Effective Ways to Support Someone with Anxiety

When someone you care about is struggling with anxiety, it can be tough to know how to help. Fortunately, there are effective ways to support someone with anxiety that can make a significant difference in their mental health. These are tips that a friend, family member, or partner can use to help.

Understand the Experience

Before jumping into how to help, it is important to recognize what anxiety feels like for the person dealing with it. Anxiety often involves physical symptoms like a racing heart, upset stomach, and dizziness. These can make a person feel trapped in their own body. The mental aspect includes constant worry, intrusive thoughts, and an overwhelming fear of worst-case scenarios.

Practice Active Listening

When someone with anxiety opens up, it is essential to listen without judgment. Avoid interrupting, offering quick fixes, or minimizing their feelings. Statements like "just relax" or "it’s not that big of a deal" can feel dismissive, even if they’re meant to comfort. Try saying something like, "That sounds really tough, I can see why you’d feel that way."

Offer Tools, Not Solutions

While it's tempting to offer advice, sometimes what someone with anxiety really needs is a toolbox to help them manage in the moment. Here are a few practical techniques to suggest:

Grounding Exercises: Encourage the person to focus on their surroundings to anchor themselves in the present. This might involve naming five things they can see, hear, or touch. Grounding exercises can help pull someone out of a cycle of anxious thoughts and back into the present.

Deep Breathing: Slow, deep breathing is a simple but effective way to calm the body’s stress response. Guide them to take deep breaths in for a count of four, hold for four, and breathe out for four. This can help regulate the nervous system and reduce anxiety levels.

Cognitive Behavioral Techniques: Help the person identify and challenge their anxious thoughts. Encourage them to challenge these thoughts and find different ways to look at themselves and their anxiety.

Encourage Healthy Routines

Living with anxiety often disrupts daily life, but small changes in routine can make a big difference. Encourage your loved one or client to establish regular habits that support their mental health:

Consistent Sleep: Sleep and anxiety are closely linked. Lack of sleep can make anxiety worse, and anxiety can disrupt sleep. Encourage them to set a "bedtime" schedule on their phone and turn on Do Not Disturb to avoid disturbances.

Staying Active: Regular exercise can reduce anxiety by releasing endorphins and lowering stress hormones. Offer to join them at a workout class or to schedule weekly walks for them to look forward to. This provides some accountability as well.

Balanced Nutrition: Anxiety can be influenced by diet. Help them recognize how certain foods (or emotional crutches), such as alcohol, junk food, and caffeine, can increase anxiety. Offer to come over and meal prep with them!

Respect Boundaries and Offer Ongoing Support

Supporting someone with anxiety is a marathon, not a sprint. Be mindful of their limits, and do not push them to "get over it" or "try harder." Sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is simply be there without pushing for a solution or expecting them to feel better right away. Offering consistency and a sense of stability during tough moments can help them feel safe.

Final Thoughts

Supporting someone with anxiety doesn’t mean having all the answers. It’s about respecting their struggle and consistently showing up to support them. By listening actively, providing helpful tools, and encouraging healthy habits, you can be an important source of support for someone with anxiety.

Anxiety counseling is another very big step in conquering anxiety. If you think your loved one would be open to counseling, share my practice's contact information.