Coping with anxiety begins with an understanding of the body’s stress response. The body undergoes three stages of stress. These stages are as follows:

Fight or Flight: During this stage, the body perceives threatened danger. A surge of energy overtakes the body, enabling a person to fight off the threat or flee from the danger at hand.

Resistance: This stage occurs when danger remains beyond the fight or flight period. The body secretes several hormones in order to mobilize the body during long-term stress.

Exhaustion: If the body successfully completes the first two stages, it will enter a third stage, exhaustion. This is a time when the fatigued body replenishes itself.Coping With Anxiety - When Does Stress Become a Problem?
Coping with anxiety is a necessity in our modern fast-paced world. Busy schedules, intensified by traffic jams, money problems, and relational difficulties keep many people in chronic states of stress.

Stress becomes a problem when a person undergoes a sense of prolonged danger. During the fight or flight and resistance stages, the body produces many helpful hormones. However, excessive amounts of these same substances can cause damaging effects to the body. For instance, adrenaline helps with energy production during stressful periods. Prolonged use of adrenaline by the body, however, leads to a weakening of the heart. Cortisol and vasopressin, both released during the resistance stage, raise blood pressure and blood sugar levels and may narrow artery walls by increasing blood platelets.

During prolonged stress, the body rarely has time to replenish itself. The body remains in a cycle of fighting, fleeing, and resisting, with little or no time to rest. This affects the body’s sleep cycle, only increasing the body’s fatigue and decreasing full restoration.

Coping With Anxiety - Symptoms
Coping with anxiety begins with the understanding of the symptoms of excess stress. These symptoms include: exhaustion, sleep problems, tension headaches, constant worry, dark circles under the eyes, bowel disturbances, lowered immune function, irritability or angry outbursts, lack of concentration, and so on.

If you think you are experiencing the symptoms of anxiety, check with your health professional. He or she can diagnose anxiety by evaluating your medical and personal history. Dealing with anxiety is easier when you have help.

Coping With Anxiety - Steps to a Worry-free Existence
Coping with anxiety entails that a person actively engage in positive changes. There are steps that one can take to encounter safety from a worrisome world.

Coping with stress and anxiety includes the following steps:

• Laugh: Don’t take your life so seriously. A sense of humor helps overcome worry by distracting the mind. Laughter may also produce endorphins, which help ease pain and offer a sense of relaxation and joy. Tell a joke, watch a comedy, and laugh when disaster strikes. You’ll feel better with a smile on your face.
• Make plans: Worrying solves nothing. It cannot change situations or outcomes. The only way change comes about is through action. Instead of worrying, empower yourself by acting toward change. Worried about money? Create and implement a budget or seek professional financial counsel. Productivity creates an atmosphere of positive change that worry cannot achieve and makes overcoming anxiety possible.
• Herbs: There are several herbs one may use to help alleviate feelings of stress. Among them, Kava stands out. Kava enables the body to relax physically and mentally. Those with liver problems or Parkinson’s disease should not use Kava. Adaptogenic herbs, such as the ginsengs and milk thistle are good herbs to consider. Adaptogens, or nerve tonics, help strengthen the body’s resistance to stress. As always, follow the directions on the bottle and check with your doctor before beginning any herbal routine.
• Seek professional help: Having someone with whom you can discuss your worries may help lessen anxiety. A good counselor will listen attentively, enabling you to discover your underlying concerns. Together, you can create productive means of handling stress, so that you may heal emotionally and physically.

 Coping With Anxiety - A Personal Story
I struggle with anxiety - a fear that creeps through my mind constantly, worrying about a family member, a job situation, a deadline, an untidy house, an ill friend. I pace, finding more things to clean and add to my list of to-dos. And when I do turn to God, I face him with clenched teeth, asking, “Why me, God? Why?” I demand he fix these things: Heal a friend. Change a family member’s life. Create me a maid. Hand me a job.

I hear nothing in response.

When I stop, however, and take a deep breath, preparing myself to listen, to really listen, to something other than my worry, everything changes. I pull out my Bible (and as I do, I pray that God will soften my heart, allowing me to hear Him). I finally notice God’s voice speaking softly and His arms wrapping around me. In Ecclesiastes 3, God reminds me to slow down and to unclasp my hands from around my troubles. “There is a time for everything,” God says. I nod, let my shoulders relax; for it’s not my timing that matters. God will make beauty out of everything in His time, not mine. I offer Him my problems and allow Him to take care of them when the time is right.

Then I pick up my to-do list. I tidy what I can, the rest can wait. I pick up the phone and ask my friend how he’s feeling, letting him know I’m praying. I invite my family member over for tea and we chat. I do what I can, allowing God to take the greater portion, unburdening me from my worry. I can only do so much. The rest is up to God and His time.

Coping With Anxiety - Finding Solace in God’s Arms
Coping with anxiety offers freedom from the weight of stress. Proverbs 12:25 explains that anxiety weighs a person down. However, the same verse explains that “a kind word cheers [the anxious person] up.” What kind words does the Bible present to the worried person?

According to the Bible, God can handle your stress, even when you cannot. However, as the Bible states, you must first find humility before God can fully take your burden. 1 Peter 5:6-7 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” God wishes to lift you up out of danger, but you must first humble yourself-letting go of the pride that says you can fix every and any problem in your life. Humility allows God to enter into your life and take over. So, give up the control and cast your cares over to the sovereign God.

Coping with anxiety not only entails humbling yourself. You must also communicate with God, expressing your problems to Him. The Bible says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). Pray to God. Express your concerns to Him. God is there to listen.

Once God has taken your anxiety, what does He have to offer? Philippians 4:7, after recommending prayer in anxious times, explains that, “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” God will give you peace. He will take your anxiety and fill your heart and mind with tranquility. Even if you cannot comprehend His power, present your problems to God. You’ll be amazed at the peace He can give.

Article source: AllAboutGod.com