Counsellors’ corner – December 2024

< Back

Counsellors' corner - December 2024

Anxiety

Anxiety is a natural response to situations where we feel threatened, under pressure, or face a challenge. While it can sometimes be helpful in motivating us or heightening our awareness, it can also become unhelpful and overwhelming in certain circumstances.

5 Helpful tips for managing anxiety

Tip 1: Practice healthy living

  • Eat three healthy meals a day
  • Exercise for at least 30minutes a day
  • Get approximately 8 hours of sleep

Tip 2: Challenge your worry thoughts by asking:

  • Is this helpful?
  • Is this logical?
  • What would I tell a friend if they had the same thought?
  • Can I re-frame this thought in a nicer way?

Tip 3: Practice slow breathing
When you are feeling anxious, your breathing becomes rapid and shallow. Be deliberate in your breathing.

Tip 4: Talk to someone you trust
Sometimes even just saying our fears out loud can make them feel less overwhelming. Opening up about your anxiety can be challenging but talking to someone you trust can:

  • Make the fear feel smaller
  • Remind you that it’s normal to feel anxiety
  • Allow you to feel connected and supported
  • Give you ideas for managing your worries.

Tip 5: Distract yourself
It’s important to accept how you feel, but sometimes in a particularly anxious moment, taking your mind off your emotions can be helpful in the short term.

You might like to try:

  • Watching a TV show or reading a book
  • Playing a game
  • Listening to a podcast
  • Phoning a friend
  • Going for a walk

Helpful apps for managing anxiety

Smiling Mind
Smiling Mind is a mindfulness and meditation app that helps kids, teens, and adults improve their wellbeing and achieve specific mental health goals like better sleep, reduced stress, stronger relationships, and more.
Cost: Free

Calm
Calm is a mindfulness, meditation, and music app that offers guided tracks, sleep stories, and other techniques that can help you improve your wellbeing, boost your mood, manage stress and anxiety, get better sleep, and more.
Cost: Free

OurHerd
OurHerd is a safe and confidential storytelling app where young people are empowered to open up about their mental health, learn from each other’s lived experiences, and feel less alone in their struggles.
Cost: Free

Gia Arggawal and Gabrielle Stafford
School Counsellors