Acceptance Anxiety: The First Step to Managing Anxiety
Healthful Vitality | 1/14/2025 | Acceptance Anxiety: The First Step to Managing Anxiety.
The discomfort that comes with feeling your chest tightening, your heart pace increasing and your muscles tensing is well-documented. In most instances, the first course of action people take is to try and get rid of the feeling of anxiety as fast as they can. But did you know acceptance anxiety would help do wonders in such cases?
Acceptance anxiety is an unpopular opinion since many people would rather get rid of the anxiety instead of accepting it. Believe it or not, anxiety is normal and everyone experiences it when facing some uncertainty. Anxiety entails a worry over something that’s yet to happen.
If you think about a conversation you dread or something bad that’s bound to happen, you will likely feel your heart beating faster or your stomach aching. It is also normal to want to get rid of anxiety. Nobody enjoys being in a state of worry all the time.
Why You Should Accept Anxiety
The first step to solving a problem is by first accepting its existence. The same applies to anxiety. There are many methods of solving anxiety but most would not work if you have not accepted the situation you are in.
If you have suffered from anxiety often you will agree that it’s not always that you get to control yourself. Sometimes you try and nothing happens. The impact of that is frustration and your anxiety getting out of control.
The feeling of wanting to get rid of anxiety as fast as possible will make the anxiety worse. Anxiety by itself is caused by worrying and worrying about getting rid of it only makes your nervous system get the signal that there is more to worry about. Your anxiety will be worse and you will experience it for long.
The more you experience anxiety and the more you are unable to calm it the more you will be susceptible to developing anxiety disorders. Long-lasting anxiety leading to a disorder will change your life significantly and disrupt your normal daily function. At this stage, you will need treatment that might include medications and therapy depending on severity.
What Does Acceptance Anxiety Mean?
Acceptance anxiety might not seem like something anyone wants to consider due to the misunderstanding of the meaning of acceptance. Many people assume that acceptance means you like something or you have approved of something in your life. You may have already rejected the notion of acceptance since it makes you feel like you are defeated or that there is nothing you can do about a situation.
That’s not what acceptance implies in acceptance anxiety. It does not by any chance imply a resignation to any effort to change the situation. It’s the opposite and it takes a lot of courage and determination.
You need a lot of motivation to accept a situation the way it is even when you dislike it. Acceptance entails recognizing your worries, your circumstances, and the resources you have to heal or change a situation. Acceptance of anxiety in practice entails accepting the reality that anxiety is a part of life and instead of fighting it using what you have to calm it.
You have to understand that resisting the reality of life doesn’t mean something will go away but instead, it continues building in you. You might deny your anxiety now and experience relief but that doesn’t mean the things that cause anxiety have gone away. The anxiety will continue building inside you and before you realize it you will be facing a major anxiety attack.
Resisting anxiety will only make your life unbearable and the situation worse. Interviews might make you anxious and you choose resistance. You might avoid interviews which means you won’t have any reason to be anxious. You might also choose not to think about interviews and get temporary relief.
Avoiding interviews means that you will miss out on opportunities in life while not thinking about it means that you will eventually start having overwhelming thoughts about interviews. Both of these will cripple your life making you unable to achieve anything. By choosing to resist you will find yourself stuck both in life and in the period of anxiousness.
So what should you do? In a nutshell, acceptance anxiety wants you to recognize your present moment and feelings no matter how uncomfortable they are. You should learn how to support yourself and use the resources you have to help yourself through the situation.
By accepting anxiety you get back the power and control over yourself. You get to focus on things that matter the most to you and eventually, you will experience the anxiety fading away, a factor that everyone is looking forward to.
Flowchart 1: Illustrating the process of acceptance and management of anxiety
How to Accept Anxiety?
Recognize And Accept Anxiety: Recognize the sensations you feel and label them without judgment. You can notice your heartbeat increasing and tell yourself, ‘I am nervous because of this or that’.
Do Not Criticize Yourself: Instead of saying things like ‘I am such a loser’, tell yourself positive things like ‘this is a normal experience for such a situation’.
Do A Reality Check: When your anxiety is overwhelming do a reality check by asking yourself:
- How likely it that what is making me anxious is will happen soon
- Is there a good reason to think something will go wrong?
- Is there a chance I am overly worried?
These questions will help you understand the real situation you are anxious about.
Share with Someone: The problem with anxiety is that it can make you overthink a situation. Instead of overthinking share with a close friend or family member about your worries. By sharing they will help you put your problems into perspective and manage them easily.
Practice Self-Compassion: Failing to accept anxiety may sometimes make you feel inadequate. By accepting you practice self-compassion. Instead of saying ‘Why is this happening to me?’ you tell yourself ‘I am struggling and it’s okay’.
Soothe Yourself: Accepting anxiety is not an easy task but full of challenges. When you find yourself in overwhelming anxiety you can try soothing yourself with something that calms you. For instance, you might have a scent that calms you, or a flavor of tea that makes you feel good. The key is to explore your senses but not to resort to harmful activities like using drugs.
Practice Grounding: Anxiety often involves a lot of thoughts and you can easily lose yourself in the process. Grounding helps bring yourself back to the present instead of getting lost in thought. Here you accept your thoughts and find an anchor that can help you get back to the present through grounding exercises.
Take A Break: Sometimes all you need is a break and your anxiety will be gone. This is specifically helpful in situations like working or studying. When anxious thoughts start taking over all you need to do is take a break and you will regain the energy to come back and face whatever is disturbing you.
Acceptance Anxiety Techniques
To effectively manage acceptance anxiety, it’s essential to utilize specific techniques. The table below outlines various strategies to help you recognize, accept, and manage anxiety. By incorporating these techniques into your routine, you can transform your anxiety into a manageable part of your life and regain control over your emotional well-being.
Table 1: Presents Acceptance Anxiety Techniques
| Technique | Description |
|---|---|
| Recognition | Identify and label your anxiety without judgment. |
| Self-Compassion | Be kind to yourself, acknowledge your struggles, and offer yourself compassion. |
| Reality Check | Ground yourself with questions to assess the real situation. |
| Sharing | Talk about your worries with a trusted person to gain perspective. |
| Soothing | Use calming techniques like scents, teas, or other sensory experiences. |
| Grounding | Practice grounding exercises to stay present. |
| Taking Breaks | Take breaks to regain energy and focus. |
Acceptance Anxiety vs. Anxiety Resistance: A Comparative Overview
Acceptance Anxiety involves recognizing and embracing anxiety as a natural response, allowing you to manage it effectively. In contrast, Anxiety Resistance focuses on trying to eliminate or ignore anxiety, which can often exacerbate the problem. Understanding the difference between these approaches is crucial for long-term anxiety management. The following table illustrates the difference:
Table 2: Illustrates Anxiety Acceptance vs. Anxiety Resistance
| Aspect | Acceptance Anxiety | Anxiety Resistance |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | Recognize and accept anxiety as a natural response | Attempt to eliminate or ignore anxiety |
| Effect on Nervous System | Calms the nervous system, reducing overall anxiety levels | Signals the nervous system that there is more to worry about |
| Long-term Impact | Reduces the likelihood of developing anxiety disorders | Increases the risk of long-lasting anxiety and disorders |
| Daily Function | Allows for normal daily function with manageable anxiety | Disrupts daily function, leading to more severe anxiety |
| Emotional State | Leads to empowerment and control over anxiety | Results in frustration and a sense of helplessness |
Do You Need Treatment for Anxiety?
Acceptance of anxiety is usually the first step to managing anxiety. After acceptance, you might realize the extent to which anxiety has affected you and determine whether you can manage it alone or if you need treatment.
You might accept your situation find techniques to help you through it and yet realize that nothing is working. Instead of losing hope and your progress you should consider getting treated.
You should get treatment for anxiety if you experience the following:
- Constant anxiety that lasts longer than usual
- Severe anxiety affects how you socialize and how you work.
- Panic attacks that affect your normal life
- Anxiety about things that do not make sense or they do not threaten you
- Anxiety that is associated with the use of drugs or other harmful activities
You may experience the above symptoms and more that you can no longer manage. When the anxiety is beyond your control you need to consider seeking professional help. Find the nearest center and get an evaluation to determine your condition.
You will be assessed and your situation evaluated to determine if you have anxiety disorders. If you have an anxiety disorder, then worry not since many anxiety disorders are manageable and you can still live a normal life after treatment.
Since you have considered acceptance it will be easy to work with your provider to get the best treatment options. Acceptance also means you will be ready to cooperate during treatment to achieve the best results. Treatment will often involve using medication plus psychotherapy.
The whole session might also include learning new skills to help you cope with an anxiety attack. These skills will be essential in helping you during treatment and in life. All in all, the goal is to ensure you get past the anxiety and get your life back on track.
Indicators for Seeking Professional Help for Anxiety
Table 3: Presents Indicators of When to Seek Professional Help for Anxiety
| Signs You Need Treatment |
|---|
| Constant anxiety that lasts longer than usual |
| Severe anxiety affects how you socialize and how you work |
| Panic attacks that affect your normal life |
| Anxiety about things that do not make sense or do not threaten you |
| Anxiety that is associated with the use of drugs or other harmful activities |
| Anxiety that is beyond your control and makes daily functioning difficult |
Conclusion
Anxiety is common and normal for every human being it’s an instinct that often causes discomfort making everyone want to get rid of it. However, when it becomes troubling people may choose to fight it instead of accepting it and managing it.
If you have suffered from anxiety and experienced no relief, it’s time to change your tactics from fighting it to acceptance. If your anxiety becomes overwhelming or unmanageable, consult a professional to receive the appropriate support and treatment.
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