Hi all! I was wondering what others do to manage anxiety in general, and also to cope with anxiety attacks when they occur. Here are some of my preferred ways of managing anxiety:
Interacting with others on this forum
Self-help books with exercises based on Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Guided meditation, using the Headspace app - I am on day 11 out of 30 of the Managing Anxiety pack
Reading online articles about anxiety – some are very helpful
Writing (Journaling) – just getting my feelings out
And here are some of my ways of coping with anxiety attacks:
Deep breathing – slow, deep breaths
Letting go and going limp
Going for a walk
Massaging certain pressure points
Listening to music or nature sounds (or both…the Calm app has a good library) – this is also a way of drowning out unpleasant sounds like people clearing their throats constantly
Laying down and gently rocking – this can be soothing but of course is also a real time killer, and I can only do this at home
CBD vaping pen – not sure how much this really helps, though
Chamomile Tea
Playing a game on my phone called Zen Koi 2 – it’s kind of relaxing
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teemo1
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You have a good list there. I do only a few of these things. I guess it is about knowing what works with you the best and being consistent. I might add repeating daily affirmations and paying attention to your diet.
I need to pay better attention to my diet, big time.
And I know what you mean about consistency. When I go a few days without doing the guided meditation, like I did over the weekend, I feel noticeably worse.
I do most of these also... I just downloaded headspace four days ago... So far I'm liking it... I'm still in the free mode. Do you think it is worth paying for it?
I started CBD oil recently, I did both the vape and oral drops and found that the oral drops helped but the vape didn't do much for me. Journaling has started to be a big one for me- just getting all the thoughts out of my head. Great list!
I do morning and evening and then sometimes if it's a bad day I'll do an afternoon dose. I have used it during a panic attack but I don't think it had time to really get in my system by the time my anxiety attack ended.
Headspace has for me been very well worth paying for. I'm getting a lot out of it. I was paying monthly but they sent me an offer for a whole year at a good price, so I switched to that instead. The only thing is, I have to be sure to make time to do it every day!
Based on what you've said, I am going to try CBD drops and see if that helps me better than the vape. I hope so!
Thanks, you too! They really do seem to take the edge off, especially in a stressful situation. I took one this morning and another just now, being that it's almost time to go home and this time change is kind of getting me down.
Hi, Teemo! Your list is really great! A lot of these techniques I recognize from the DBT (dialectical behavioral therapy) curriculum. Although overall this therapy was not the best match for my personal application, it did provide lots of easy-to-recall coping mechanisms.
In order to handle panic or other unwanted elevations in emotion, they suggest you use TIPP: Temperature (eg. running ice cubes over your collar bone), Intense Exercise, Paced Breathing and Pressure (eg. weighted blankets, having a loved one squeeze you). Using one or more than one of these things in combination has helped me more than I thought possible sometimes.
Here is an article about TIPP, although in this the second P is used to represent Paired Muscle Relaxation (which I personally use more to get to sleep than when I’m in the middle of panic): manhattanpsychologygroup.co...
Of course! DBT was designed for people who have trouble with emotional regulation and are “undercontrolled” (like bipolar, borderline, and most eating disorders). Even though it turns out that I may actually be “overcontrolled” myself, there are a lot of things in the curriculum that I think could help everyone. It includes units on mindfulness and emotion regulation, and identifies emotional responses as “effective” or “inneffective” instead of “good” or “bad”. In my opinion, the format is good for groups and, at the very least, interesting to look into.
Of course! DBT was designed for people who have trouble managing their emotions or are “underregulated” (eg. Manic depressive, borderline, and most eating disorders). Although it turns out that I might personally be “overregulated”, there are a lot of things in the curriculum that I think would be useful to everyone. Mindfulness is one of the core tenants and emotions are evaluated as “effective” or “ineffective” rather than “good” or “bad”. If you’re ever looking for a good group therapy format, I would recommend it, but otherwise it’s interesting to just look into.
I’d love to hear more about how your listed techniques work over time too! A lot of them I use myself and it’s hard to know how well they work (especially things like the CBD drops).
I've been really surprised to notice how much diet affects my anxiety levels. As tough as it is, when I can cut out sugar and carbs, my mental health improves. I'm not saying it's a cure, but it definitely helps. I try to take time, take a step back from busy schedules and pray. That always helps me see the bigger picture.
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