GREAT MINDS TOGETHER

COPING WITH ANXIETY

WORKBOOK

NAME______________________

FORM______________________

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Activity 1-Anxiety Levels ................................................................................3

Activity 2- Anxiety Preparation ......................................................................4

Activity 3- Break it Down................................................................................5

Activity 4- Anxiety v Truth ..............................................................................7

Activity 5- My Support System .......................................................................8

Activity 6- Star Breathing ...............................................................................9

Activity 7- I Can ............................................................................................10

Activity 7- Sort and Recycle ..........................................................................11

Activity 8- Anger Thermometer .....................................................................12

Activity 9- Colour and Relax .........................................................................13

Activity 10- Mindfulness Meditation ..............................................................14

Activity 11- 5,4,3,2,1 .....................................................................................15

Activity 12- Umbrella ....................................................................................16

Activity 13- Positive Affirmations ..................................................................17

Activity 14- Decatastrophising ......................................................................18

Activity 15- Challenging Anxious Thoughts ...................................................19

Activity 16- Challenging Anxious Thoughts ...................................................21

Activity 17- Anxiety Symptoms ....................................................................23

Activity 18- Are You Happy? ........................................................................24

Activity 19- Positive Self-Talk ........................................................................26

Activity 20- NOW .........................................................................................27

Activity 21- Butterflies...................................................................................28

Activity 21- Mindfulness Minute ....................................................................29

Activity 22- Positive Affirmations Wordsearch..............................................30

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 ACTIVIT Y 1- ANXIET Y LEVELS
Use this worksheet to explore what happens to you as your anxiety increases. Paying
attention to your body, throughs and feelings.


level 1 what happens when you begin to feel anxious?

level 2 What happens when you feel more anxious?

level 3 What happens when you are at your most anxious?

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 ACTIVIT Y 2- ANXIET Y PREPARATION
When you are going into a situation which you know will cause you to feel anxious, it can be
really helpful to be prepared. Before you step into the situation there could be helpful things
you can say or do to help you cope if you feel yourself becoming triggered.

WHAT IS THE SITUATION WHY MIGHT I GET ANXIOUS?

HOW HAVE I HANDLED THE SITUATION HOW CAN I PREPARE?

BEFORE?

HOW WILL I KNOW I’M FEELING WHAT COPING SKILLS CAN I USE?
TRIGGERED

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 ACTIVIT Y 3- BREAK IT DOWN
Let’s break down your anxiety so we can come up with some more coping strategies.

What do I feel is causing my anxiety?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

What are some of the thoughts that I am having?

How is my body responding?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

What is the worst thing that can happen?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

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What do I have in my control to stop this from happening?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

What can I do to calm my body down?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Write down some positive thoughts to help calm down your mind:

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 ACTIVIT Y 4- ANXIET Y V TRUTH
When you experience anxiety, your mind can begin to fill with thoughts that aren’t always
true. Sometimes your brain focuses on the worst possible outcome, these thoughts can
make you believe things are worse than they actually are. They can make you believe that
you can not cope with something that you are more than capable of coping with!

In the clouds of thought below write down the anxious thoughts that you are feeling or have
experienced. Then think about how you can change these thoughts by deciding what is
ACTUALLY true about the situation.


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 ACTIVIT Y 5- MY SUPPORT SYSTEM
When combatting anxiety it is really beneficial to have a great support system in place. List
below the people who are there to support you and why they made the list. For example are
they a good listener? Do they make you laugh?

Name Why they are special to me

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 ACTIVIT Y 6- STAR BREATHING
A great tool that we can use to combat the symptoms of anxiety is to take a minute to
breathe. Practice the star breathing method below, start off by breathing in and then follow
the instructions around the star until you are back at the beginning. How do you feel
afterwards?


Hold

Bre
n
e I

ath
ath

e O
Bre

ut

Breathe Out Breathe In

Hold
Hold

Br
ea t
th Ou
e h e
In
e at
Br
Bre
ut
e O

ath
ath

e I

Br
In ea
Bre

e th
th e
ea Ou
Br t

Hol d
d Hol

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 ACTIVIT Y 7- I CAN
Think of 5 things you CAN do to combat anxiety. Using the space below draw around your
hand and write one thing on each finger. On the palm of the hand write I CAN.

Once you have done this read the 5 things you can do out loud and give yourself a round of
applause!

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 AC T I V I T Y 7 - S O R T A N D R E C YC L E
In the box below write a list of some of the negative thoughts you have been feeling recently

______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

Now read through your list. What negative thoughts and feelings can you resolve using your
coping toolkit so that you can ‘bin’ them off and what thoughts can you ‘recycle’ and turn
into positive mindset mantras?


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 ACTIVIT Y 8- ANGER THERMOMETER
Anxiety can manifest itself as anger. An important ‘tool’ you can add to your anxiety toolkit
is recognising your anger levels and utilising methods to help yourself calm down.

Colour and label the thermometer below to show the different stages of anger that you feel
and methods you could use to alleviate your anger


WHAT MY ANGER LOOKS LIKE The Most WHAT I CAN DO TO HELP MYSELF
Angry I can
possibly be

Not angry at all

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 ACTIVIT Y 9- COLOUR AND REL AX
It is important when you feel anxious to try and relax, sometimes this feels impossible to do.
A great way to help your body and mind relax is to take some time to yourself to simply
colour in. Colour the image below and add in some positive mindset language to finish it off!


`````````````

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 ACTIVIT Y 10- MINDFULNESS
MEDITATION

Meditation is a great tool to use to keep your anxious thoughts and feelings at bay. During
mindfulness meditation you will focus mostly on your breathing and how to use this as a
tool to ground yourself and be focused on the present. It’s absolutely normal for your mind
to wander whilst you are meditating but you can bring yourself back to the present by
refocusing on your breathing.

How to meditate:

(it may be best if you allow someone to read the instructions aloud to you so that you can
concentrate)

Take between 15 - 30 minutes to work on your meditation.

Sit in a chair or on the floor, you may want to use a cushion for support

Try to keep your back straight but don’t make yourself stiffen up

Relax your neck allowing your chin to drop slightly

Pick a point across the room to focus on or close your eyes

If you are in a chair place your feet flat on the ground, if you are sat on the floor cross
your legs

Let your arms fall naturally to your sides, with your palms resting on your thighs

If you become uncomfortable you can adjust yourself accordingly

Now focus on your breathing, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth

Notice the sensation of air as it passes through your nose and mouth, think of the rise
and fall of your belly as you breathe in and out

Continue doing this for as long as you feel comfortable. At first you may feel silly but the
more you practise the, more comfortable you will feel with meditation.

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 A C T I V I T Y 11 - 5 , 4 , 3 , 2 , 1
The 5,4,3,2,1 technique is a calming technique which takes you through all 5 senses, it can
be used to help you through difficult or stressful situations.

Take a deep breath before you begin: Then write down 5 things you can see, 4 things you
can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste

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 A C T I V I T Y 12 - U M B R E L L A
Coping strategies are like a stress umbrella. They help protect us from stress which comes
in our direction. We may still feel a little bit stressed but we know that with our protection
we will be able to handle it.

Design and colour your stress umbrella below

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 AC T I V I T Y 13 - P O S I T I V E
AFFIRMATIONS
Self talk is the inner voice that we all use to encourage and reassure ourselves to complete
tasks. A positive voice can make an enormous difference in making us feel more confident
about ourselves. From the table below highlight your 5 favourite positive thoughts and
read them aloud. How can you use these to encourage yourself to overcome your anxieties?

1. I am kind 21. I have people who respect me

2. I am enough 22. Today I choose to be confident

3. I am improving every single day 23. I believe in myself and my abilities

4.There is no one i’d rather be other than me 24. Good things are going to come to me

5. I am an amazing person 25. I love myself

6. All my problems have solutions 26. It’s ok not to know anything

7. I am proud to be me 27. I give myself permission to make choices

8. I deserve to be loved 28. I will step outside my comfort zone

9. I am in control of my own actions 29. I will walk through my fears

10. Today I am choosing to be positive 30. I am open minded

11. Challenges help me grow 31. I am ready to learn

12. I can take positive risks 32. Every day is a fresh start

13. I can get through anything 33. I matter

14. I will only compete myself to myself 34. I forgive myself for my mistakes

15. Today is going to be an awesome day 35. I can make a difference

16. I can do anything that I put my mind to 36. I have people who love and respect me

17. I will try harder next time 37. I am a beautiful person

18. With practise I can improve 38. I will do better next time

19. I am whole 39. I deserve happiness

20. I can be a leader 40. Today I am a leader

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 AC T I V I T Y 14 - D E C ATA S T RO P H I S I N G
Everyone occasionally has irrational thoughts that have the power to influence how you
feel, these are called COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS. Everybody has some of these thoughts but
when you have too many of these these thoughts too often, they can be harmful.

One of the most common types of cognitive distortion is catastrophising. This is where a
problem is exaggerated to the point where you think that only the worst possible outcome
will come true. By decatastrophising and evaluating your own thoughts you are able to fix
these irrational thoughts.

Let’s try some decatastrophising below:

What are you worried about?

How likely is it that your worry will come true?

If it does come true, what’s the WORST that could happen?

If it does come true what is MOST LIKELY to happen?

If it does come true, what are the chances you will be ok in…

1 week? __________? 1 month? __________ 1 year? __________

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 AC T I V I T Y 15 - C H A L L E N G I N G
ANXIOUS THOUGHTS
Anxiety doesn’t always have to be an unhealthy emotion. It can actually make us look into
our problems and work hard to figure out how to solve them. Anxiety becomes an
unhealthy emotion when it gets out of control, it does the opposite from helping us figure
out our problems and makes us feel useless. Irrational thoughts often play a big role in
this.

Below we will practise catching our irrational thoughts and replacing them with
alternatives which are a lot more rational. If you practice this enough, you can make this a
natural way to help manage your anxiety.

Describe a common situation which can trigger your anxiety (for example having to do a
presentation in class):

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Describe the best

outcome:__________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Describe the worst

outcome___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Describe the most likely

outcome___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

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If the worst did happen, would it still matter:

One week from now? _________________________________________________

One month from now? ________________________________________________

One year from now? _________________________________________________

Using your worn ‘worst outcome’ and ‘likely outcome’ from the above, describe your :

irrational
thought___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

rational
thought:__________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

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 AC T I V I T Y 16 - C H A L L E N G I N G
ANXIOUS THOUGHTS
Part 1

Read the scenarios below and identify the possible feeling which may result from them

Scenario 1: You’ve had a really difficult day at school where you’ve found that your lessons
have been very challenging. You arrive home to find that your brother has borrowed your
favourite white top that you were planning to wear to a party that night, wrecked it and
left it on your bedroom floor.

A) You say to yourself: Possible feelings

_____________________________________________
‘WHAT THE HECK?!’ I’ve had such a tiring day and _____________________________________________
now I come home to this! All he cares about is himself
_____________________________________________
the selfish brat. I’m going to go and kick off with him.

B) You say to yourself: Possible feelings

_____________________________________________
I’ve told him a thousand times to ask me if he wants to _____________________________________________
borrow my clothes and he never listens to me. Does he
_____________________________________________
not respect me or am I the worst sibling in the world.

Scenario 2:

One evening your parents take you to your aunties house. When you get to her house your
parents tell you to go in whilst they go and find somewhere to park as there’s cars all
round. As you are walking towards the house, it seems like there is no one in. You notice
that it’s all dark and the door is slightly open. As you walk into the house all of the lights
come on and all your friends and family shout surprise and begin to sing happy birthday to
you.

A) You say to yourself: Possible feelings

_____________________________________________
What a lovely surprise, I can’t believe everyone _____________________________________________
remembered my birthday. Everyone must really love me
to throw me such a fab party! _____________________________________________

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Part 2

Read through the scenarios and fill in the quotes to match the feelings

Scenario 1:

You arrive home to find a note from your dad telling you that they have had to go away for
a few months with work and they had to leave immediately. You look around and notice
that a lot of your dads stuff has gone.

A) You say to yourself: Feelings:

_______________________________________
_______________________________________ Angry
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

B) You say to yourself: Feelings

_______________________________________
_______________________________________ Hurt
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

Scenario 2:

You get home from school in a good mood and decide that you will cook dinner for your
mum and dad. As you’re just about to finish cooking your parents ring to say that they have
to work late and will not be home in time for tea.

A) You say to yourself: Feelings:

_______________________________________
_______________________________________ Disappointed
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
B) You say to yourself: Feelings
_______________________________________
_______________________________________ Concerned
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
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 A C T I V I T Y 17 - A N X I E T Y S Y M P T O M S
Anxiety symptoms are usually grouped into 3 categories. Some symptoms can be somatic
(physical), some can be cognitive (thoughts and responses) and some can be behavioural.

List your symptoms in the table below, do you notice that your symptoms all seem to be
coming from the same category or are they spread? Knowing how your symptoms manifest
can help with knowing how to combat them.

Somatic Cognative Behavioural

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 AC T I V I T Y 18 - A R E YO U H A P P Y ?
Use this flow chart to make positive changes to ensure your happiness, colour it in the
happiest most colourful way you can! If you get to the WHY circle write below your reasons
why on the sheet below, try to rationalise them and then start again until you can get to
‘keep doing what you’re doing’.

ARE YOU
HAPPY?
YES

CHANGE NO
SOMETHING

YES
KEEP DOING
WHAT YOU’RE
DOING DO YOU
WANT TO BE
HAPPY?

WHY? NO

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 AC T I V I T Y 19 - P O S I T I V E S E L F - TA L K
Using positive self-talk statements we can encourage and help ourselves through
challenging situations. We can in effect be our own personal coach. Throughout our lives
we have all made it through some really difficult times and we can use those experiences
to help us through any of our current challenges.

Below list some of the most difficult experiences you could experience and then next to
them write a coping or positive statement for each one- something that you can tell
yourself to know you will get through.

Difficult Situation Positive Self Talk

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 ACTIVIT Y 20- NOW
‘If you want an explanation for your present, look at your past. If you want to know your
future look at the present’

N - Notice

O - Observe

W - Wise Mind

The NOW technique can be used to ground yourself and keep yourself in the present when
you feel that your mind is racing away from you. Let’s try this below:

Notice: Where is my attention? What am I thinking about right now?

___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

Observe: What am I doing? Do you notice any sensations in your body?

___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

Wise Mind: What now? How should I continue? What can I change?

___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

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 AC T I V I T Y 21 - B U T T E R F L I E S
What gives you the butterflies? In the upper wings write what gives you the ‘butterflies’. In
the lower wings write down what you can do to combat them. Once you’ve done that,
colour in the butterfly in the most beautiful, unique way!

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AC T I V I T Y 21 - M I N D F U L N E S S M I N U T E
Take a minute to colour this mindfulness page, let your mind completely relax!

Breathe
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 ACTIVIT Y 22- POSITIVE
AFFIRMATIONS WORDSEARC H

Coping Growth Help Power Love Believe

Try Develop Breathe Positive Happiness Friends

Change I Can Work Work Family Tools

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 REFLECTION
You’ve now come to the end of our anxiety workbook!

Take some time to reflect on everything you have learnt from completing this book, what
coping tools can you add to your tool box?

Write them on the lines and in the toolbox below:

________________________
________________________
________________________

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