4 Soothing Ways To Support Someone With Anxiety: A Comprehensive Guide
Knowing that someone you care for has anxiety is hard to deal with. We don’t want to watch someone suffer or feel on edge constantly. But, at the same time, we often don’t know how to help someone deal with their anxiety. There never seem to be any right words that will magically make it better. As much as most of us wish there were a magic wand to help with anxiety, there isn’t one. However, that doesn’t mean there are no ways to help with anxiety.
Supporting someone with anxiety is a little easier than many people think. Here are four soothing ways to help.
4 Soothing Ways To Support Someone Who Has Anxiety
1. Listen To Them
One of the best ways to support someone with anxiety is to listen to them. If you don’t suffer from anxiety, you might not fully understand what they are going through. Anxiety has a way of telling someone that the smallest of things is astronomical to deal with. Chronic anxiety sufferers don’t handle stress in the same way. So when they are talking to you about what is bothering them, listen. It can be tempting to give advice or to tell them that there is nothing to worry about.
Anxiety doesn’t work like that. There is no rationale on what should or shouldn’t worry someone. It’s common for people with anxiety to completely shut down if they feel that what they are feeling isn’t authentic or overacting. Instead, listen to what they are saying and then help them devise a solution to the problem.
2. Suggest Relaxing Activities To Do With One Another
Anxiety makes it really hard to relax. It causes someone to feel on edge and tense 24/7. To help soothe their nervous system down, suggest you do something together. If they are comfortable with it, suggest that you go for a walk together. Walking is a fantastic way to release feel-good endorphins into the body such as serotonin. It helps to decrease the amount of cortisol, the hormone responsible for stress, as well. Not to mention, of course, that exercising is great for physical health as well.
3. Practice Mindfulness Techniques Together
You might not suffer from chronic anxiety, but that doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from techniques to relax as well.
Mindfulness techniques, such as yoga or meditation, are a great way to de-stress and unwind from a long day. After it is practiced enough, these activities can really help to clear the mind and ease worries. Other mindfulness techniques, such as grounding or breath work, can also be highly beneficial.
Together, you can learn how to naturally soothe the nervous system down.
4. Encourage Them To Seek Help
Over the last few years, more people have realized the importance of seeking support for mental health. Anxiety is one of the most common mental health conditions, but it is also one of the most treatable issues.
There are plenty of ways to help yourself or someone who is dealing with chronic anxiety. In fact, the “DIY” methods of treating anxiety can be just as beneficial as going to a therapy session. However, learning to cope with anxiety will often need to involve getting to the root of what is causing it in the first place. While the above list is great soothing tips for yourself or someone you care for, it can’t often fully replace the benefits of going to therapy.
Encourage the person in your life who is suffering from anxiety to reach out to us soon. With anxiety therapy, we can help them get to the bottom of what is causing their anxiety and then find lasting relief from it.
If nothing else, don’t hesitate to contact us for help with anxiety therapy. We can help you find ways to manage your symptoms and find relief.