Anxiety disorders can bring real challenges, but your capacity for resilience might be stronger than you realize. Building a personal toolbox with practical skills and supportive habits can help you handle stress and manage your symptoms with greater confidence. The licensed clinical experts at Lightfully Behavioral Health believe in your ability to grow and can provide mental health care designed to support you on your journey. Read on to learn six key tips you can incorporate into your daily life.

Tip 1: Practice healthy anxiety coping skills.

As they say, practice makes perfect. The more often you apply your anxiety coping skills in real-world scenarios, the more natural they’ll become. When you’re overwhelmed, you can pick a coping skill from your toolbox that feels the most appropriate for the situation, such as:

• Breathing deeply — Inhaling and exhaling slowly encourages relaxation and helps bring you back to the present moment.
• Using positive self-talk — Along with reducing stress, this technique teaches you how to be kinder to yourself.
• Reframing negative thoughts — This skill may help improve your problem-solving abilities and train your mind to see situations more realistically (instead of focusing on worst-case scenarios).
• Meditating — Developing a meditation practice may help reduce anxious thoughts, calm your nervous system and lower your overall stress levels.

Also, don’t forget to learn new coping skills along the way. Many methods can help you feel more balanced, and you may benefit from other techniques that fit your life as it evolves throughout the years.

Tip 2: Set boundaries.

Many people experience anxiety due to poor boundaries, but you can strategically use them to protect your mental, physical and emotional well-being. Setting boundaries can increase your sense of control, encourage self-care and even help you build healthier relationships — all of which may help you set yourself up for long-term resilience. Here are some examples of what this might look like in your own life:

• Setting time limits on social media
• Steering away from conversations that feel draining or triggering
• Delegating tasks instead of doing it all yourself
• Making time for rest, hobbies and self-care
• Saying no to plans that may overwhelm your schedule

Tip 3: Build structured routines.

Speaking of your schedule, it can be a powerful tool in helping you manage your anxiety disorder. Balanced routines add predictability and structure to your day, which can help reduce feelings of uncertainty and minimize decision fatigue. They may also help you prioritize the healthy self-care habits that support mental and physical wellness, such as: 

• Getting enough sleep
• Exercising regularly
• Taking your medication
• Connecting with others
• Doing activities that bring you joy
• Eating healthy
• Journaling

Tip 4: Nurture your relationships.

As tempting as it might be to isolate when you feel anxious, connecting with supportive people can help you feel safer, calmer and more capable of managing overwhelming feelings. Try to nurture your network of trusted friends and loved ones as much as possible. They can be a source of great comfort when you need to talk, reinforce positive anxiety coping skills and help you feel less stressed in the face of life’s unexpected challenges.

Tip 5: Have a plan for high-stress moments.

In mental health, resilience means adapting well in the face of adversity, tragedy and other sources of stress. This can mean many things for different people, but one way you can feel more prepared and reduce possible unknowns is to have a plan when life throws a curveball your way. High-stress moments can trigger intense feelings of anxiety very quickly, but here are some tips for creating this mental health road map:

• Learn your anxiety triggers.
• Know how to check in with yourself.
• Decide what coping skills work best in high-stress moments.
• Identify who you can turn to for added support.

Tip 6: Seek professional guidance.

Everyone needs help sometimes, and seeking professional support can help you work toward long-term anxiety resilience. Every session with a mental health professional can bring greater clarity and help you develop stronger coping strategies that you can incorporate into everyday life. Depending on your mental health needs, they can also help you figure out if medication could help make managing your symptoms easier.

If you could use extra support for anxiety, reach out to Lightfully today. Based in California, our licensed clinical experts focus on whole-person-centered care, not just your diagnosis. We use a research-informed, integrated approach, tailoring each treatment plan to your specific wellness needs and goals. Our levels of care include:

• Residential Treatment (RTC)
• Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP), also called our Day Treatment Program
• Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
• Virtual Services (vPHP and vIOP)

Start your journey toward personalized mental health care. Let our Admissions Concierge Team guide you every step of the way.