What Anxiety Is, and How to Deal With It

Anxiety disorders are the most common group of mental illnesses: according to various estimates, 20% to 30% of people have experienced them at least once in their lives. In everyday life, many experience anxiety: waiting for medical test results, taking a driving exam, or when a loved one doesn’t respond to messages for a couple of hours. Sometimes anxiety is justified and signals danger, while other times it has no real basis but takes over one’s life. Let’s explore what anxiety is and how to deal with it.
What Anxiety Is
Anxiety is a complex emotion. It’s a prolonged vague fear of what might happen in the future. An anxious person fears that something terrible will occur.
Common markers of anxiety include physiological sensations: tightness in the chest, a lump in the throat, rapid heartbeat and breathing, and sweating.
Like other emotions, anxiety is an excellent evolutionary mechanism that helps anticipate potential danger. For example, if you place a bet, a proper game analysis can be helpful in this regard. However, dangers sometimes manifest too intensely or occur unnecessarily. While some people start to worry during stressful events, for others, anxiety is a constant life companion.
What Causes Anxiety?
The source of anxiety can vary for each person: some worry about relationships, others about what their boss thinks of them, and still others about the consequences of an environmental catastrophe due to global warming. The same trigger can be a justified concern for one person and a catastrophic thought for another.
For example, a woman with a family history of breast cancer may rationally worry and undergo regular checkups, as this disease has a strong hereditary factor. Meanwhile, a girl sitting next to her in the oncologist’s waiting room might get checked for all types of cancer every couple of months due to severe health anxiety, despite having no increased risks or symptoms.
For Icelanders, environmental anxiety caused by global warming is a constant part of life since the issue significantly impacts them already. Meanwhile, in temperate regions, many view environmental anxiety as an “unrealistic whim or youth scare story.”
Life context determines the trigger and the proportionality of the anxiety to real circumstances.
How Anxiety Differs From Fear
Fear is a reaction to danger perceived from the environment. For example, you rent a house in Thailand, and snakes crawl into it. Fear literally signals your body: “I see danger, I must act.” This triggers one of four reactions: fight, flight, freeze, or submit.
Anxiety is a reaction to a perceived danger that may or may not happen. For example, a person worries about getting fired and sees evidence everywhere: they made one mistake at work, their boss gave them a strange look, and a colleague from another department was laid off last month. Moreover, anyone could potentially be fired at any moment — how can one not feel anxious?
In contrast, the fear of being fired arises when the HR manager and boss schedule a meeting titled “Discussion of Future Opportunities at the Company,” and for months prior, the manager repeatedly pointed out work errors.
What to Do About Anxiety
If you are an anxious person or suspect you have an anxiety disorder, the issue should be addressed comprehensively: identify and work through underlying causes, not just manage symptoms.
To regain balance in an anxious moment, psychological techniques and practices can help.
How to Cope With Anxiety on Your Own at the Moment It Arises?
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Sit in a comfortable place and assume a relaxed position. Your goal is to tense and relax muscles sequentially, starting from your toes or fingers. Tense the muscles in your toes for a couple of seconds, then relax. Wait a couple of seconds and tense your feet. Then move on to calves, thighs, pelvis, and so on, involving all the muscles in your body and releasing tension.
Breathing Techniques
Breathing often becomes disrupted during anxiety, yet it helps restore emotional balance. Here are some techniques to reduce anxiety:
Abdominal Breathing
Sit relaxed and close your eyes. Place your right hand on your stomach near the navel and your left hand on your chest. For 3–5 minutes, breathe deeply, ensuring your right hand rises with your stomach while the left remains still.
Box Breathing
Follow the pattern: inhale (4 seconds) — hold (4 seconds) — exhale (4 seconds) — hold (4 seconds). Repeat until the anxiety starts to subside.
Mindful Breathing
Set a timer for 1-3 minutes. Sit comfortably and close your eyes. Focus on your breathing and notice how air moves through your body, fills your lungs, and exits. Avoid controlling your breathing; just observe. When your attention shifts to thoughts or fantasies, bring it back to your breath repeatedly.
Longer Exhale
A useful technique to calm your heartbeat: make your exhale longer than your inhale. For example, count to 5 on the inhale and to 10 on the exhale.
Mindful Pause
If you feel anxious, take a one-minute pause from your tasks and ask yourself a few questions:
- What time is it?
- Where am I?
- What am I doing right now?
- How does my body feel?
This helps focus on the present moment instead of worrying about the future.
Safe Place Visualization
Think of a safe place where you can be alone. Ideally, it should not be associated with friends or family. For instance, imagine a natural spot where you can relax.
Describe this place:
- Look straight ahead and note the details you see. Write them down, focusing on specifics.
- Look to the left and write down what you see.
- Look to the right and write down what you see.
- Listen to the sounds. What do you hear?
- What do you feel when you hear these sounds?
- Breathe in. What sensations do you experience? What does the place smell like?
- Feel the air on your skin. What sensations arise?
- Feel the ground under your feet. What do you sense?
- Combine all your perceptions—what do you see, hear, feel, and sense underfoot? What emotions arise?
- If there’s a word that describes the feelings in this place, what is it?
- Repeat this word in your mind while staying in your safe place. What do you notice?
- What do you think is happening to your body as you remain in this safe place?
Physiological Hacks
To reduce the impact of anxiety:
- Engage in physical activities (walk, jog, go to the gym, dance at home).
- Get a massage.
- Spend time in nature (forest, park, botanical garden).
- Take a cold shower.
- Drink water.
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol during stressful periods.
Focused Distraction
Focus on bodily sensations to redirect attention and reduce anxiety. Questions to assist:
- What five objects do I see right now?
- What four sounds do I hear?
- What three sensations do I feel on my skin?
- What two smells do I notice?
- What one taste do I sense?
You can change the order and deliberately create sensations: tap something to produce a sound or smell an object. Don’t rush — allow yourself to concentrate on each sensation.
Find Three Green Objects
Challenge yourself to find three green objects around you. Actively scan shelves or move around searching for green items. Once you find one, pick it up and name it. Try to describe it: how it feels, smells, or tastes. Move on to the next object.
Criteria like color, shape, and features—and the number of objects—can vary. You can also focus on other senses: listen to sounds, notice smells, or feel sensations.
This exercise works similarly to the previous one, helping during a panic attack by shifting your focus to active searching and bodily sensations.