing heart, muscle tension, headaches)
Common anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder, among others. If your anxiety has become severe or debilitating, it is advisable to connect with a mental health professional for further evaluation and treatment.
7 research-backed ways to cope
Whether you’re experiencing a brief period of acute stress and anxiety or are living with a more mental health condition, these coping skills can help you manage it—both moment-by-moment and long-term.
Exercise regularly
The impact of exercise on anxiety and stress has been the subject of thousands of studies, and the evidence is clear: exercise is among the most effective ways to improve mental and physical health.
The reason it’s so effective is because of what happens when you place your body under physical exertion: mood-boosting endorphins are released and stress hormones are lowered, mitigating the body’s stress response. Sleep can also have a profound impact on sleep quality, another important component of managing stress and anxiety.
Next time you’re stressed or anxious, try taking a brisk, 20-minute walk and notice whether you feel better. It’s also crucial to incorporate regular exercise into your schedule: by keeping your stress hormones low and getting your endorphins pumping every day, you might find that day-to-day stresses and concerns seem more manageable.
Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness is another critical coping skill, allowing you to address worries as they arise. Anxious thoughts are often rooted in some past issue that can’t be changed or future scenario that hasn't taken place, and with mindfulness, you can reconnect with the present and move your thoughts in a more positive direction.
If, for instance, financial stress causes you anxiety, you might use mindfulness to check in with yourself about what you can do to address the issue, like updating your resume, applying to a job, or sketching out a budget or action plan. MIndfulness may also lead you to recognize that you can't take action in the present moment, allowing you to acknowledge and move past anxious thoughts.
You can develop mindfulness through self-study, mindfulness meditation, yoga, or mindful practices like journaling. Therapies like mindfulness-based stress reduction can also be helpful for developing this skill.
Use relaxation techniques
Like exercise, relaxation techniques work to counteract the body’s stress response so that your problems feel more manageable. These exercises involved decreasing the body, or reducing that “fight or flight” feeling. Simple though it may seem, even taking a few deep breaths can help mitigate or prevent feelings of acute stress or anxiety.
More involved relaxation techniques worth exploring include:
- Progressive muscle relaxation
- Meditation
- Deep breathing exercises
- Guided imagery
- Body scanning
There is a strong body of research supporting the use or relaxation training for reducing stress and managing anxiety. Relaxation training is a treatment approach often used in clinical settings to help individuals overcome the physical symptoms of anxiety disorders, chronic stress, and other mental health concerns.
Maintain a healthy diet
While it can be tempting to use food as a coping mechanism, try to maintain a balanced and nutritious diet during times of stress or elevated anxiety. There is a wealth of evidence showing that it can have a profound effect on stress and mental wellbeing. This is likely due to the biological processes that occur in response to certain types of food:
- Sugar and simple carbohydrates cause blood sugar levels to spike and crash, affecting energy levels and cognition.
- Simple sugars, nitrates, and trans fats trigger inflammatory processes in the body and brain, contributing to stress, anxiety, and other mental and physical health concerns.
- High consumption of alcohol and caffeine can lead to increased anxiety, restlessness, and disrupted sleep patterns.
While certain foods can be harmful, improving your diet can help you feel balanced, energized, and clear-headed—dietary interventions have been found to reduce symptoms of common mental health disorders, and research into the gut-brain axis and its role in mental health suggests that fiber and probiotic-rich foods can help support brain and health and mental wellbeing.
Prioritize sleep
Sleep is foundational to physical health, cognitive function, and mental wellbeing. When you sleep, your body carries out critical repair and growth processes, helping reduce inflammation, control hormone levels, and strengthen the immune system. Sleep also supports cognitive functions such as emotional control and memory formation.
Research into the effects of sleep on anxiety levels and stress has repeatedly demonstrated the mental health risks of sleep deprivation and poor sleep quality, underscoring the importance of maintaining good sleep hygiene. Healthy sleep habits include:
- Keeping your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet
- Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule
- Getting plenty of exercise
- Avoiding screens around bedtime
- Getting daylight early in the day
If stress and anxiety are interfering with your ability to get adequate sleep, it may be especially important to keep these habits. You might also consider using relaxation techniques or guided meditations to help you wind down before bed, or discussing the possibility of a sleep medication with your doctor.
Use time management tools
If your stress and anxiety stem from feelings of overwhelm, it may be worth implementing some effective time management strategies. This can help you feel more in control of your time, manage your day more effectively, and reduce the pressure of deadlines. Some effective time management techniques include:
- Making to-do lists
- Creating a weekly planner
- Scheduling your days using time-blocking
- Using the pomodoro technique to manage focused time and breaks
- Digital tools like Trello or Asana to get organized
These tools can also help you become more mindful of your limits so you can set boundaries and manage expectations—both with yourself and others. Time is finite, and it’s important to recognize that it’s not always possible to get everything done. In managing your obligations and making peace with your limits, you may feel less stressed about what’s beyond your control.
Use free time to seek fulfillment
Anxiety and stress can feel paralyzing. Though it can be tempting to spend your spare time scrolling mindlessly on your phone, gaming, or watching TV, spending too much free time passively engaged with these types of activities may worsen stress and anxiety.
Social media, in particular, may be a habit worth changing—research has repeatedly linked social media use with depression, anxiety, and psychological stress, and the effects may be especially profound for young people. Instead, look for ways to spend your free time that leave you feeling fulfilled and accomplished. This might include:
- Engaging in a sport or hobby
- Connecting with friends or loved ones
- Spending time in nature
- Exercising
- Journaling or reading a book
- Meditating
These types of activities add richness and dimension to life, balancing out feelings of stress and worry. You might also find that spending time actively engaged with things that bring you joy and satisfaction can make your worries seem less significant, and even serve as a welcome distraction when things get tough.
Online therapy for additional support
If you struggle to manage stress and anxiety, it may be worth connecting with a mental health professional. In therapy, you’ll not only learn healthy coping skills for stress and anxiety, but also learn to identify and overcome the distressing thoughts or unhelpful behaviors that trigger it.
Through BetterHelp, you can connect with a licensed therapist specializing in helping people overcome chronic stress and anxiety. Your BetterHelp membership includes weekly therapy sessions and daily messaging with your therapist, as well as group sessions, guided journaling, digital therapy worksheets, and educational webinars.
Research has repeatedly found online therapy to be just as effective as in-person treatment, and may be preferable for the convenience, flexibility, and relative affordability of virtual therapy.
Takeaway
For examples of questions and answers on this topic that might be beneficial to explore in counseling, please see below.
What are techniques I can use for calming my stress or anxiety?
What is the first step when dealing with stress?
What are some tips I can use for relaxing my mind or calming down?
What are techniques for managing times when I am overthinking?
What are some ways I can get rid of stress and depression?
Why do I get stressed so easily?
What are ways I can manage my symptoms on my own?
- Previous Article
- Next Article