How to Overcome Paralyzing Anxiety? 7 Tips

Paralyzing anxiety, as the name suggests, means extreme panic and fear that restricts you from taking any positive action because of how worthless and helpless you feel.

This kind of anxiety can make your daily routine standstill, heightening your negative sentiments, keeping you away from social interactions, and causing awful frustration.

In extreme cases, it can also trigger depression affecting your personal and professional relationships.

Do you feel frozen due to intense anxiety, so much that you cannot go about your day? If you are stuck in a cycle of never-ending paralyzing anxiety, this article will help you understand how you can overcome it.

Let us first understand the symptoms of paralyzing anxiety in order to cope with it better.

Paralyzing Anxiety: Signs And Symptoms

Paralyzing anxiety can show intense physical and mental manifestations that might hinder your ability to function normally.

Feeling paralyzed by extreme anxiety and terror can have several associated symptoms. Here is what you can expect:

• Headaches
• Muscle pain
• Excessive sweating
• Sleeping problems
• Rapid heartbeat
• Gastrointestinal discomfort
• Breathing issues
• Nausea
• Restlessness and exhaustion

You may also experience mental/emotional symptoms. The psychological signs of paralyzing anxiety include:

• Frequent panic episodes/attacks
• A constant feeling of extreme dread or terror
• Racing thoughts
• Regular bouts of anger and frustration
• A constant urge to isolate and detach from social situations
• Perpetually anticipating negative or disastrous outcomes
• Experiencing a constant feeling of impending doom
• Inability to focus due to extreme concern and intrusive thoughts

Not to forget, Paralyzing anxiety takes away your sleep and causes severe Insomnia which is a very common symptom. This can further aggravate the disorder’s other negative effects.

What Causes Paralyzing Anxiety?

If you are prone to the following mental illnesses, you are more likely to experience paralyzing anxiety:

• ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) – can co-occur with anxiety in most cases
• Anxiety Disorder
• Extreme OCD and the desire for perfection
• Body’s extreme response to worry or fear

7 Tips to Overcome Paralyzing Anxiety

In this section, we will help you understand how to effectively cope with paralyzing anxiety. Here are 7 tried and tested tips.

1. EFT or Emotion Focused Therapy

EFT is a form of talk therapy or psychotherapy that recognizes the value of emotions as a guide for coping with life challenges.

This therapy approach can help you decode your feelings correctly and the underlying or hidden messages that they are trying to convey to you.

This allows you to treat your feelings more like a guideline for addressing anxiety paralysis.

2. CBT or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

CBT may help you question the assumptions that are at the root of your anxiety paralysis. This approach analyzes your habitual ways of perceiving and the resulting actions.

It can be effective in treating paralyzing anxiety as CBT includes a wide range of methods to get you in touch with your subconscious thinking patterns and teach you how to fight off anxiety for better emotional and behavioral experiences.

3. Mindfulness is Key

Practicing mindfulness meditation and the right breathing techniques can help you with embracing the present. The heightened awareness can help you make peace with yourself and address your paralyzing anxiety better.

Awareness is key to holistically treating any mental illness, and the same goes for paralyzing anxiety.

As you concentrate on the sensation of breathing, you become more aware of your thoughts and emotions. You can then redirect your attention to breathing patterns in order to reduce the chaos in your head.

Mindfulness also lays the foundation for effective DBT, which we will discuss in the next tip.

4. DBT or Dialectical Behavior Therapy

If you feel paralyzed due to anxiety arising from your negative emotions, DBT can be an effective treatment approach.

DBT attempts to strike a golden balance between your conflicting thoughts. With this treatment protocol, you are able to gradually accept who you are and work toward altering your harmful thought patterns as well as behavior.

This way, it can get easier to manage crisis situations, achieve emotional regulation, have better control over your head, and practice mindfulness.

5. Health is Wealth

To get started with addressing paralyzing anxiety on the right note, there is nothing better than some consistent self-care. You must take care of yourself from the inside out.

It is crucial to pay attention to what you eat on a daily basis because an unhealthy diet can spike your anxiety levels. It is, therefore, advisable to cut back on caffeine, sugar, and alcohol consumption because these can potentially exacerbate anxiety episodes.

What Constitutes a Healthy Diet to Cope With Paralyzing Anxiety?

It may also be helpful to maintain a wholesome diet enriched with fresh fruits and vegetables to load up on essential minerals and vitamins. Some nutrient-rich foods, particularly those rich in Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin D, are great for anxiety.

These have been shown to bring down anxiety levels, eventually helping you with handling paralyzing anxiety better:

• Eggs
• Salmon
• Dark chocolate
• Almonds
• Turmeric and chamomile
• Yogurt
• Blueberries, oats, and bananas (Bonus tip – A great way to kick the day off is to have a delicious banana oats chia pudding for breakfast topped with ripe blueberries. It could be your go-to anti-anxiety potion)

Last but not least, sleep deprivation can increase your anxiety severity by 30%. So, getting a good night’s sleep is one of the best ways to deal with paralyzing anxiety.

It can do wonders for both your physical as well as your mental health. Establishing a regular sleep regimen and eliminating all distractions, including your mobile phones, before you hit the sack are good sleep hygiene practices that must be religiously incorporated into your everyday routine.

6. Spend Time Doing Things You Like

Here are a few things for you to try out for better relaxation. When feeling paralyzed or particularly frozen due to extreme anxiety, you can calm yourself down with the following activities:

• Trying yoga
• Stretching
• Going out to scenic locations for long walks
• Having a cup of chamomile tea
• A calming hot water bath
• Cultivating hobbies
• Putting on some relaxing music
• Getting up and moving to some music you enjoy

7. Exercising is Underrated

Exercising regularly promotes the release of endorphins and calms your nerves to reduce paralyzing anxiety. This short burst of endorphins consistently decreases stress hormone levels in your body, thus helping you cope with anxiety paralysis better.

Conclusion

Battling to overcome paralyzing anxiety is an uphill struggle. Despite the temptation to give up, many have been successful in defeating it. So, no matter how down in the dumps you might feel every day, keep going and do not give up.

The best way to do this is to gradually introduce yourself to the tips discussed in this article in consultation with your doctor. Combining medication with additional treatment approaches, such as talk therapy or dietary adjustments, is the most effective course of action.

The ideal treatment plan for paralyzing anxiety should always be developed in collaboration with your primary care physician and psychiatrist. Plenty of help is available online as well as offline, so do not hesitate to reach out to the right people.

Hope you liked the tips. Tell us more in the comments. Good luck!