Coping Skills for Anxiety
Hi there,
How are you all today? :) I do hope that you are well and happy. Thank you for dropping by and contributing to our online therapy sub-community. We are so glad that you are here!
Firstly, we will start with psychoeducation on what anxiety is and how we can develop healthy coping skills. You are most welcome to please try the skills we discuss in the thread and feedback on how they worked for you or you can leave your own coping skills here. Please note that we are discussing healthy coping skills and what might work for one person might not be as effective for the next. It’s all about finding what works for you! :)
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness and worry which can range from mild to severe. Anxiety is a main symptom of many mental health issues including panic issues, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and social anxiety (NHS, 2021).
What are the symptoms?
Feeling uneasy and panicky
Restlessness
Sleep issues
Overeating/Not eating enough
Headaches
Racing thoughts and an inability to focus
Tearfulness
Muscle aches and tension (NAMI, 2017).
There are many ways to ease anxiety and we have lots of resources on 7 Cups such as the Anxiety Personalised Growth Paths, the anxiety sub-communities and Guided Discussions for you to share what is on your mind. As well as the support of a licensed clinician on 7 Cups.
Here are a few coping skills to add to your own list of healthy coping skills that work for you. Please feel free to share your own and we can all learn from one another :)
Please also feel free to take the 7 Cups Emotional Wellness Test here: https://www.7cups.com/free-emotional-wellness-test
A Simple 3-Minute Breathing Exercise
The exercise below is useful when we feel our body becomes tighter especially in our chest and shoulders and we feel overwhelmed with emotions, it will help you become calmer and able to breathe which will then decrease the anxiety levels. It also activates the parasympathetic nervous system helping you feel calmer.
♡ Breathe in for 4 Seconds
♡ Hold your breath for 7 seconds
♡ Breathe out slowly for as long as feels comfortable. (Please note: Adjust your breathing to what feels comfortable for you).
Grounding Exercise:
Grounding is useful when we feel anxious and unsettled. It can help bring us back to the present moment and reality and to calm our senses thus decreasing the feelings of panic and unease.
♡ Look around at 5 things you can see
♡ 4 things you can feel
♡ 3 things you can hear
♡ 2 things you can smell
♡ 1 thing you can taste.
Hey @LisaMeighanMBPsS , this is a very helpful post, thankyou for sharing ❤
@Sunisshiningandsoareyou I agree with you,my friend.
@Happy900
Thanks Happy, glad you feel the same. I see you're on a roll in the forumland haha, keep it up. <3
@LisaMeighanMBPsS grounding really helps me. Even if I cannot think of the number of items requested, just trying helps me to focus on my senses and not get lost in my thoughts. Thanks for sharing this thread.
@soulsings I love the way you support others.
It is amazing.
I am learning so much from you,my friend.
hey @LisaMeighanMBPsS (: thank you for this informative and useful post! i’m sure it will be helpful to a lot of us struggling with anxiety. -S x
@imlistening01 Glad to hear this.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Instructions gives me heacmdaches, I feel more anxious thinking about if I'm doing it correct..... Nothing seems to work for me 😭
You can do the breathing one at your own pace, the important part is that you take sometime between inhaling and exhaling, try it with your hand on your heart to feel it slowing down as you wait
This helped me a lot. I would take a deep breath and feel my pulse the one in the neck. It would go fro, being very rapid and strong to slowing down. It would help a lot paying attention to it instead of the anxiety.
@blueTangerine4400 glad you found it helpful!
@blueCranberry6615 Oh no.
I am very sorry to hear this.
May try reaching out to a listener hear at 7cups, or maybe try a 7cups therapist.
I hope this helps.
@LisaMeighanMBPsS
Hi Lisa 
, thank you so much for your post, it's really helpful to know what coping skills to use when feeling anxious. I use both skills when feeling anxious. I use the breathing exercise and whilst I'm breathing in like for 4 and out for 7 I will feel my pulse. Something I realized is that when breathing out my pulse slows down which I find calming.
Sometimes though, I find it hard to focus on my breathing so I will use the grounding skill you described.
Thank you for giving us your time. 
@amiablePeace77 Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I really enjoy reading them.
I am learning so much from you.
Coping skills are very useful and helpful, thank you for sharing. 🙏 I also believe it can be physical, for me my Cortisol levels were off the charts, they were extremely high all day and then spiked at night, Insomnia was horrible 🙃. A doctor can help find this through a neurotransmitter test and put on a cortisol supplement, it helped me! Also therapist is always a good option to help straighten out your thoughts. B Well❤️
@placidPlum3193 So very important to have coping skills.
So glad you learned some.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, with us.
My issues are overthinking, overcontemplating,low self esteem and negative thinking.. Will try the exercises recommended
Overthinking happens to all of us, try to put your mind somewhere else when you are feeling overwhelmed’Abraham Hicks’ is beautiful and enlightening way to connect with your inner thoughts and calm yourself! Also meditation, I love YouTube for many videos to connect you with your good emotions 🙏 b well
@independentKitten7944 Glad to hear this.
Maybe let us know, how it goes for you, if you do not mind.
We would love to know, if they helped you.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us =)
@LightWhisper I love how kind you are to everyone here at 7cups.
One thing I find helps when it comes to sleeping, something I have trouble with often due to anxiety is challenging myself with the alphabet! I pick a subject and go through the alphabet finding words related to that subject for each letter! It’s easy to find distraction in the day so going to sleep is often the worst but with this my mind is kept occupied but doesn’t stop sleep ☺️
Thanks for this 💙
@TeaAndChat Thanks for sharing your coping tips with us.
Your Amazing.
