If you had to give just one helpful tip to somone suffering from anxiety, what would it be?

[greengrape]

[Yankee_Doodle]

I've always liked: 'What would you tell your closest friend if he/she was feeling this way?' We're often much kinder to our friends/family/loved ones than we are to ourselves. We should always give ourselves the same attention and care we do to others.

[bobo109]

It may sound odd but if you are fighting your anxiety all the time, try accepting it instead. If you had flu, you would accept that you're feeling lousy, let it run its course, look after and be kind to yourself in the interim. Adopting the same approach with anxiety can help break the viscious circle of worrying about it all the time thus feeding it and helping it take deeper root. And instead of beating yourself up about what you've done to cause the anxiety and being hard on yourself about the affect it's having on you and others, take time out to put yourself first and look after number one for a time. Remember whatever it is that gives you pleasure - whether that's a new top, a candle-lit bath or a swim - and build those actvities into your daily routine.

[horses]

dear bobo, thats text book stuff, as it may work for some, it doesnt do for all,mores the pity! I do hope it works for you though x

[Hannah1122]

I find the most helpful thing for me is to focus on controlling my breathing to clear my head and distract me from focussing on the symptoms

[Hidden]

I find you just have to 'dance with it' - when an anxious thought comes in try to say "that's just a part of the illness, it will pass". However I know that when anxiety is bad your thinking just goes to pot & sometimes there is'nt much you can do. Best wishes.

[greengrape in reply to Hidden]

This is a good tip and one that I often use myself. I agree that when we get anxious our thinking becomes very biased and negative thoughts completely take over. You have to be really strong and remind yourself that "this is anxiety talking and it's part of the illness", "this fear is not a predictor of the outcome".

Best wishes.