How to reduce excessive anxiety and sadness?

Hello! Thanks for reaching out for support. Anxiety and sadness are not easy to deal with!  Although anxiety and sadness are both normal human emotions, it sounds like you feel you experience these feelings "excessively" or with high intensity and/or frequency and it is causing distress and interfering with your participation in daily activities.  You have taken a very important step seeking information and support and that tells me you may be ready to prioritize your mental wellness.

In general, we tend to experience strong feelings of anxiety when we allow our thoughts to ruminate, usually about something we're worried about that hasn't happened yet (in the future) and sometimes something that has already happened (in the past).  There are several coping skills (tools) you can learn by working with a therapist to help reduce these thoughts and/or feelings and manage the anxiety, although it may never completely go away.  Some techniques involve physically relaxing the body through breathing, physical activity such as yoga, walking or progressive muscle relaxation, or grounding techniques involving one or more of our five senses in order to bring us back to focus on the present moment (the here and now).  Once a person has developed some basic coping skills, they can have a discussion with the therapist if they feel it would be beneficial to process/address any deeper issues, belief systems, or past traumatic experiences.

As for sadness and crying, these would be treated in a similar manner.  A therapist would help you explore what these thoughts and feelings are trying to tell you, as usually there is some type of unmet need(s). In general, some coping skills you may learn to improve your mood may be journaling, art, behavioral activation, increasing social supports, etc.  There may also be some unhelpful thinking patterns that a person is not aware of and a therapist will help the person to identify these, challenge these, and see things from other perspectives. It's also important (for either anxiety or depression/excessive sadness) to establish and maintain a routine so there is some consistency and structure in your day-to-day life.  This is easier said than done but can be very beneficial.  Of course, these are general responses without knowing much about your symptoms or situation.  I wish you the best on your healing journey and hope you find a therapist to work with that you feel comfortable and a connection to.