Practical advice/ideas to help deal with anxiety

[RB2012]

Have struggled with anxiety for ten years, never had treatment. Today Ive been booked to see a counsellor, and given citalopram. The idea of pills and telling strangers personal things does not fill me with enthusiasm. So am asking people who have the same problems for any simple, helpful advice I can do on my own. I really dont know where to start. Thanks in advance.

[Hidden]

Hiya

I would give the counselling and pills a try to start with, sometimes a little professional kick/help is a good thing to get you started off, i realise its not for everyone but there are alot of ppl who have had great success with therapy and pills. I have had both previouslly and they did help tremedously I wont lie its hard going sometimes but worth it. Obviously there is alot of self help work you could do as well as the professional help to try and get a real effective outcome. I couldnt really say a specific set techniques/ideas to try without knowing what your anxity type is? so if you want to share that information I may be of more use :0)

In general though to calm myself when i feel highly anxious i use my ipod (gives me music to focus on) read books (this works when im at a lower level of anxiety as when is very bad concentration is a problem) distraction with house chores, talking on here to ppl, help lines, I also sometimes write anxieties down when they arise then i read the anxiety and try to write down reasons why i shouldnt be anxious (challange the thought process)

Hope there are some ideas here for you. Good Luck I will keep thinking,

[RB2012]

Hi thankyou. The ipod sounds like a good idea for when Im out. Im not sure what catagory I fall into, its definately at its worst when I am outside, I avoid shopping, doctors etc as much as possible. When I am out I try to control it, but I flush red and get hot/clammy..so people stare, which makes it worse..then my vision goes odd and I feel like the ground is shaking, and thats ususally when I have to get out. I get it whilst talking to friends and family. It really hinders my life and I desperately want to go back to work.

[Hidden]

I do understand how you feel all i want is to get back to work too, but until i can walk into such as Tesco without freaking out it aint gonna happen, this is something I have had to accept which was difficult. We will both get back to work, just gotta be a little patient i guess :0)

I found the ipod helped me alot initially just to get out the house, it focussed my mind on the music playing rather than what people around me may be thinking. Have you thought about sticking the ipod in and say walking to places that cause you anxiety but not actually going in for the first few times just actually getting the places (exposure) until that doesnt stress you out, and then moving on to going in ect. Does that make sense?

By the way I have alot the same symptoms as you and I have General and social anxiety disorders not saying thats what you have, you would need to talk to your practitioners for diagnosis if thats appropriate, just highlighting that i can relate to some of your feelings :0)

[nindanoodle]

Hi there

Something that helped me a little was an audio book by Dr Claire Weaks it's called pass through panick, it's quite old fashioned but what she says makes a lot of sense. Good luck x

[gems1181]

I recently saw a hypnotherapist for my anxiety about vomit phobia and we worked through a work book called changing limiting belief by Rob Kelly - was a great help! 1 particular thing I find helpful when I'm starting to panic is to really focus on my breathing - deep calming breaths.