anxiety

[Mer23]

my anxiety is so bad today, any tips to help ease it? I don’t drink much but I had to make me a drink to calm me down for a bit.

[STEM_Dad]

The simplest thing to try to calm anxiety is breath control (a simple mindfulness practice).

One easy technique is the 4-4-4-4 technique:

Breathe in for 4 seconds.

Hold your breath for 4 seconds.

Breathe out for 4 seconds.

Hold your breath for 4 seconds.

(Repeat)

Try that for at least a minute (that would be 4 complete sets).

As your breathe in, try to allow your belly to expand, instead of your chest, because it's more calming that way.

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Another good mindfulness technique is called "Progressive Relaxation". I'm sure that you can find written, audio, and video guides for this.

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If you are experiencing racing thoughts or intrusive thoughts, a cognitive behavioral therapy technique that I've learned helps me a lot with this. It's referred to as a "sensory grounding technique", and this particular exercise is referred to as the "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" technique.

This one really helps me "get out of my head", and get more grounded in the real world around me.

Jessica McCabe from the HowToADHD YouTube channel did this video about it:

youtube.com/shorts/WpdQnyo4...

...

I hope this helps.

[Mer23 in reply to STEM_Dad]

thank you so much

[Gettingittogether]

Can you say anything about what triggered the anxiety? Sometimes we cannot identify a trigger, so that's OK too. But there is likely some pressure you're under, something that said, or done around you that set off the anxiety. Or is this an ongoing thing?

[Mer23 in reply to Gettingittogether]

honestly I’ve been going through a lot of insecurity issues and just putting myself down. I feel like I’ll never be good enough.

[STEM_Dad in reply to Mer23]

Those are common things to go though. I think that insecurities are more common with people who have ADHD, than for neurotypical people.

Insecurities can come from various things: low self-esteem, perfectionism, being put down by others (in the past or present), experiencing abuse, comparing ourselves to others, experiencing a loss or failure, etc.

Many of us experience "Imposter Syndrome", which causes us to feel like we don't measure up to how we think we should be, and are afraid of being "found out" by others.

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Counseling is probably the best treatment that I can think of for dealing with insecurity. Talk therapy with a well trained mental health professional (psychiatrist, psychologist, licensed mental health counselor or therapist, licensed clinical social worker).

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Some self care which might help would be too name things that you like about yourself, that are good at, that you have done well.

However, it might be hard to think of positive qualities when you're dwelling so much on negatives.

So, if you can, ask people who you are close to to help remind you of your positive qualities, your past successes. (Don't ask someone who would possibly add to your dismay, even in jest. That's the last thing you need right now.)

Try thinking of three things that are good about you. They don't have to be things that you're "the best at", just things that you're good at.

...and the next time you're in a good state, get out a notebook and list as many good and positive qualities about yourself as you can, as many wins as you can think of. (It might be a test to got a good grade on once upon a time, or a compliment that you got from someone for something that you did.)

[Knitting20projects]

I don’t know if this would be helpful. There’s a technique called “Vergence” for self calming that could help. I think if you look on YouTube you’ll find a video.

[breadandcircuses]

I have terrible anxiety and I get what you're feeling. Calming your breath through some deep breathing technique does help. I also use a technique that I learned in DBT (dialectical behavioral therapy). You sit quietly, meditate, and as a thought/emotion comes into your head, you label it as either thought or emotion. Sounds kind of dumb, but I find it really helps me identify what's going on with the junk in my head.

[Judi1234]

I take the smallest dose of Seroquel daily. It's been 2 mos. since I started and I can finally manage anxiety. It has truly changed my life. Anxiety no longer runs my behavior or my life.

[Judi1234 in reply to Judi1234]

I also tried breathing, mindfulness , talk therapy for years. Nothing helped. If your anxiety is hard wired it is very difficult , in my experience, to willfully change. Seroquel was the answer for me.

[DragonJeep]

In addition to the great suggestions already given, you might want to check to see if there are any negative interactions with different medications and supplements you are taking. The anxiety and insecurity you described sounds similar to a major period of issues I was having after I was prescribed an antacid medication. I think it put my Adderall on overdrive. Once I stopped the antacid, I was much better.