If your stress makes your daily life too difficult, you need to find a way to keep it under control. Do not turn to self-destructive behaviors because of your anxiety such as drinking and overeating. Instead, you should focus on efficient stress management tools such as therapy or relaxation exercises. If you have an anxiety disorder, it may be wise to seek out a support group for people with anxiety disorder and panic attack. Being around others who share your symptoms can be a great comfort and will allow you to share ideas for controlling anxiety and overcoming your fears. Control your thoughts to help yourself deal with anxiety better. Many times anxiety is caused by thoughts you have in your head. Negative thoughts can overwhelm you and cause anxiety. Once you learn how to control what you are thinking about, you can deal with anxiety better and possibly get rid of it. There is no magic bullet to treat anxiety, it has to be treated in a professional manner by professionals. If you have seen advertisements for medications or miracle cures, do not believe them. Many times the treatment of anxiety can only be achieved over time, so do not believe in the snake charmers. Anxiety can disrupt your breathing patterns and learning breathing exercises will help you maintain control. Take breaths, count to yourself and allow relief to take over your mind. For optimum results, try and find a nice quiet place away from others to practice this method of breathing. Keep tabs on or eliminate your consumption of caffeine, nicotine and other stimulants. These substances increase your heart rate and can make you feel more jittery and anxious than you already do. If you cannot make it through the day without several cups of java, look at the reasons why and find ways to make your day less hectic. Deep breathing techniques are useful, especially during an anxiety attack. Anxiety may cause you to hyperventilate. Force yourself to breathe deeply and from your diaphragm. Your anxiety will dissipate when taking deeper breaths, with your stomach going in and out. Avoid watching TV programs that cause you anxiety. For some people, watching the news can bring on an anxiety attack. Simply because there are many negative things the news covers. If it causes you stress, then turn it off, and watch something else that makes you happy, and anxiety free. Many people who deal with stress and anxiety do not take the time to unwind and relax. Dedicate some of your time each day to relax. By spending 20 minutes each day doing this, you are likely to see results in short order. Get some exercise. Most people are aware that exercise is good for the body. What they may not be aware of is that exercise is equally good for the mind. In addition to being a healthy outlet for stress, exercising releases chemicals in the brain called endorphins, which are the feel-good chemicals responsible for the well-known runner's high. The best way to deal with anxiety is to learn how to minimize it. Many people do this through deep breathing methods. This is a great way to learn how to control your own emotions and bring a level of balance into your life, while improving your mind. Make some time to list out everything that contributes to your stress. List everything you have the ability to change on the left side of the page, and the things you cannot change on the right. Focus your energy on attempting to change things you have control over, and try to quit fretting over things you cannot change. If the news is contributing to your anxiety, just turn it off. There is no reason to cause yourself unneeded anxiety with issues you may not be able to do anything about. Just breathe deep and concern yourself with making your own life as positive as you possibly can! Some people who have been diagnosed with anxiety disorder are prescribed medication by their mental health professional. If your physician has determined that you need medication to aid in the treatment of your anxiety disorder, it is important that you take it as directed. Never abruptly stop taking it. If you are having some side effects from your medication, discuss these issues with your doctor. It is also important to remember that some medications will cause a bad reaction, if they are not tapered off gradually while under a doctor's care. Regulate your sleep schedule. Are you getting enough sleep? Too much? Many people don't realize the importance of sleep to the way that they function. Sleep is your body's chance to recharge, energize and deal with your emotions. If you're getting too much sleep, set an alarm and make yourself get out of bed. If you are not getting enough sleep, try talking to your doctor about options for sleep medication. If you begin to feel anxious, accept those feelings. When you try to fight anxiety, the situation often becomes worse. If you focus on the fact that these feelings ate short term and will pass, it becomes easier to recover from the anxiety attack. This means that you can get back to productive activities much faster. Distract yourself from your anxiety. Exercising your mind with word puzzles or reading a book can be a great way to relieve anxiety. The greatest way to disable anxiety is to get out of your mind for a while and not spend too much time thinking. Be more mindful of what you are eating. Anxiety is fueled by certain foods and beverages, such as candies and anything caffeinated. You should instead turn to fruit, almonds, yogurt, vegetables and whole grain foods to help lessen anxiety. Keeping a food diary can help reduce your anxiety. Do the best you can to make changes. Try these different methods, and remember that if a technique does not work for you, you should move on to the next one. It is important that you make conscious efforts to keep your stress under control, and that you really focus on the relaxing technique you wanted to try when you feel anxious.