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I believe I have the yips while pitching and I feel very "armsy" lately and swing too fast and steep on my downswing. I am looking for simple advice to reduce the tension in my swing and simplify the pitch shot, so that I can play "normal" again.

A pitch shot to me is where I am anywhere from 10 - 50 yards from the green and need to lift the ball up in the air to get to the green.

take a deep breath to release your tension, and stand to your target open,, take an inside out swing and just clip it clean.

I too can get out of sync with my pitch shots and it can be tough to get back. My drill is to shorten the back swing and accelerate through. I keep doing this for different yardages until I got my muscle memory back and no longer have to concentrate so hard (tiring) on it.

How bad are the results?

In any case, perhaps a 'playful' session at the range or around the practice green will help? I would recommend that you do not think about the swing, or technique: Set up, take a peak at the target, imagine the the ball-flight you want, then just take your best shot at it. Because you said you want to play 'normal' again, I am sure that you already know how to do it. Good luck in bringing it out again!

I do a one piece takeaway and rotate the shoulders, breaking the wrists early. I accelerate through and finish high.

Any hesitation leads to disaster.

I had this same problem at one time and what helped me the once was taking a flatter backswing. Keeping the club very low to the ground longer. I had a tendency to elevate the club too quickly, thus taking a stab at the ball with a very steep pitch.

I've had success with taking my wrists out of the shot. I set up with firm wrists and hit the ball with a smooth swing.

do what nickolas j_t said, thats basically what i do.
i line my clubface to my target, align my body open to my target, then i grip the club that way so the clubhead starts open, and i lead my arms with my chest. i know it might sound weird and it may be difficult, but i make sure that my chest leads my arms. it takes a while to actually understand what i mean because its hard to explain lol, but using that technique i am able to control distance and spin better

From the comments above, I have the following takeaways

1) Overall - Relax. Breathe...get comfortable and do my best to lose any tension. Visualize the shot.
2) Setup - Slightly open stance and slightly open club
3) Swing - Take the club back lower (and not as far back) to promote a shallower swing and accelerate through the ball to a full finish. If anything, keep the wrists from breaking on the downswing.
4) Focus on finishing the swing high, but not the ball

The only thing I would question is #3 and a shallower swing. A swing that is too shallow will not allow you to use the natural loft of the club to get the ball up in the air. You need to hit down and through the ball not scoop it. Therefore an early wristbreak is key. Seansy touched on another key fundamental, leading with your chest. You need to get your body rotating first rather than leading with the hands/arms. Your chest should be full facing the target after contact. Keep your weight on your left side too. Here is part of a transcript of a really good video on Golf Link that I unfortunately cannot link from this pay site. It touches on what I have said:

"When you hit a pitch shot your feet are going to be close together, I would say just right underneath your hips. The ball position is in the center and your weight is about 60 percent over on your left leg. The club shaft is going to lean and point over at the crease in your front leg of your pants. It is alright to be in a little bit of an open stance, meaning that your left foot is pulled back a little bit. During the swing you want to keep your weight on your left leg. There is no weight shift in the pitch shot. Your weight is going to stay on your left leg. What is bringing the club back is a wrist hinge and my arms, and you would like your right arm to fold up. It is imperative that we get this clubhead up. On the through-swing here the key is not so much arms, wrists, but now it is our body, more specifically my belt buckle. Making sure my belt buckle leads the parade here and gets pointing at my target."

I usually find now that when I am having trouble pitching it is because I am not fulling rotating my body and instead am letting the hands/arms lead the shot. You'll be surprised how quickly the ball will get into the air with the early wrist hinge and steeper angle of approach.

OK, here is a link to the video from which I got the transcript. Hope it works.

YouTube - Golf Tip: Pitching; Chris Toulson

Its amazing how much trouble a pound or so of grey matter between the ears courses. We've all been there; & those that are fortunate enough, to be still young enough or blithe enough not to have suffered,the yips of one form or another, have it all to look forward to.

Yes, I find breathing helps, whilst clearing the mind, of all things but a key factor or two of what is going on. Or more to the point the visualisation of the path/line, the feel of what the putt/chip/pitch/swing, etc' is going to be. I think most people know/feel when its the right moment to start the golf shot off.

as for any tips as to the pitch its self. The grip been in a soft stressless grip, never did any harm & will undoubtedly helpwith the nerves too.

On top of that looking up Mark Roe's thoughts on the short game is a good start,if you are lucky enough to recieve Sky Sports golf night coverage, that we get in the UK