How To Get Rid of Anxiety Fast
Written by: THE BALANCE
Medically reviewed by Dr. Sarah Boss, MD
Last updated: January 19, 2026
Fact checked
Quick Summary
  • Occasional feelings of anxiety are considered a normal reaction to the uncertainties of the future.
  • However, when these feelings of dread, uneasiness, fear, and impending doom become constant or frequent, clinical anxiety can be diagnosed, which can be highly debilitating.
  • Classified as a psychiatric disorder, clinical anxiety is defined as persistent and excessive worry where people can lose the ability to reason and expect the worse to happen.
Reading time: 9 min

It is common to feel anxious from time to time. Occasional feelings of anxiety are considered a normal reaction to the uncertainties of the future. However, when these feelings of dread, uneasiness, fear, and impending doom become constant or frequent, clinical anxiety can be diagnosed, which can be highly debilitating.

Classified as a psychiatric disorder, clinical anxiety is defined as persistent and excessive worry where people can lose the ability to reason and expect the worse to happen. According to the World Health Organization, 1 in every 13 individuals suffer from anxiety that negatively affects their lives.

Thankfully, effective medications and therapies are available along with adequately trained staff to determine the best treatment course. However, most of these regimens are long-term and provide slow benefits. So what can be done for immediate anxiety relief? This article discusses tips on how to get rid of anxiety fast. 

Anxiety entails frequent fear and intense worry, usually accompanied by physical symptoms like pounding hard, tense muscles, and shortness of breath. It happens due to the overwhelming stress piling up for a long time. To provide an outlet for this energy, the body reacts in the form of a full-blown anxiety attack. (source: WHO, 2023)

Anxiety attacks are often discouraging and extremely hard to manage. However, coping strategies to relax the mind and body can be applied to control the situation before it gets out of hand. 

An anxiety attack can be highly overwhelming and debilitating, and if not controlled timely, it can bring about devastating consequences for the sufferer. While medical management is widely available to help, how can you beat anxiety without medication? Try incorporating the following tips in your life.

Tips for an Anxietyless Mind

It is crucial to break free of the stress and relax the mind for rapid anxiety relief. For this purpose, the following tips can help. (source: NIMH, 2024)

Imagine a safe haven.

When you are in the middle of an anxiety attack, it may feel like everything, including your surrounding, is threatening. Remember that fear shares a biological basis and exists to keep us safe. However, people dealing with anxiety attacks happen to have let this fear take control of them. Therefore, the best way to beat anxiety instantly is to get this spiral back under your control.

For this purpose, visualize a safe, calm place in your find where you feel relaxed and at ease. Close your eyes and imagine a location associated with happy memories. It could be somewhere you have been to in the past or an imaginary safe haven. Immerse yourself in the experience by actually hearing the sounds, smelling the aromas, and feeling the calm wind and the gentle sun rays on your face. 

Picture this place any time you feel too anxious and try calming your mind. If the attack is severe, add a picture of a comforting figure in the scene, such as a friend or a parent.  (source: NHS, 2023)

Engage your senses.

Are you wondering how to stop anxious thoughts in 30 seconds or less? Try engaging your senses in a relaxing, calming experience for instantly beating anxiety. The sense of smell is the best to focus on as it includes receptors that share direct connections to the brain. This is why certain smells successfully bring back strong memories within seconds. Use this feature of the brain to your advantage for pushing through anxiety.

As soon as an anxiety attack hits, use fragrances that induce positivity and bring happy thoughts to the currently racing and highly anxious mind. Alternatively, fragrances proven to induce relaxation, such as lavender essential oil or lemon oil, can also be used through a diffuser. (source: APA, 2023)

Another remedy for beating anxiety and depression includes the use of music. Experts have been utilizing sound therapy as an effective remedy to manage anxiety symptoms and promote general wellbeing. Many relaxing musical symphonies have been created to calm a racing mind recently. One great example is the song “weightless” by Marconi Union, which has been highly influential in this context.

Mindfulness Exercises.

Management for anxiety is not only limited to calming a stressed mind but also extends to physical action. Mindfulness exercises have been proven to be extremely helpful in this regard. Characterized by mantras and muscle relaxation techniques, these exercises help you reconnect with reality and get a chance to calm your fears before they take over your mind and body. 

The following five steps are highly recommended to be followed whenever you feel an anxiety attack is coming. (source: NICE, 2020)

  • Look around you and choose five different things. Then, take some time to think about each of them. It can be anything that you could think of at that time. For example, you may observe a blue chair next to you and think of how blue is your favorite color.
  • Next, listen to four different sounds around you and appreciate the similarities and differences. It can be the sound coming from a T.V., someone speaking, or the chirping of birds.
  • Have a feel of three different objects close by and compare their textures. For example, you may consider touching the soft fabric of a chair, the top of a coffee table, and your own shirt for contrast. 
  • Identify two types of smells and check if they bring back any memories. For example, you might appreciate the smell of fresh coffee coming from the kitchen and think of the good time you spent with a friend at a coffee shop.
  • Taste one thing, such as a piece of candy or a sip of soda, and comment on its flavor. 

Tips for an Anxietyless Body

Wondering how to manage fear and anxiety for a stronger you? Don’t forget to address the physical symptoms of anxiety with the following techniques.

Focused Breathing Technique.

A common symptom of an anxiety attack is shallower, faster breathing. This rapid breathing, in turn, sends a message to the brain that only exacerbates the fearful symptoms. Therefore, to avoid triggering this vicious cycle of increasing anxiety, it is vital to take control of your breathing pattern. For this purpose, a focused breathing technique can prove to be fruitful. (source: MedlinePlus, 2024)

This technique involves focusing on the breathing pattern whenever you see an anxiety attack coming. Indulge in deep breathing at once, and make sure to hold each breath in for at least 30 seconds before releasing them slowly. 

For people with more frequent panic attacks, it is necessary to implement these breathing exercises into your daily routine. Doing so allows them to harness this practice more rapidly. In this way, they can control an impending anxiety attack much faster and easier. 

Muscle Relaxation. (source: NIH-NCCIH, 2020)

Anxiety attacks can often make the muscles tense and stiff, which only adds to the misery. Relaxation of these muscles is; therefore, extremely important and can be accomplished by following the steps mentioned below:

  • Sit in a quiet place, close your eyes, and breathe in with your nose and out of your mouth.
  • Make a tight fist with your hand and squeeze it. Hold it in place for some time and pay attention to the tension in your hand. 
  • Now, slowly open your fingers and appreciate the feeling of tension leaving your hand. 
  • Continue tensing and relaxing different muscles of your body and observe the process with an attentive mind.

The 333 rule for anxiety is a type of mindfulness exercise that helps you feel grounded in your body and can be an effective way to stop an anxiety attack before it takes control of you. It includes the following three steps:

Sight

As soon as you feel the anxiety coming on, pause for a moment and look around you. Focus your vision on the first three physical objects that you observe. Then, name them aloud in your mind and observe each of them in detail. For example, if you notice a chair around you, observe its color, design, and fabric.  (source: Cochrane, 2013)

Sound

Once you are done with step one, move on to start listening to all sorts of sounds around you. Identify any three of them that you can hear and pay attention to their details, for example, the unique pitch or loudness.

 Touch (source: NCBI, 2023)

The last step involves engaging the sense of touch. Choose any three parts of your body, such as fingers, legs, and neck, and move them one by one. For instance, wiggle your toes, raise your legs, and move your head from one side to the other. 

The 333 technique is an excellent tool for emotional guarding by making you feel like you are still in control.

Anxiety can be emotionally draining and overwhelming. Yet, amid the fearful thoughts and uncertainties, staying connected to the world can be challenging and carrying on with life. However, with specific easy-to-incorporate methods, it is entirely possible to tackle these thoughts and stop them before they get a hold of your mind and body.

FAQs

Who is at risk of developing an anxiety attack?
Multiple factors are responsible for determining the risk of anxiety attacks. These include:
Genetics- If someone in your family has been diagnosed with anxiety attacks, the chances of you developing it at some point in life automatically increase.
A Traumatic Life Event- Having a traumatic past can significantly contribute to emotional imbalance and consequent anxiety attacks. Some examples of traumatic life events include the death of a loved one, a broken relationship, and childhood trauma.
Female Gender- The risk of developing anxiety attacks is much higher in females than males.
A Coexisting Mental Disorder- People with a mental disorder, such as depression, are more prone to developing anxiety attacks.
Are there any complications of anxiety attacks?
The physiological mechanism that leads to anxiety attacks has been designed to help the body temporarily cope with stressful situations. This involves the release of adrenaline, a hormone that triggers the fight or flight response. When a normal body is exposed to a threat or stress, the levels of this hormone revert back once the stressful period is over. However, due to repetitive anxiety attacks, its levels continue to stay elevated, leading to one or more of the following complications:

Other mental disorders, like depression
Heart problems
Diabetes
High blood pressure
Frequent infections

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