Johns Hopkins Health Alerts | Depression and Anxiety |

Relaxation Techniques To Help Anxiety

• Relaxation techniques show promise for the treatment of anxiety

• Common relaxation techniques for anxiety include meditation and guided imagery

Relaxation techniques may help people cope with the stresses that contribute to anxiety and help relieve some of the mental and physical symptoms of anxiety. The most commonly used relaxation techniques for anxiety are meditation, guided imagery, progressive muscle relaxation, and autogenic training (which involves imagining that certain body parts are becoming warm and heavy one at a time). These techniques may promote relaxation by reducing the activity of the sympathetic nervous system, which in turn can lead to decreases in blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and muscle tension.

Although relaxation techniques show promise for the treatment of anxiety, large, randomized, controlled trials are still needed to confirm their effectiveness. Consequently, relaxation techniques to treat anxiety should be used only in combination with proven treatments and not as a substitute for medication or psychotherapy. In addition, these techniques may worsen anxiety or other medical conditions in a small number of individuals, so it’s best to consult your doctor before trying any of them.

Mastering relaxation techniques to treat anxiety requires practice and some training from a professional. If your primary care physician, psychiatrist, or psychologist does not teach these techniques, he or she can refer you to a practitioner who does.

Johns Hopkins Health Alerts | Depression and Anxiety |

Relaxation Techniques To Help Anxiety