How to Cope With Anxiety under Pressure

We all react differently under stress. Some flourish and make the most of the adrenalin rush, using it to motivate them. Some feel beleaguered and out of control, to the point of panic. Others deal with it easily; they let the pressure wash over them, and remain cool and calm. Those that don’t do so well in those situations would love to be calm under pressure but have no idea where to begin, and doubt that they could ever do it.

There are ways to remain calm under pressure. Slowing down is a good way; detach from the situation and refuse to respond instantly. It’s hard, but if you can do this you will have bought yourself time and space to think. Another way is learning how to keep your perspective in any given situation. Visualization is a very good method for this (I’d recommend Paul McKenna’s techniques). Thirdly, learn a relaxation exercise. Deep breathing, yoga, contemplation, anything; spend time experimenting to find the most suitable for you. Nobody will notice or need to know that you are doing them.

It is important to prepare and practice; it’s no use waiting until the situation arises and catches you off guard. Rehearse your chosen techniques when you are not under stress. Maybe the hardest thing of all is to really believe that you are capable of coping with pressure. Don’t think that you can’t, or that it’s a personality trait that you can’t change. Realize that those doubtful thoughts are probably all that’s standing between you and calmness under pressure. It is much easier than you imagine replacing doubt with belief, and understanding how the subconscious mind works will help you appreciate why.

The subconscious mind’s role is to let us do routine things without the need to think about each action in a task. It takes care of important bodily functions like breathing and temperature control, and repetitive activity like driving or cleaning the house. Once a task is learned, you don’t need to consciously think about what to do next, it happens automatically. This is why you can complete an activity with no memory of having done so. Another purpose of the unconscious is to make you act upon direct instructions issued by the conscious mind. So its role is really to take care of the mundane allowing the conscious mind to get on with more create thinking.

In order to do what it does, the subconscious mind is of necessity extremely responsive to learning. The feelings that arise under pressure are probably the ones that arose when you first faced that situation. If those feelings arose again on subsequent exposures, the subconscious will have laid them down in your memory as standard responses. It can take a long time to replace a standard response with a new one but it is not unnatural and is exactly what the subconscious is there to do. If you feel stressed by something despite consciously knowing it is irrational (still afraid of the dark?), it’s because the unconscious mind is simply generating its standard response and it will do so until it learns a new one.

All you really need are determination and repetition to replace old reactions with new ones. The way to do it is actually quite simple; have your conscious mind frequently show your subconscious the new way of responding. Decide how you wish to react and visualize yourself doing or being whatever you want in those circumstances; literally paint the picture in your mind. Simultaneously repeat out loud ‘I am calm / relaxed / happy’ or whatever, and see yourself coping. Psychologists have used this method for years; on sportspeople, business men and women, with students and so on. I’ve found too that this is how to treat anxiety effectively. The only difficult thing is persisting with it; why not make a start on it today?

Sincerely,
Monica Gilchrist
monica@feel-better-books.com
www.feel-better-books.com