Do you often feel restless and worried? This is anxiety, another common feeling. When you’re anxious, you may feel nervous, tense and irritable and have trouble sleeping. Anxiety that lasts for weeks can wear you out emotionally and physically. Sometimes anxiety comes up suddenly as a “panic attack.” During a panic attack, you may feel fearful or short of breath or have irregular heartbeats, chest pain or feel sweaty.

Tips

• To calm your anxiety, share your worries and feelings with a family member, friend or healthcare provider. Even if you don’t know what’s causing your anxiety, talking about it may help.
  
• Enjoy physical activity. Go for a walk, ride a bicycle or take a swim. Being active can help take your mind off worries and releases endorphins that make you feel better.
  
• Take time to relax and do things that make you happy.
  
• Don’t try to reduce your anxiety with harmful habits, such as drinking alcohol or taking sleeping pills. Self-medicating can have dangerous interactions with your heart medicines and can make your condition worse.

If you’re still anxious or are having panic attacks, talk to a healthcare professional. He or she can recommend treatment, perhaps including anti-anxiety medications.

This content is reviewed regularly. Last updated 01/09/09.