你有过这样的感觉。开始你觉得不错，但是接下来，你的汽车抛锚，你女儿告诉你说她辍学了，而你的屋顶也不失时机地开始漏雨。突然间你就觉得无法呼吸了。你感到胸闷，你预感你的心脏病要发作了。

You know the feeling. You're doing fine, when all of a sudden your car dies, your daughter tells you she's dropping out of college, and you find out you need a new roof. Suddenly, you feel like you can't breathe. Your chest hurts 't and you're convinced you're having a heart attack.

     更多的时候是焦虑发作——对强烈压力的一种敏感反应。即使你没有被焦虑击倒，焦虑也可以让你感觉到惴惴不安，反反复复和恐惧，使你进入无所作为或后退的状态。

More likely, you're having an anxiety attack -- an acute reaction to intense stress. Even if you don't wind up with the full-blown attack, anxiety can leave you feeling apprehensive, uncertain and fearful, paralyzing you into inaction or withdrawal.

      焦虑障碍并不仅仅是一种“紧张”。美国焦虑障碍协会的数据显示，约19，000，000万年龄在18-54之间的美国人（占美国人口的13%以上）曾受到焦虑的困扰。这是在美国极为常见的一种心理状态。焦虑主要的症状包括血压升高，心跳加速，呼吸短促，肌肉紧张增强，肠道的血液循环下降，有可能导致反胃和腹泻。

An anxiety disorder isnjust a case of "nerves." According to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, an estimated 19 million Americans ages 18-54 (more than 13 percent of the population) experience debilitating bouts of anxiety. It is the most common psychiatric condition in the United States. Primary symptoms include a rise in blood pressure, a fast heart rate, rapid breathing, an increase in muscle tension and a decrease in intestinal blood flow, potentially resulting in nausea or diarrhea.

     有时焦虑障碍会严重到不得不依靠药物治疗和医师诊疗。但是如果能够学会较好的控制压力的方法，结果往往就会不一样。这里总结了17条小建议来帮助你有效的控制焦虑，当焦虑来袭时你就不至于束手无策。

Sometimes your anxiety disorder will be serious enough to require medication and therapy. But quite often, learning to better manage stress can make a big difference. We've also come up with 17 tips to help you cope when anxiety hits so it doesn't overwhelm you.

1.要么找出你的自行车，要么穿上跑鞋，要么带上你的健身包去健身吧。

       当焦虑来袭让你甚至都无法呼吸的时候，最好的办法就是远离当前的状况，通过运动让你的血液正常循环，内啡肽（内腓肽也被称之为“快感荷尔蒙”或者“年轻荷尔蒙”，意味这种荷尔蒙可以帮助人保持年轻快乐的状态）正常脉动。

1. Get out your bike, pull on your walking shoes, or grab your gym bag. There's no better therapy for the "I can't breathe" feeling of an anxiety attack than to quickly escape the situation and get your blood moving and endorphins pumping through exercise.

2.与任何含咖啡因的饮品、食物以及药物隔绝。

      达芙妮·斯蒂文斯博士是一位临床社会工作者，同时也是《水彩卧室：创造一个充满灵魂的中年》一书的作者。她指出咖啡因只能让你更加紧张兮兮、战战兢兢以及其他焦虑的症状。含咖啡因的物质包括巧克力，饮品中有咖啡、茶、汽水，还包括一些处方药和非处方的柜台药品，比如止疼片。

2. Cut out all caffeinated drinks, foods, and medications. The caffeine only adds to that tense, jittery, anxious feeling, says Daphne Stevens, Ph.D., a clinical social worker and author of Watercolor Bedroom: Creating a Soulful Midlife. Sources of caffeine include chocolate, beverages like coffee, tea, soda, and some prescription and over-the-counter medications, like Excedrin.

3.当你感到疲惫、受到挫折或者压力的时候，避免一些可能引起焦虑的交谈。

       比方说，告诉你家小孩晚上八点以后要是有什么困难的话别找你。试着保护你的“无干扰”时间，尤其是睡觉之前的一段时间，应该让自己放松而不要去想头疼的事情。

3. Avoid conversations likely to increase your anxiety when you're tired, overwhelmed, or stressed. For instance, tell your kids that you're simply not available for problem solving after 8 p.m. Try to protect a "trouble free" time, especially before bed, when you don't address difficulties but focus instead on pure relaxation.

4.买一台白噪音（类似电视机收音机没信号时，发出的那个沙沙声）机器，在你睡觉的时候使用。

      白噪音这种舒缓的声响能够帮你进入梦乡而且让你睡得很沉。当你感到压力的时候，保证良好的睡眠至关重要，因为睡眠能够赶走焦虑就像焦虑赶走睡眠一样。

4. Buy a white-noise machine and use it when you go to sleep. The soothing sound will help you fall and stay asleep. A good night's sleep is critical when you're stressed, since sleep deprivation fuels anxiety even as anxiety leads to sleep deprivation.

5.选择一件让你感到焦虑的事情。现在就坐下来写出对于这件事你所害怕的一切。

      如果是钱，写下如果你失业了付不起帐单的话会发生什么。能够发生的最糟糕的后果是啥？然后查看写下的每一条并按1——10依次排列，1代表极不可能会发生，10代表被认为可能会发生。你会惊讶的发现在5之上的条目是那样的少。明白了这点就能够帮你减压。如果确实有高于5的条目，你大概会想出应急的方案吧。关注具体的计划是平复焦虑的一种行之有效的方法。

5. Choose one thing that is making you anxious. Now sit down and write out all the fears you have about that one thing. If it's money, write down what would happen if you lose your job, if you can't pay your bills. What is the absolute worst thing that could happen? Now look at each item and mark it on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being highly unlikely it would ever happen, 10 being likely that it would happen. You'll be surprised at how few items rank above a 5. This understanding should help reduce your anxiety. If something does rank higher than 5, you may want to develop a contingency plan for it. Nothing works better to calm anxiety than turning from pure worry to an action plan.

6.租个喜剧去看吧。大声地笑出来。

      笑的行为能够激发内啡肽来赶走你体内压力荷尔蒙（感到焦虑的因素），就像暴风雨能够吹走闷热潮湿的天气一样。

6. Rent a comedy and watch it. Let yourself laugh out loud. The act of laughter stimulates endorphins that help blow stress hormones (which contribute to that feeling of anxiety) out of your system the way a good thunderstorm can blow away hot, humid weather.

7.采用放松，分散，集中三步法。

     《战胜头脑！得到快乐，得到认可，得到你的工作方式》的作者玛西娅·雷诺兹创造了这一方法。具体步骤如下：

    ·从下到上放松

    ·分散你的注意力

    ·瞬间集中你的精力（例如：感觉你枕在枕头上，或者你的脚踩在地上等等，主要取决于你身在何处）

    ·把精力集中在你想成为谁和你想要何种感觉上

7. Follow the Relax, Detach, Focus steps. Created by Marcia Reynolds, M.Ed., author of Outsmart Your Brain! Get Happy, Get Heard, and Get Your Way at Work, the routine goes like this:

• Relax your body from the toes up.
• 
  
• Detach from your thoughts.
• 
  
• Center yourself in the moment (e.g., feel your head upon the pillow, or your feet on the ground, etc., depending on where you are).
• 
  
• Focus on who you want to be and how you want to feel.

8.打开电视看新闻，尤其是那些正在经历着的灾难。

       这会帮助你透视你自己的问题并且意识到你生活在一个大的世界里，有胜利也有不幸。当你置身于世界这个大背景下，让你感到焦虑的困难也许就不像你想象的那么严重了。

8. Turn on the news and watch the disasters unfurl. It will help you put your own problems into perspective and realize it's a large world, filled with both triumph and disaster. The challenges in your life that make you anxious may not seem as great when you put them in world context.

9.不要杞人忧天。

      拉瑞娜·凯斯博士是宾夕法尼亚大学焦虑治疗与研究中心的心理学家。她说很多人为未来担忧，问问自己：“我所担心的是我确定一定会发生的事情吗？我所担心的是我现在能够做点什么来解决的事情吗？”如果这两个回答都是不的话，那么告诉自己过段时间再来考虑吧。

9. Don't borrow future problems. Many people get into a cycle of predicting and worrying about future concerns, says Larina Kase, Psy.D., a psychologist at the Center for Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University of Pennsylvania and president of Performance and Success Coaching. Ask yourself, "Is this something I know can happen and is it something I can do something about right now?" If the answer to either of these questions is no, tell yourself you will revisit it later.

10.就用45分钟来经历焦虑吧。

       凯斯博士说通常45分钟就能够让你习惯焦虑并使焦虑的感觉消失。最不明智的选择是忽略焦虑，因为如果你置之不理，焦虑往往会反击。

10. Simply experience your anxiety for 45 minutes. That's usually all it takes for you to become used to it and for the anxious feeling to dissipate, says Dr. Kase. The worst thing you can do is try to ignore it, she says, because anxiety tends to fight back if you push it down.

11.自言自语。

      提醒自己以前遇到类似的情况时是怎样处理的，以及需要多长时间来度过这一时期。告诉自己这种焦虑是可掌握而且是有时效性的。

11. Talk to yourself. Remind yourself of how you handled similar situations in the past, your strengths, and how long you will need to get through it. Show yourself that this anxiety is manageable and time-limited.

12.去去博物馆，看看电影，读本好书什么的。

       不然就开始画油画吧（或者其他什么爱好）。在专为测量忧虑水平而设计的测试中，人越无聊得分越高。

12. Go to the museum, see a movie, read a good book, or take up oil painting (or some other hobby). People who are bored tend to score higher on tests designed to measure levels of anxiety.

13.写日记，把让你焦虑的是事情记下来。 

       然后当你感到平静了以后再回过头来看这些写下的，想出如何解决问题的方法。

13. Keep a journal of what makes you anxious. Then revisit these same items when you're feeling calm and develop plans to deal with them.

14.给你恐惧起名。

       最让人焦虑的事情永远是未知的。所以把你担忧的东西从无知中拽出来。担心你的儿子/女儿/配偶会在车祸中受伤或者丧生？大胆的谈论一下吧——至少和自己谈谈。看看车祸的数据来让自己放松。同样的方法可以用在其他让你担惊受怕的事上。慢慢的接近它们，你能够采取措施来降低你的危险。你会发现在你想象的阴影中潜藏的恐惧要比你命名并驯服了的恐惧危险的多。

14. Name your fears. The most anxiety-producing thing of all is the unknown. So drag your worries out of the shadows. Worried about your son/daughter/spouse getting hurt or killed in a car crash? Discuss it -- at least with yourself. Look up the statistics on driving and injury to relieve your mind. Do the same for whatever else makes you worry, whether that's West Nile virus, bioterrorism, cancer, or plane crashes. Once you name your fears and learn about them, you can take steps to minimize your risk. You'll also find the fears you name and tame are far less menacing than fears left to lurk in the shadows of your imagination.

15.确保每天都能吃到谷物、水果和蔬菜，以及富含蛋白质的食品如鱼、家禽、扁豆、大豆或者瘦肉。全面地饮食可以帮助大脑产生血清素，血清素能够使人处于放松的状态。

15. Make sure you're getting several servings of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables every day, along with healthy protein sources such as fish, poultry, lentils, soy, or lean meats. The combination helps your brain make serotonin, a chemical that induces a state of calm relaxation.

16.从图书馆租一些坐禅、打太极或者练瑜伽的磁带。这些都是有效的应对焦虑的非医学方法。

16. Rent a meditation, t'ai chi, or yoga tape from the library. They are all effective, nonmedical ways of dealing with anxiety.

17.向你的密友倾诉你的焦虑。你得找个能够理解你为什么会感到焦虑的人。试在自己去做那个能够理解你的人。毕竟“当局者迷，旁观者清”。

17. Share your anxieties with a confidant. You need to find someone who can help you understand why you worry too much. Try to play the same role for that person. We are usually better at placing someone else's worries in perspective than we are our own.