How to Hide Anxiety

When you suffer from anxiety, you may be embarrassed about some of the symptoms and want to hide them from others. There are steps that you can take to lessen your symptoms of anxiety and disguise them in front of strangers and acquaintances. It's harder to hide these symptoms from close friends and family because anxiety can interfere with your daily living and impact your relationships. In fact, it's better to let your close family members and friends know that you're suffering from anxiety so they can support you.

Things You'll Need

• Therapy

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Instructions

• 1

  To hide symptoms of anxiety, you should start taking steps to lessen your anxiety. One thing you can do is to seek help from a licensed mental health professional. Start weekly therapy sessions to discuss the underlying causes of your anxiety.

• 2

  Begin to exercise on a regular basis and eat healthy. This will help reduce stress and anxiety. Practice meditation and get at least eight hours of sleep each night. If you're not taking care of yourself physically, your mental health issues will become more overwhelming and harder to manage.

• 3

  As soon as you feel yourself beginning to become anxious, start taking steps to reduce and hide the anxiety. Take deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth and focus on your breath. If you can't do this in front of other people, excuse yourself and go to the bathroom. Close your eyes and picture yourself in a safe, happy place such as on a beach. Try to feel relaxed and safe like you would in that place.

• 4

  Try to pinpoint what is making you anxious, and ask yourself if it's a rational reason to be anxious. Usually, when someone suffers from anxiety, he becomes anxious for irrational reasons. Try to change your thinking to alleviate your anxiety. For example, if you become anxious because your wife is late from work and you're afraid something bad has happened, try to think about how there are many other possibilities, such as a meeting, running late or traffic.

• 5

  Be prepared to deal with anxiety by knowing a couple specific ways that work for you. For example, it can help to clench and relax one of your calf muscles when you completely focus on it. Another way is to take a five minute walk. Brainstorm ways to deal with anxiety with your therapist and try them out. Forget the ones that don't work and practice the ones that work.