Hi, I’m Dr. Tom McDonagh, a therapist at Good Therapy sf. I’m going to show you what to do when anxiety shows up without warning.
One thing, anxiety doesn’t always have a clear trigger. It’s just your body’s alarm system firing. So searching for a cause can actually make the anxiety worse. Try to remember. You don’t have to figure it out to start calming down.
So here’s what to do instead. Ground your body first. Try deep breathing or noticing five specific things around you.
Try to remind yourself this feeling will pass even if I don’t know why it’s here.
And lastly, focus on the regulation of your body and not over-analyzing your thoughts. You don’t have to solve anxiety to survive it. Calming your body helps to calm your mind.
Looking for more strategies, Good Therapy SF can help.
