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How to Live with Anxiety: Tips and Strategies

Seek Professional Help

If you are experiencing anxiety symptoms, it is essential to seek professional help. A mental health professional, such as a therapist or psychiatrist, can provide support and guidance for managing your anxiety symptoms. They can also help you develop a treatment plan that may include medication, therapy, or a combination of both.

Practice Self-Care

Practicing self-care is crucial for managing anxiety symptoms. Self-care can include activities such as exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, and spending time outdoors. Self-care can also include activities that you enjoy, such as reading a book or listening to music.

Identify Triggers

Identifying your anxiety triggers can help you avoid or better manage situations that may cause anxiety. Some common triggers include social situations, work-related stress, or financial concerns.

Challenge Negative Thoughts

Anxiety can often lead to negative thinking patterns, such as catastrophizing or assuming the worst-case scenario. It is essential to challenge these negative thoughts and replace them with more positive and realistic thoughts.

Breathing and Relaxation Techniques

Breathing and relaxation techniques can help you reduce anxiety symptoms. Techniques such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or yoga can help you calm your mind and body.

Stay Connected with Supportive People

Staying connected with supportive people such as family, friends, or a support group can help you manage anxiety symptoms. Talking to others who understand what you are going through can provide comfort and reassurance.

Stay Active

Staying active, both physically and mentally, can help you manage anxiety symptoms. Engaging in regular exercise, learning a new skill, or participating in hobbies can help distract you from anxious thoughts and provide a sense of accomplishment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, living with anxiety can be challenging, but there are many strategies and techniques that can help manage anxiety symptoms. Seeking professional help, practicing self-care, identifying triggers, challenging negative thoughts, using breathing and relaxation techniques, staying connected with supportive people, and staying active are all effective strategies for living with anxiety. Remember that anxiety is a treatable condition, and with the right treatment and support, you can improve your quality of life.

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How to Live with Depression: Tips and Strategies

Seek Professional Help

If you are experiencing depression symptoms, it is essential to seek professional help. A mental health professional, such as a therapist or psychiatrist, can provide support and guidance for managing your depression symptoms. They can also help you develop a treatment plan that may include medication, therapy, or a combination of both.

Practice Self-Care

Practicing self-care is crucial for managing depression symptoms. Self-care can include activities such as exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, and spending time outdoors. Self-care can also include activities that you enjoy, such as reading a book or watching a movie.

Build a Support Network

Building a support network of friends and family can be helpful in managing depression symptoms. Having someone to talk to or spend time with can provide emotional support and help alleviate feelings of isolation.

Challenge Negative Thoughts

Depression can often lead to negative thinking patterns, such as thinking that things will never get better or that you are worthless. It is essential to challenge these negative thoughts and replace them with more positive and realistic thoughts.

Set Realistic Goals

Setting realistic goals can help you feel a sense of accomplishment and provide motivation to continue working towards your goals. It is important to set goals that are achievable and not too overwhelming.

Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness practices, such as meditation or deep breathing, can help you focus on the present moment and reduce feelings of stress and anxiety. Mindfulness can also help you become more aware of your thoughts and feelings and learn to accept them without judgment.

Get Involved in Activities

Getting involved in activities that you enjoy can be beneficial for managing depression symptoms. Joining a club or volunteering can provide a sense of purpose and help you connect with others who share your interests.

Conclusion

In conclusion, living with depression can be challenging, but there are many strategies and techniques that can help manage depression symptoms. Seeking professional help, practicing self-care, building a support network, challenging negative thoughts, setting realistic goals, practicing mindfulness, and getting involved in activities are all effective strategies for living with depression. Remember that depression is a treatable condition, and with the right treatment and support, you can improve your quality of life.

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Change the way you feel in ten minutes

Change the way you feel in ten minutes

What if I told you that you can change the way you feel in ten minutes? Most people say that they want to be happy above anything else. However most people do not have a clue how attain happiness in their lives. We become pre-programmed with automatic or negative thoughts over time, which subsequently make us pissed off or stressed out.

Automatic thoughts create a highway to depression which takes over our lives. When we are used to feeling sad as the norm, depressive thoughts become the automatic choice when feelings are involved. In other words it makes our lives unbearable.

So how do we change the way we feel in ten minutes?

Not only can you change the way you feel in ten minutes. Furthermore you will start to feel far less depressed and more in control of your life. It’s simply not enough to hope you feel good every day. You need a priming plan to make it happen.

Prime your day for the best results.

What does priming your life involve? Well it’s all about putting an action plan in place at the beginning of the day. This action plan should be undertaken EVERY morning so your day starts off in the right way.

Wire yourself for sucess every day.

1. Start the day with music. Put your favorite upbeat song on for 3 minutes and rapidly change your breathing during this stage.

A change in your breathing promotes a change in your current state and leaves you ready for steps two and three. Think about being grateful for everything that has happened to you both good and bad.

Even the worst events that have happened to you have brought you to this point in your life. Own your story and use the energy this creates in a positive way. Feel empowered to take on the rest of the day.

2. Think about your main life goals for 3 minutes. What do I want to achieve long term? These will be the same most days but really focus on your OUTCOME and what achieving this goal will do for your wellbeing.

3. For the final four minutes think about 3 things that you can do today to get you closer to your goal and make all three happen today.

By empolying this easy 10 minute workout for your brain you will soon be achieving all your dailey goals. This promotes momentum in your life and from there you can take on the world

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Cognitive behavioural therapy the key to a happier life

cognitive behavioural therapy improves happiness

Cognitive behavioural therapy – CBT the key to a happier life

Maladaptive or automatic thoughts make us feel emotional and are consequently the reason we end up depressed, angry and anxious.

  • People talk about me behind my back!
  • I can’t stop thinking about what has happened!
  • My relationship is over, and as a result I can’t go on!
  • I hate the way I look and as a result i eat more.!
  • I’m anxious all the time and I get regular panic attacks

The first step to better mental health is to realise that something isn’t right with the way you are thinking.  Admitting therefore that you need some kind of support is very important. CBT will open your eyes to new ways of thinking because the thoughts you are currently manifesting are certainly having a negative effect on your mental health.

Second is to realise that it’s not the event itself that produces the intense feelings associated with poor mental health. it is the perception of the event that causes the emotional feeling or behaviour. So if we can’t change the event itself, we can use cognitive behavioural therapy to change our  perception of the event. This therefore makes the feeling associated with the event far less stressful.

Consider this example

Peter, a 45-year-old IT manager, is struggling with bad anxiety, depression and some anger issues. He forgets to take his security pass to gain entry for work.

“I’m locked outside, I’m going to be really late for work. Now I must go home to get it and my boss is going to be annoyed and I may lose my job. How will I be able to deliver my presentation this afternoon in this condition?

Anxiety levels seem to elevate and similarly Peter’s negative thoughts begin to worsen. Most importantly his anger problems seep to the surface. As a result, Peter’s rollercoaster morning ends up with a suspension from work for shouting at a colleague.

After cognative behavioural therapy (CBT)

Peter is now much more in control of how his thoughts manifest themselves. This time when he realises that he has left his security pass at home he employs the CBT techniques he has been taught to change the way he thinks.

“I’m locked outside. I’m going to be really late for work. I know, I will call someone in the office to let me in, its not a big deal I can deal with this”.