Managing anxiety can be hard. Yet when we are managing anxiety sometimes what we do can make the anxiety worse. How we react can mean that not only are we managing anxiety but we are managing double the amount we started with!

Anxiety occurs to differing degrees, for differing reasons, and for different lengths of time. There is not ONE cause. There are many possible causes and many possible ways we can make anxiety worse.

Here are 8 ways we can make anxiety worse.
I know that:

1. The more we fear, hate and try to get rid of anxiety the bigger and worse it gets. By its very nature a fear of anxiety adds anxiety on top of anxiety. We become anxious about getting anxious. That means we now have at least twice as much anxiety to manage!

2. The more we try to avoid all the situations in which we imagine our anxiety will rear up the more our anxiety grows and closes us down. Running from anxiety encourages it to chase after us.

3. Anxiety can be fueled by a negative imagination: we imagine something will go wrong, we react as if it has happened, and we get anxious, all in a few seconds and without even leaving our beds or lounge rooms.

If we manage our imagination, and our reaction to it, then we may not need to focus on the anxiety itself. If we don't believe the pictures, stories or thoughts we don't fuel the anxiety, and they remain just thoughts, pictures or stories.

4. Anxiety is often about the future not about the present. We worry about will happen IN THE FUTURE, e.g. when we meet someone, when we go to the Doctors, when we get our exam questions or results. If we stay focused on what is happening right now anxiety does not have a hook to attach itself to.

5. Some of us adopt an identity of being "an anxious person" as though it is a permanent state; or we own the anxiety, "My social anxiety ...". Sometimes identifying with anxiety in this way can make it harder to shrug it off.

When we give anxiety such a status, then it will take an identity crisis to get rid of it. Most of us are attached to our identity and do not like changing it. Fleshing out a healthier identity can help us in managing the anxiety better.

6. Anxiety may echo a more general discomfort with the unknown, with a loss of control, with rejection, or with our feelings. Thus, it may not be our anxiety we must get rid of but our inability to tolerate the unknown, rejection or our feelings.

7. When we do not like, or are "out of touch with" our feelings, and they arise, we can feel overwhelmed and frightened. Part of the journey of living with or managing anxiety is learning to be more comfortable with a whole range of feelings.

8. Just because we feel anxious about a particular activity, person or place doesn't mean there is anything fundamentally wrong with the activity, person or place; anxiety can attach itself to good things. I used to get panic attacks in large, bright, white, hardware shops. There is nothing wrong with hardware shops!

What are your experiences in managing anxiety?

Written by Rachel Green.  Professional Speaker | Trainer | Coach | Author.

Rachel has used meditation to overcome panic attacks. She is the author of the 2 CD set: "Happy not hassled: Using meditation to manage your emotions". It is Confident Woman's most popular CD set. Click here to get your copy.

Rachel also conducts a live webinar "Managing anxiety - creating calm" that you can enrol in throughout Australia. It only takes an hour and if you have a computer you can join in at home or at work. Click here for more details.

She can also speak at your conference or event on: Managing anxiety: don't panic yet!
This is an inspiring speech, hilarious, practical and relevant.

Copyright Confident Woman Australia, 2010.
NB: This article is for your information only and does not constitute individual advice. Everyone is different. It is not provided as an alternative to obtaining professional advice from an appropriately qualified practitioner. Please seek the help you need.