Coping methods.

[Sam Winter]

Hi there everyone! x.
I thought it was about time I shared my methods, they don't work for everyone but I thought it might help some of you. my newest one that I invented was after watching a marathon of my name is earl(my brain is weird I know ) so i thought hey, I'm going to make a list, I've started two so far one for the all things I wanted to do but refused/turned down due to anxiety and one full of fun things I haven't turned down, when an opportunity comes by my lists encourage me to try. and every time I do one I reward myself a little, I give myself an extra nice reward if I do something I've previously refused. another tip i invented is one that helps us do things or stop worrying. it requires some detective work that you can on paper or in your head.

first you write down what is happening(ie. i think I'm having a heart attack)
secondly you write out your thoughts and on a scale of 1-10 you rate your worry.
thirdly you write what evidence you have to prove it(ie. a pain in my left arm)
fourthly you write out what the facts are.
fifthly you write out what else could happen(ie. a panic attack)
sixthly you write out what happened before(ie. a panic attack instead of a heart attack)
seventhly you write out what is likely to happen
eighthly you write out what has happened to other people
and lastly you write out a now more realistic thought and rate that from 1-10 to see if its now any lower.

i also find distractions really help, if you find yourself worrying/fixating on something do something else quickly)

helping out others really helps me in a sense because it makes me happier and realize how still lucky i am. this one might not work as well however because I'm more of a karma nut haha.

[mezzaninedoor]

Distractions do really help, you are right.

I just wanted to mention that I use a shorter method of this when journaling from day to day. Having bulleted points helps me to deal with issues in recording them