WAYS TO UNKNOT ANXIETY WITHOUT RESORTING TO PILLS

GET help, even if you feel like nothing can change the way you feel. Doctors can recommend a range of treatments, some of the most effective of which don’t involve pills. ‘If you see your GP, you can seek treatment based on cognitive behavioural therapy,’ says David Baldwin, professor of psychiatry at the University of Southampton, though they may also suggest using antidepressants. ‘A “cure” is rare,’ he continues, ‘but the vast majority of people will improve with treatment.’

STICK to small doses of social media. ‘Social media can actually help people to feel less isolated,’ says Eve Critchley, head of digital at mental health charity Mind. ‘But it’s important to be aware of how you’re feeling when you’re online and, if you are starting to feel vulnerable or anxious, come off for a while.’

CHALLENGE your harmful ideas about yourself — and others. ‘If you find yourself thinking, “everyone stares at me when I walk into a room”, rebut that with the truth,’ says psychotherapist Louise Tyler,

who treats anxiety sufferers at her Personal Resilience clinic in Cheshire. ‘Look around — in fact, people are too busy to be interested in one person’s arrival or presence.’

EXPOSE your inner self. ‘With clients, I do something called gradual exposure therapy — encouraging them to expose themselves to social situations in small ways, so chatting to someone at the till or smiling at another mum in the playground,’ says Louise Tyler. ‘When they see that nothing bad happened, then the anxiety starts to lessen.’

BE MORE mindful. ‘When you feel any symptom, do something to re-focus your attention away from it, even if it’s making a cup of tea or going out for a walk,’ says Dr Jennifer Wild, consultant clinical psychologist at the University of Oxford. ‘Once you redirect your behaviour, the anxiety about that symptom disappears — and often the symptom itself, too.’