Everyone gets anxious from time to time. The problem is that it’s hard to calm down quickly when you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed.

Discovering how to calm down quickly when anxious is not always easy, especially when the symptoms are very strong.

Actually, anxiety be triggered by anything from an upcoming day at work to the anticipation of events in your personal life.

But, when anxiety becomes overwhelming, it can cause you to feel restless, tremble, hyperventilate or even have trouble concentrating. In fact, it can affect multiple dimensions of your personal wellness.

That’s why it’s imperative that you go through this article thoroughly so that you know how to calm down quickly when you feel anxious.

However, it’s important to note that these tips should not replace prescribed medicinal treatment for anxiety disorders.

How to calm down quickly when anxious

The best tip for controlling anxiety is to try and relax. Sounds logical right? Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. But, a few tricks help a lot.

By the way, did you know that of all the mental health disorders, anxiety disorders are the most common?

In fact, in the USA, more than 13% of the population suffer from anxiety disorders. Notably, anxiety disorders include panic disorders, social phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), general anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) etc. (Bystritsky et al., 2013).

Plus, there are numerous individuals that fall under the ‘sub-threshold’ of mental health disorders (Morgan et al., 2016).

That means that they do not have all the criteria to be diagnosed with a mental health disorder but still have a  clinical problem that is relevant. 

Unfortunately, studies show that the majority of people with anxiety disorder did not attempt to get treatment in the last 12 months (Morgan et al., 2016).

In fact, many persons do not use relaxation or behavioral techniques to manage anxiety either. Actually, many may even believe they are too difficult or expensive.

Let’s face it, taking some time off work or resorting to vacation on a tropical island is not possible for most of us.

But these simple techniques will certainly help you calm down quickly when anxious, without spending a dime:

(1) Meditation

(2) Deep breathing 

(3) Visualization

(4) Hugging someone

(5) Eating something comforting

(6) Music therapy

(7) Cognitive restructuring

(8) A warm bath

Check out this guided daily 12-week journal that will help you calm anxiety, relieve stress and practice positive thinking every day.

(1) Meditate to calm down quickly when anxious

Meditation is an excellent way to help you calm down quickly when you are anxious.  In fact, there are many different types of meditation for people to use. But, the most helpful to control anxiety is mindfulness meditation.

This type of meditation assists individuals in accepting their emotions and increasing self-awareness while becoming less critical towards themselves.

According to a study involving 1,140 participants, mindfulness-based therapy was shown to be moderately effective for improving mood symptoms and anxiety. 

Notably, mindfulness  should focus on two principal components which are:

(1) Self-regulation of your attention.

(2) Non-judgmental awareness of the present moment and all it’s experiences.

Other scholars confirm that relaxation techniques and exercises help to reduce the physical and psychological effects of tension and anxiety (Norelli et al., 2021).

(2) Deep breathing

Breathing is an important tool for controlling anxiety.

In fact, the more anxious you are, the more shallow your breathing becomes. This can cause even more feelings of uneasiness.

There are many different techniques for deep breathing. But, the one I’m going to show you is my favorite because it’s very simple and easy to follow and will give you fast results.

Here’s how you do it:

• Sit comfortably in an upright position with your feet flat on the floor, relax your shoulders, put your hands aside.
• Close your eyes and breathe in slowly through your nose, making sure that you expand your stomach first then continue to breathe into the chest.
• Hold for a count of 4.
• At the end of the breath exhale slowly concentrating on pushing out all the air from your lungs.
• Hold for another count of 4.
• Repeat these steps for five minutes or until you start to feel better.

“Life is 10 percent what you experience and 90 percent how you respond to it.” — Dorothy M. Neddermeyer

(3) Visualize to calm down quickly when anxious

Although deep breathing will help you quickly relax when you’re anxious, there are many other things that can be very effective too, especially visualization.

More and more studies have found that visualization of tranquil environments is just as good to help you relax (Norelli et al., 2021).

Here’s how to do visualizations to help you relax when anxious:

• Find a quiet spot, free from disturbance.
• Sit or lie comfortably.
• Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a place that makes you happy or relaxed. Maybe it’s on the beach watching the sunset, maybe in a forest clearing somewhere quiet in nature, etc.
• It’s important to focus on all the details in order for this technique to work so don’t rush. Notice how the light filters through the leaves in different patterns. Listen to the birds in the background and feel that warm breeze on your skin.

This type of meditation has been proven to be extremely effective for anxiety, depression and many other mental health problems.

(4) Hug someone to calm down quickly when anxious

This is a classic but it never fails to work wonders when it comes to rapidly relaxing when anxious.

There’s a reason why they say that hugs make everyone feel better, and its because there’s nothing quite like positive interpersonal contact.

It has already been proven that social support is a protective factor for stressful situations.

However, for some persons, some forms of social support may actually make the recipient feel as if they are unable to manage their own situations. And, as such may be counterproductive.

However, a hug shows care, validation and understanding without making the person feel incompetent (Murphy et al., 2018). And, that’s one of the theories why it’s so effective.

 “The largest part of what we call ‘personality’ is determined by how we’ve opted to defend ourselves against anxiety and sadness.” — Alain de Botton

(5) Eat something comforting to calm down quickly when anxious

Another classic but also very effective strategy for quickly controlling anxiety is to eat something that reminds you of a happy time in life.

Even if it might seem ridiculous, the type of food we eat can have a real impact on how we feel because there’s a connection in our brain between food and mood.

Research shows that mood affects food choices. However, food choices also influences mood (AlAmmar et al., 2020).

But, be warned, this doesn’t mean that you should only eat ice cream when you’re feeling sad. If you choose to use this method be cautious of binge eating since negative moods usually lead to unhealthy eating choices and habits.

As such, consider the meal or snack that you would resort to beforehand. And, if possible, try to make it as healthy as possible. If you can’t make it healthy, make it small.

Read also: List of the best foods to eat for a healthy diet. 

(6) Music therapy will help you calm down quickly when anxious

Do you ever wonder why music is used in many hospitals and even before surgical interventions?

Research shows that listening to music even before a stressful event leads to faster recovery and a less intense psychologically stressful response (Thoma et al., 2013).

Music is a very powerful tool which can significantly quickly reduce stress and boost self-esteem.

Most people tend to think that sad songs are best when you’re feeling down but this is actually not the case.

If you want to use music as an effective method to relax when you’re anxious, then you should pick a happy song and listen to it on repeat.

Try singing the lyrics if possible because doing so usually has a bigger impact than just listening to them.

Actually, creating a playlist of songs for whenever you feel anxious can also be a great idea. In this way, you won’t have to search for a song each time you need to quickly relax.

(7) Use cognitive restructuring to calm down quickly when anxious

Another way to relax quickly when you’re anxious is a method that’s been proven very effective for people who suffer from anxiety, depression and many other mental health problems.

It’s called “cognitive restructuring” which means changing how you think by challenging your negative thoughts (Larsson et al., 2016).

Research has found that the way our brain works is more illogical than most people think.

In fact, when we feel sad or angry for example, our brain focuses on the negative details of a situation and completely disregards anything positive.

Cognitive restructuring is all about training your brain to focus on the positives rather than the negatives.

To use this technique it’s essential to keep a positive and optimistic attitude.

What we want to do when we use cognitive restructuring is train our brain to see all the positives in our lives so that we can feel better about who we are and what we do.

Here’re some tips to try:

• Start by finding a notepad and writing the heading “My Thoughts” at the top of it.
• Under this heading, write down all the things you tell yourself when you’re feeling anxious or depressed.
• Now comes the most important part, read through each sentence and ask yourself: is this person likely to think about my life in this way? Do I have proof that supports this? Do I have proof that doesn’t support this? For example, if you tell yourself “He’ll never love me,” is this something he has said before or is it just your own personal feeling?
• Once you’ve read through all the sentences and answered these questions for each of them go back to the first sentence and repeat this process. Keep repeating it until you’re completely satisfied with what you have written down.
• When you’re done, take a good look at this piece of paper and read through it as many times as possible because this is going to be the way your brain works from now on!

The good thing about cognitive restructuring is that it can be used in any environment.

(8) Take a warm bath to calm down quickly when anxious

I don’t know about you but taking a warm bath always manages to relax me.

It’s also nice to soak your muscles for 10 minutes or so. This will help them loosen up and your overall mood should improve as a result.

Don’t forget to light some scented candles or incense while you’re at it because there’s nothing like aromatherapy to make you feel more relaxed.

According to research, emersion bathing (not shower bathing) increases blood flow and speeds up the elimination of metabolic waste, leading to physical and emotional refreshment (Goto et al., 2018).

Click here to explore other physical self-care ideas.

“You can’t always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.” — Wayne Dyer

The controversy of distraction techniques to calm anxiety

Distraction is a mental diversion from an event or thought that causes emotional distress.

Distractions can be anything from something as simple as watching TV to going for a walk on the beach.

Anything that helps you escape momentarily from your current state of mind and takes your attention away from what’s bothering you.

Distraction helps anxiety because it allows you to escape from any current negative thoughts or feelings that are plaguing your mind. Some scholars argue that it’s extremely difficult to feel anxious when you’re fully engaged in something else.

However, other studies have shown that distraction techniques do not help with anxiety. In fact, they may actually increase anxiety in some cases.

It is argued that distraction techniques allow the mind to ‘check out’ from a situation mentally but it doesn’t deal with the actual root cause of  the feeling.

In fact, it is believed that reaction, rather than reflection can contribute to maintaining mood problems and anxiety disorders (Hofmann et al., 2010).

In other words, distraction only temporarily numbs you from your emotions.

As such, if you do go ahead with distraction techniques, use it in combination with cognitive therapies that help you understand and address the underlying issues.

Read also: Can insecurity be cured? 6 tips to defeat self-doubt.

Final words on how to calm down quickly when anxious

I know that dealing with negative thoughts can be quite challenging but there are plenty of techniques that may help you improve your mood.

The next time you feel stressed or anxious remember to incorporate some of these tips. They’re free and not time consuming so you have nothing to lose.

I’m sure you’ll have a much better time coping with these feelings of anxiety.

I hope that these tips manage to help you out of that dark place where anxiety sufferers so often find themselves. 

Let me know your most effective strategy for quickly relaxing when feeling anxious in the comments below.

Related Topics

What is social phobia?

Social phobia is the fear of being scrutinized and embarrassed by others. It is also referred to as social anxiety disorder or social anxiety.

People who suffer from this phobia are extremely self-conscious in everyday situations.

In fact, they experience high levels of stress before an event where their performance will be observed (be it playing sports, giving a speech, asking someone out).

This phobia is most commonly treated by cognitive behavior therapy, where the client learns to confront his/her fears in a safe environment. It may also be treated with medications.

How to cope with difficult situations?

Sometimes in life, you’ll be faced with really challenging situations and the only way to get through them is to accept that there will be bumps along the road.

Acceptance is the key to coping with difficult situations. Notably, accepting a situation doesn’t mean that you can’t change it but rather that you’ve decided to make the best out of a bad deal. You learn to “embrace life with all its trials and tribulations.” Read more. 

References

AlAmmar, W.A., Albeesh, F.H. & Khattab, R.Y. Food and Mood: the Corresponsive Effect. Curr Nutr Rep 9, 296–308 (2020).

Bystritsky, A., Khalsa, S. S., Cameron, M. E., & Schiffman, J. (2013). Current diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders. P & T : a peer-reviewed journal for formulary management, 38(1), 30–57.

Goto Y, Hayasaka S, Kurihara S, Nakamura Y. Physical and Mental Effects of Bathing: A Randomized Intervention Study. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2018 Jun 7;2018:9521086.

Hofmann, S. G., Sawyer, A. T., Witt, A. A., & Oh, D. (2010). The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression: A meta-analytic review. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 78(2), 169–183.

Larsson A, Hooper N, Osborne LA, Bennett P, McHugh L. Using Brief Cognitive Restructuring and Cognitive Defusion Techniques to Cope With Negative Thoughts. Behavior Modification. 2016;40(3):452-482.

Morgan AJ, Chittleborough P, Jorm AF. Self-help strategies for sub-threshold anxiety: A Delphi consensus study to find messages suitable for population-wide promotion. J Affect Disord. 2016 Dec;206:68-76.

Murphy MLM, Janicki-Deverts D, Cohen S. Receiving a hug is associated with the attenuation of negative mood that occurs on days with interpersonal conflict. PLoS One. 2018 Oct

Norelli SK, Long A, Krepps JM. Relaxation Techniques. [Updated 2021 Sep 6]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan-.

Thoma, M. V., La Marca, R., Brönnimann, R., Finkel, L., Ehlert, U., & Nater, U. M. (2013). The effect of music on the human stress response. PloS one, 8(8), e70156.