Anxiety is a common human experience, often triggered by stress, uncertainty, or fear. It can manifest in the form of various physical and psychological symptoms, from restlessness and racing thoughts to muscle tension and difficulty concentrating. Many people wonder if their anxiety will naturally go away over time. To understand the answer to this question, we must first understand the difference between normal anxiety and chronic anxiety. Let’s look at both of them in depth.
Normal Anxiety
Normal anxiety is a natural response to stressful situations like job interviews or exams. This kind of anxiety is generally short-lived and goes away on its own once you are out of the stressful situation.
Chronic Anxiety
Chronic or long-term anxiety is severe and usually manifests in the form of an anxiety disorder such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder, or specific phobias. Unlike normal anxiety, chronic anxiety requires specific treatments or interventions as it is unlikely to go away on its own. An untreated anxiety disorder can become worse over time and cause severe disturbances in daily functioning.
Can You Make Your Anxiety Go Away?
While living with anxiety can be difficult, it doesn’t have to stop you from living your life freely. You can cope with anxiety by using self-help techniques. A few of those are:
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Increase self-awareness
Self-awareness involves getting insight into your thoughts, emotions and triggers for anxiety. Understanding your emotions leads to better emotional management while identifying your triggers can help you make plans to cope with anxiety in better ways. Over time, these activities contribute to a gradual reduction in the symptoms of anxiety.
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Learning Breathing and Relaxation
Consistently practicing deep breathing techniques, such as diaphragmatic breathing, abdominal breathing, etc and progressive muscle relaxation techniques can help reduce anxiety symptoms over time.
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Focusing On Physical Health
Anxiety disorders usually affect both the mind and the body; thus, taking care of physical health becomes as important as mental health. Starting a regular exercise routine, having a healthy diet and getting 7-8 hours of proper sleep at night can help cope with anxiety.
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Keeping a Journal
Regularly journaling about your thoughts can help you increase your self-awareness while also helping you identify thoughts and triggers that might be contributing to anxiety. It can act as an effective outlet for difficult feelings as well.
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Stress Management
Stressful situations, such as working overtime, can contribute to increased anxiety. Thus, consciously managing stress by maintaining a healthy work-life balance and making time for self-care helps cope with anxiety.
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Seeking Support
Going through an anxiety disorder can often feel overwhelming and isolating. Feelings of loneliness tend to aggravate anxiety, so it is essential to seek support from friends and family during difficult situations. Joining a support group for anxiety can also help you meet people with similar experiences and feel supported.
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Managing Substance Intake
Consuming substances such as alcohol or drugs and regular smoking have been linked with anxiety. Thus, giving up on alcohol or any other intoxicating substances can help with anxiety.
It is important to note that although self-help techniques can contribute to reduced anxiety, they cannot act as a substitute or replacement for treatments like therapy or medication.
Conclusion:
Anxiety is a common experience for most people, and everyone has their own journey of recovering from it. While normal anxiety can go away with a change in circumstances or situations, an anxiety disorder often requires professional treatment and is unlikely to go away by itself. Leaving it untreated can make anxiety symptoms worse over time.
References
- Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders: Is There a Cure? (n.d.). Retrieved December 27, 2023, from https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/does-anxiety-ever-go-away#does-anxiety-ever-go-away
- Coping with Anxiety: If You Ignore It, Will It Go Away? (n.d.). Retrieved December 27, 2023, from https://www.calmclinic.com/anxiety/will-it-go-away
- Does Anxiety Go Away? (2015, February 28). Psych Central. https://psychcentral.com/anxiety/mistakes-so-many-of-us-make-when-navigating-anxiety
- RefreshMH. (2020, November 13). Does Anxiety Go Away on Its Own? Oakland Psychological. https://www.oakpsych.com/2020/11/13/does-anxiety-go-away-on-its-own/
