Anxiety Relief Tips & Strategies

Recently, I was chatting on one of the forums when one participant expressed concern about the upcoming wedding of her friend. Her fears were that she’d have an anxiety attack while she was there. The friend apparently thought she was just joking and shrugged it off.

It was very serious to this poster, however. In fact, she was considering backing out altogether rather than face the possibility of embarrassing herself in front of a group of people.

Her fears are understandable since she’ll be among people she didn’t know and would be participating in the wedding which can be a little unnerving if you’ve never done it before. It would mean putting herself “on display” in a sense. Who wouldn’t feel anxious?

Back in the days when I experienced anxiety on a regular basis, I dreaded many things that would put me in an uncomfortable situation. I was a mess the day I had to interview my town’s mayor for a college project. Had I been much younger at the time, I would never have gone through with it. It helped considerably to have been older and a little more secure.

One method to alleviate my anxiety involved turning my attention to things that would trigger laughter. Mostly, it involved watching nothing but comedy shows on TV.

Then, I heard this woman’s story and offered another technique that has worked for me. Perhaps it will help you, too, next time you feel an attack coming on.

If you are going somewhere that makes you nervous, think about what you’re going into. Try to identify what, exactly, is making you fearful about it. Are you going to be in front of strangers? Making a speech? Will you be expected to participate in some way? Do you feel insecure about your abilities to handle whatever they request? Are you afraid of doing something foolish? Are you unsure of the people there? How you’ll be accepted? Of the event itself?

The fear will likely be related to something like that, but ask yourself more questions. Why does it scare you so much? What’s the worst that can happen and is it really likely to happen?

Next, set your mind in preparation for that day. Prior to the event, imagine what it will be like and the people who will be attending. Think about your actual fear and exaggerate whatever is causing it. Blow it all out of proportion to the point there’s no way you would ever truly expect it to happen like that. Make it ridiculously silly. Make everything about the whole event outrageously funny. Give everyone some quirky characteristic. Throw in some weird event within the event. Use your imagination.

Try to make it as humorous as you can. Give someone a very long nose that they trip over. Put funny hats on everyone and imagine them all in different funny poses. Imagine the floor is paved with soft flowery padding and listen to the silence as you walk across the room. See yourself being bowed to out of respect from your peers. As they are bent over, imagine something funny happening to them.

It’s best if you know who might be attending because then you can attach your funny images to those individuals. This is especially good if there will be someone there that you fear or who makes you tense. Or try to focus on people who have a humorous side. Think about how they likely will be acting and exaggerate that. Practice beforehand and when you see them at the event it will be easy to see them the way you imagined them.

Now, when you actually go to the event and you begin to feel anxious, draw up one of those funny images. Let yourself smile. Exaggerate everything into something funny. Listen closely to the words being spoken and how they sound and look for the humorous elements. Think of certain words and their other meanings – many words have dual meanings and if you change the meaning in the sentence, it can be quite funny.

I know some people who have a knack for turning everything you say into something sexual or rude. If that’s your thing, do that too. I’m not suggesting you insult people or be rude to them by laughing and making obscene comments, but often just thinking this way can ease the tension and stop the anxiety.

I’ve learned that panic (fear) and laughter don’t occur at the same time. By finding things that make you laugh (inside or out) you can quickly bring a halt to an oncoming anxiety attack.

If you find this works for you, by all means post a comment here and tell us how it happened so others reading this blog can try your method, too.