Effective Anxiety Management Strategies in Los Angeles

Understanding Anxiety Symptoms and Causes

While everybody experiences anxiety at stressful points in their lives, when it gets to a point where it affects your ability to live a happy and healthy life, it may be a mental health issue. Globally, anxiety rates seem to be growing, especially in urban spaces. Research suggests that managing anxiety in Los Angeles may be more challenging than it would be in a more rural environment. Urban areas tend to have a fast-paced, chaotic lifestyle that lacks greenspaces, walkable areas, and safe social spaces within smaller communities where people can gather freely and spend time together. 

People in urban environments tend to feel more isolated with reduced social support, while simultaneously experiencing a sensory overload due to the noise, exposure to crime, and the crowded environment. It has also been suggested that exposure to environmental toxins may lead to illness, which can increase stress levels in the body. The constant stimulation and stress can cause burnout, interfere with sleep quality, and spike stress hormones like cortisol, which reduces our ability to cope with anxiety naturally. 

Anxiety can cause physical symptoms like stomach problems, body aches and pains, headaches, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sleep issues, fatigue, sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, and muscle tension. Panic attacks can also make you feel dizzy, overheated, or numb, with feelings of terror, heart palpitations, and hyperventilation. 

Psychologically, anxiety can make it difficult to concentrate, and you may feel detached, irritable, fearful, or on edge. You might worry that others are mad at you, or that bad things will happen, and things might feel unreal. and it can start to affect your behavior. Some people start avoiding places and situations that make them feel anxious, which can result in skipping class, missing work, and spending more time alone, away from social activities and friends. Even if you don’t act on these fearful impulses, anxiety symptoms can make life more difficult and stressful than it needs to be.

Strategies for Managing Anxiety in Daily Life

While anxiety might feel unavoidable, especially as you’re trying to live your day-to-day life in the busy LA metropolis, there are some simple strategies and changes you can use to reduce stress. These include:

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a simple practice anybody can use throughout the day to stay in the moment, acknowledge difficult thoughts and feelings without allowing them to take over, and reduce stress. Some common mindfulness techniques are:

• Three Senses –  notice three things you can hear, three things you can see, and three things you can touch to put yourself into the present moment
• Tell yourself to “come back” – if you notice you’re caught up in “what-ifs” or worrying about something from the past, simply remind yourself to focus on whatever you’re doing right now, even if it’s as simple as washing a dish. 
• Body scan – Bring your attention inward, to your body and how it feels. Are your shoulders tense? Is your heart rate up? Use your mind to notice all the physical sensations occurring in your body 
• Pay attention to the present moment – notice your thoughts, emotions, and feelings without judgment. Avoid worrying about what comes next or imagining the worst-case scenarios, just see the here and now. 
• Mindful breathing – focus on inhaling and exhaling from the chest or diaphragm
• Observe something for five minutes – give any object your full attention for five minutes. Notice its colors, shape, feel, weight, texture, etc. to keep yourself in the present moment

Meditation

Meditation is a practice that uses mental and physical techniques to help you achieve inner peace, lower your stress levels, and connect your mind and body on a deeper level. Some common meditation practices are:

• Breathwork – deep abdominal (or belly) breathing exercises that involve slow deep inhales and prolonged exhales while focusing on the natural rhythm of breathing
• Gong or music meditation – relaxing as sounds wash over you, usually while lying on a yoga mat or towel
• Gazing – focusing attention on any object with your eyes open, then closing your eyes but continuing to focus on the visual image of the object
• Guided meditation – listening to an instructor as they lead you through a meditative experience
• Visualization – using your imagination to picture something metaphorical like a river carrying away your worries
• Mindfulness meditation – staying in the present moment by focusing on current physical sensations, like the weight of your body, or the air on your skin
• Mantras – repeating a word or syllable (either in your thoughts or out loud), to help you focus while meditating
• Qigong meditation – dynamic, slow martial arts movements keep you focused on your body to stay in the present

Lifestyle Changes

Along with mindfulness and meditation, making meaningful lifestyle changes can affect your mental health. Sleeping well, eating healthy foods, chatting with your neighbors, staying hydrated, and getting enough exercise are some of the most important steps in treating anxiety. Los Angeles residents also have opportunities to spend time outdoors in the local parks, connect with nature, or take a walk with a friend. The more you move your body and prioritize your overall wellness, the better you’ll be able to reduce your symptoms. 

Professional Anxiety Management in Los Angeles

The best way to overcome anxiety once and for all is through a combination of evidence-based therapy and medication. At Moment of Clarity, we offer a variety of anxiety treatment in California that can uncover the underlying causes of your mental health disorder, while providing skills, tools, and healthy living advice that can last you a lifetime. Everybody is unique, so we tailor each person’s treatment plan to their needs. You’ll learn to challenge negative thoughts and replace them with realistic, helpful ways of thinking. With the help of short-term benzodiazepine medications or longer-term SSRIs, you’ll be able to take control back over your life, with confidence.

Moment of Clarity’s Treatment & Approach to Managing Anxiety

At Moment of Clarity, we know that all anxiety disorders require different types of treatment and there are likely a variety of reasons why anxiety has begun to overwhelm you, so we take care to get to know each of our clients on an individual basis. We incorporate a holistic approach to healing that not only addresses your brain chemistry, but also the social, behavioral, psychological, and emotional reasons behind the anxiety disorder. Your treatment plan will be tailored to your individual needs and may include a combination of medication and therapy to give you the best possible results.

Integrating Wellness Practices into Anxiety Management

Anxiety is a complex disorder that affects the body, mind, and spirit, so incorporating wellness practices like yoga, exercise programs, and nutrition into your treatment plan will provide the additional support you need. Yoga practices and exercise involve movements that strengthen your body, improve self-confidence, and give your nervous system a healthy outlet, where it can expel stress. Yoga stimulates the vagus nerve, which encourages feelings of safety and calm, while exercise produces natural feel-good chemicals called endorphins. 

Eating a balanced diet, with less caffeine and alcohol and more water can relieve anxiety in the body, as a large percentage of serotonin receptors are found in the lining of the gut. Experts recommend foods like:

• Foods rich in magnesium like nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains
• Foods with omega-3 fatty acids like fish
• Probiotic foods like pickles and sauerkraut
• Foods rich in vitamin B like avocado and almonds
• Berries and fruits
• Green vegetables like kale
• Spices with antioxidant properties like turmeric or ginger

Navigating Anxiety Management Resources in Los Angeles

The following are some additional resources that can help you with managing anxiety in the Los Angeles area: 

• National Alliance on Mental Illness – NAMI – Call 1-800-950-6264 or text “helpline” to 62640 for immediate support. You can also chat in their online portal. 
• Anxiety and Depression Association of America – ADAA – Visit adaa.org for online peer-to-peer support communities and information about anxiety and depression
• Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health –  dmh.lacounty.gov/resources – Call 1-800-854-7771 or visit their website to find free mental health resources and emotional support available throughout Los Angeles

 Taking the First Step Begin Your Anxiety Management Journey

Starting treatment at Moment of Clarity in Los Angeles is as simple as making a phone call. We are available now to do all we can to make getting the treatment you need easier, including verifying your insurance coverage and building a tailored inpatient or outpatient treatment plan that best suits your needs. Your first appointment will be like an assessment, in which we learn more about you, how you feel, and what’s happening in your life that made you seek help. Anxiety disorder can be difficult to handle on your own, but with effective therapy and medication options, we help you retake control over your life. 

If you or a loved one are experiencing symptoms of an anxiety disorder and want to learn more about your options, consider Moment of Clarity. Using evidence-based approaches to therapy, our team of experienced mental health professionals is here to help with all aspects of managing anxiety. Los Angeles residents can call us at (949) 997-1775, and we will help you decide on your next steps. Through customized treatment plans tailored to meet your needs, we’ll collaborate with you to build a program to help you overcome your symptoms so you can live a healthier, happier life, in control of your anxiety.