Anxiety
Everyone experiences anxiety symptoms every once in a while, however having a constant feeling of fear and worry may be a sign of an anxiety disorder. If you are showing signs of severe anxiety, reach out to Student Counseling Services to get the support that you need.
On This Page:What is Anxiety?
Feeling anxious has a purpose: to keep you safe. That nervous feeling you get can help you identify dangerous situations and respond quickly. It can be a helpful response during stressful events, like taking a test, because you are more alert and it increases your desire to do well.
It’s when the feeling of anxiety (intense worrying and uneasiness) persists for too long, or even after the stressful event has passed, that it becomes a problem and might be classified as an Anxiety Disorder.
Anxiety Screening Tools
These anxiety screening tools can help determine if it may be time to seek professional help.
Are you feeling anxious, stressed or do you have anxiety?
Tips for Managing Anxiety
Relaxation & Mindfulness
Research shows that relaxation and mindfulness exercises can help to improve a person’s mental health, physical health, and overall well-being. Here are some practices that help you regulate negative emotions.
- Practical Mindfulness (YouTube)
- Dialectal Behavior Therapy (DBT) Mindfulness Resources: Exercises M1 through M10 are often interconnected. While they can be done separately, it may be beneficial to try various exercises outside of the ones explicitly recommended here:
- Managing anxiety symptoms: M2: Mental Body Scan and M7: Mindful Breathing
- Thoughts aren't in control: M5: Mental Noting and M6: Thought Defusion
- Negative thinking: M9: Negative Judgments and M10: Letting Go of Judgments
Additional Self-Help Resources
- MindShift CBT (Free Evidence-Based Anxiety Relief)
- Calm App (Relaxation and mediation app to assist with sleep, mediation, and relaxation.)
- Tell Me What You’re Proud Of Podcast
- The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook
by Edmund J. Bourne, Ph.D.
This workbook offers real progress in overcoming problems with anxiety and phobic disorders. - You Are Not Your Brain: The 4-step Solution for Changing Bad Habits, Ending Unhealthy Thinking, and Taking Control of Your Life
by Jeffrey M Schwartz, M.D. and Rebecca Gladding, M.D.
This book gives practical applications for identifying deceptive brain messages that create anxiety and intentionally diverting your thoughts to build new neurological paths for changing the way you think and behave when you are upset by deceptive thoughts. - Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
by David D. Burns, M.D.
Dr. Burns reveals powerful cognitive therapy techniques and provides step-by-step exercises that help you cope with a full range of everyday problems, some of which include freedom from fears, phobias, panic attacks, and overcoming self-defeating attitudes. - Healing Fear: New Approaches to Overcoming Anxiety
by Edmund Bourne, Ph.D.
The author of "The Anxiety and Phobia Workshop" offers proven strategies for battling anxiety, inspired by his struggle with his own obsessive-compulsive disorder. - Don’t Panic
by Reid Wilson, Ph.D.
This self-help program for relieving the symptoms of panic attacks features a guide to gaining perspective during times of crisis and gaining control of the body immediately on short notice through breathing exercises, meditation, and muscle relaxation - The Illustrated Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living
by Russ Harris
There’s this idea going around that we’re always supposed to be happy—and it’s making us miserable. The good news is, if you can learn to let go of that impossible expectation, your life will be a whole lot happier. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a simple, self-administered therapy that uses mindfulness to enable you to do just that. - How to be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety
by Ellen Hendriksen
Weaving together cutting-edge science, concrete tips, and the compelling stories of real people who have risen above their social anxiety, Dr. Ellen Hendriksen proposes a groundbreaking idea: you already have everything you need to succeed in any unfamiliar social situation. As someone who lives with social anxiety, Dr. Hendriksen has devoted her career to helping her clients overcome the same obstacles she has. With familiarity, humor, and authority, Dr. Hendriksen takes the reader through the roots of social anxiety and why it endures, how we can rewire our brains through our behavior, and―at long last―exactly how to quiet your Inner Critic, the pesky voice that whispers, "Everyone will judge you." Using her techniques to develop confidence, think through the buzz of anxiety, and feel comfortable in any situation, you can finally be your true, authentic self. - Declutter Your Mind: How to Stop Worrying, Relieve Anxiety and Eliminate Negative Thinking
by S.J. Scott
Feel overwhelmed by your thoughts? Struggling with anxiety about your daily tasks? Or do you want to stop worrying about life? The truth is we all experience the occasional negative thought. But if you always feel overwhelmed, then you need to closely examine how these thoughts are negatively impacting your lifestyle. The solution is to practice specific mindfulness techniques that create more "space" in your mind to enjoy inner peace and happiness. With these habits, you'll have the clarity to prioritize what's most important in your life, what no longer serves your goals, and how you want to live on a daily basis. And that's what you'll learn in Declutter Your Mind. - Healing Fear: New Approaches to Overcoming Anxiety
by Edmund Bourne, Ph.D.
The author of “The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook” offers proven strategies for battling anxiety, inspired by his struggle with his own obsessive-compulsive disorder.
- Graduate School Stress Resilience (login required)
- “Meet Your Competitor: Anxiety” (YouTube)
- 5 Practical Tips for Managing Anxiety (YouTube)
- Anxiety Disorder-Treatment and Support (YouTube)
- This Could be Why You are Depressed or Anxious
- The First Tasks in Overcoming Anxiety, Panic Worry, and OCD (YouTube)