anxiety: how do you handle it

[Acorn2]

I’ve been having panic attacks about once a week and it triggers me to make impulsive decisions like starting arguments. I’ve tried breathing exercises which helps sometimes.

What do you all recommend that helps? 🙂

[Agora1]

Breathing and Meditation work however it must be a daily practice.

It takes time to get your mind retrained in not having panic attacks or

even anxiety attacks. Our breath can control our emotional levels.

If we start to feel the butterflies coming on, check your breathing to

make sure you are belly breathing in deeply and long slow exhales reducing

the adrenaline.

I start my meditation/breathing the minute I open my eyes in the morning.

It allows me to start the day on the right foot. Midafternoon, I spend 5 minutes

meditating as well as reminding myself to bring down my shoulders and breathe.

And lastly, before going to sleep, a 20 min meditation can guarantee to put you

into a deep REM sleep as well as allow the subconscious mind to take in positive

thoughts. It takes at least 30 days to see some difference. The "key" to success

is doing this consistently as part of your daily mental health care. xx

[LifeisLikeGarden]

Hello,

I've been suffering from panic attacks since 2020. I think I can help you, but each person is different in how they react to things.

My essentials: Breathing exercises, hypnotism (try some youtube videos for calming yourself down in the moment), lavender essential oil (can even use a necklace, bracelet, etc. or even an inhaler of lavender essential oil, but be careful because lavender essential oil can be strong), you can use dark chocolate (surprisingly, it helps whether it's actual chocolate or hot chocolate!), exercise (can be a hit or miss), I made myself a song playlist that helps calm me down, weighted blankets, and I use an app that's not just helped me, but some others I know, too. It has a bunch of breathing exercises/anxiety exercises/yoga to help anxiety, etc. I can let you know the name of the app if you want.

Otherwise, it's trial and error for these kinds of things, unfortunately. It took me a long time to stop having panic attacks six times a day (not exaggerating), but now I feel pretty lucky to only have them once a week or even once every other week now. It gets better, you just need to find the right combination of interventions. Good luck and contact me if you ever have questions. I'm happy to help.

[Acorn2 in reply to LifeisLikeGarden]

please what’s the app? I wonder if it’ll help, I’ve been working out right when I wake up and I’ve notice my days are starting positive.

[LifeisLikeGarden in reply to Acorn2]

It's called Finch. It'll seem a bit silly at first, but basically the app has these different things you can do (breathing exercises, ranting exercises, tasks) and when you complete these tasks, you help raise a virtual pet bird. Sounds a bit funny, but it's definitely helped me. It's technically free, but to have some of the advanced features, they make you pay. I don't remember what features are advanced or free anymore because I pay for the advanced since it offers a lot more, but it's helped myself and a few friends.

[Srb3147]

My daughter has panic attacks, and we’ve worked over the past couple of years to try to get them under control. Some of the things that really help her are the breathing techniques, meditation, exercise, music, one thing that has really helped her out is saying stuff out loud. Or writing it down. I have one daughter that Hass to say it out loud or she’s never going to be able to let it go. Once she says it out loud she no longer is controlled by it and she can let it go. I have another daughter who hast to write stuff down because her anxiety comes from all of the stuff that she hast to do or fears that she has including like introducing herself to people meeting a bunch of new people things like that. She hast to write them down on a piece of paper and that helps her to look at what her fears are her hurts her worries whatever it is and start to look at them as what do I have control over and what do I not have control over let me work on the things that I do have control over so that I’m not as anxious and then for the stuff that I don’t have any control over it then I can focus on prayer and I can pray about it and I can leave it to God and try to just let God have it. That doesn’t always work because we’re all human and we worry about stuff that we’re not supposed to worry about. Add in the fact that your heart is broken, and it’s almost impossible not to feel everything intensely. If you can recognize that you’re reaching that point then try your best to step away. I’m not saying it’s always gonna work, but try your best to step away. There’s nothing wrong with telling someone that you need a moment. I’m using voice to text as I am responding on my break. Please ignore any errors

[012703060610]

This caught my eye. Something random popped into my head that may make sense for you or not. I think I saw you are female. There is a mood disorder called PMDD that essentially starts 7-14 days before your period. I wasn't impacted by this until I had kids, but let me tell you it is real. For me it is about 8 days before and I can snap on a dime, make hasty decisions, have a total meltdown all within 20 seconds. It's just a heavier version of PMS. I am not dismissing anything...but the frequency just made me think it could be something other than anxiety or panic. So I take Prozac only 7 days a month and it changed my world and marriage I am pretty sure!

However, to the broader question on anxiety.... I agree with the posts on breathing strategies and keeping up with some routine isessential mental health care. When I have done them with some frequency, it is hugely helpful. I have yet to find the exact path to calm myself down as I do suffer broadly from GAD (then also PMDD). I do have medication as needed. For me, I think I need to figure out when I can carve out actual time every day at the same time for a routine. I do well on a routine.....but have an illness that throws me off and young kids. I lost a routine 10 years ago with my first kid. Love them....but woah!

[timmothysmith01]

Exercise for at least 30 minutes every day, 3 to 5 days a week, has been shown to dramatically lessen the symptoms of depression and anxiety. However, even short bursts of exercise, like 10 to 15 minutes, can have a significant impact.