How To Handle Anxiety

 Just one study from over 15 years ago, but I think it captures some important things. How to Handle Anxiety - Reappraisal, Acceptance, and Suppression

Abstract

It has been suggested that reappraisal strategies are more effective than suppression strategies for regulating emotions. Recently, proponents of the acceptance-based behavior therapy movement have further emphasized the importance of acceptance-based emotion regulation techniques. In order to directly compare these different emotion regulation strategies, 202 volunteers were asked to give an impromptu speech in front of a video camera. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The Reappraisal group was instructed to regulate their anxious arousal by reappraising the situation; the Suppression group was asked to suppress their anxious behaviors; and the Acceptance group was instructed to accept their anxiety. As expected, the Suppression group showed a greater increase in heart rate from baseline than the Reappraisal and Acceptance groups. Moreover, the Suppression group reported more anxiety than the Reappraisal group. However, the Acceptance and Suppression groups did not differ in their subjective anxiety response. These results suggest that both reappraising and accepting anxiety is more effective for moderating the physiological arousal than suppressing anxiety. However, reappraising is more effective for moderating the subjective feeling of anxiety than attempts to suppress or accept it. 

Reappraisal and Acceptance both reduced your heart rate. Suppression did not.  Also, neither Acceptance nor Suppression reduce the subjective feeling of anxiety. Only Reappraisal did both.  For reference, all of us use all three strategies at different times. We usually start with Suppression, then move to an incomplete Reappraisal. Both work a bit, and that is often enough. After that it is highly variable, and may be more habit than conscious decision.  But if you can remember to get there, conscious reappraisal is likely your best bet. Your reappraisal might cause you to realise it's not your problem, that you are beating your head against a wall, that there is a piece of the situation you can bite off and chew while you plan the rest, etc.