Share your top tip for beating anxiety :-)

[blondinou]

Hello everyone,

I thought I'd send out a bit of a positive post. :flowers: I'm struggling with anxiety and panic attacks, this week has been a pretty bad one actually. But I am DETERMINED to do something about it! I will not let this beat me!! I'm going to counselling and researching loads of strategies to give myself the best chance of sorting this out. I still have days where I'm an absolute wreck but there's always a twinkle of hope somewhere!

This site is great for support and sharing comfort, I'm so glad I found it. So I thought I'd ask you for your single most useful strategy that you use to help yourself. Because at the end of the day we can only solve this ourselves and we can, each and every one of us, achieve this! Even if it is a painful journey!

I know it's a tendency of anxiety sufferers to dismiss strategies that are meant to help, thinking they won't work (I do this too). BUT - different strategies work for different people so may as well try lots of different things and see what works for you! :yesyes:

To start it off, my top tip:

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)
After being instructed by my counsellor, I started to do this every day. It only takes around 10 minutes to do (although you can spend longer if you like), so everyone has time for it. It involves tensing and relaxing muscle groups, going through your body until you are so relaxed that it feels all heavy and nice! By relaxing your body, your mind does actually slow down too. It not only helps immediately but if you do it every day for long enough it reduces stress/anxiety generally. This link has a full explanation of it:
http://www.hypnos.co.uk/hypnomag/jacobson.htm
I can't prove it's making a real difference but I actually think it is helping my anxiety, and it feels great anyway so nothing to lose :D

xxx

[Wotnews]

hi
This thread is a great idea. My tip is simple and lots of people on nmp have said it.
Try do do distraction I can often feel mynpanic rising from nowhere,especially if I'm just siiting. I recognise it and get up and do something..clean the windows,emtpy the drawers,..anything active. Sometimes if I'm up to it I'll go for a drive,with good tunes on. For me it's about interrupting my own thoughts.hope makes sense..it's v basic but it works for me

Xx

[sarahblonde32]

Hi,

yes i find distraction helps, i cant sit still for long without a book or a magazine or something, especially eating out, thats makes me nervous,
i have tried the deep breathing, right from the abdomen, just taking a bit of time to gather yourself, go to a loo, lean against the wall and talk to yourself and breathe.
other than that i havent found much help, bachs rescue remedy didnt really help. thinking of hypnosis next...

i want to beat this too....its ruining my everyday life...
sarah

[Mr.Jitters]

My single most useful strategy in easing anxiety & panic is exercise. Burn the adrenaline off on bad days, and revitalize myself with yoga & a hot bath on low days.

[blondinou]

Hi sarah,
Yeah I find that going to the loo / popping outside to take a few deep breaths and talk to myself reassuringly often helps a lot!
I have actually had hypnotherapy (for something else, not panics) and it was really good I found. I'm a bit of a sceptic/scientist so I wasn't sure about it at first but being hypnotised actually feels really good. It's not magic or anything but something incredibly relaxing happens., and it can make you think about the problem differently. I would definitely consider it!

Wotnews definitely sitting there doing nothing but worrying is so not helpful :-D Keeping busy helps me a lot too!

[Bill]

I think if there was one tip that I'd say definitely works, it would have to be this...

In a way it's distraction but distraction is when you look for something to keep your mind occupied.

I would say that if a lion was staring at you and you kept staring back at it, your anxiety would never leave you because you wouldn't be letting the lion walk away so you would keep feeling ill.

In other words, the more you think and dwell on your feelings (your lion), the more anxious you'll become so my tip would be, remember simply to try and ignore any feelings or worries that arise no matter how frightening they feel because when we treat them like a "sneeze" and learn to ignore them when they arise, anxious feelings always forget us too. Easier said than done I know which is why I feel we use distraction to help us achieve it. The only problem with distraction is that when the distraction has finished, we turn our minds back to focus on how we're feeling and our worries.

I often feel there are 2 types of distraction - the deliberate type and the enjoyment type. The deliberate type we use when anxious feelings surface to help stop us thinking about how we're feeling. The enjoyment type is when we're doing something or looking forward to doing something "automatically" simply because we enjoy it. Often the enjoyment type works as a prevention whereas the deliberate type works as an anxiety remedy like when when we catch a cold. When we use prevention as a habit between all our daily stresses, they can help to lessen the frequency of anxious feelings because we focus more on having fun and less on our fears.:hugs:

[boat ride]

Hi ,

Ok i don't wont no one to get mad . Im just giving my input after
20 + year's .

As soon as 99 % of people feel it coming there mind
go's in to race mode. At this point it just mite be to late to bring
it back. So why fight it let it come you dont have anxiety it has
you . And when you can say to your self that you got it and
mean it . Thing's will be a lot better in your life . Over come
i dont no about that . I think cope is the word .

At one point in my life i was stuck in my house for over
4 1/2 years never seen the out doors . Man you talk about
tuff omg can you see your self telling your kids how come
you can't leave the house for 4 + years. Man them were some
dark day's in my life .


And that is no joke. I look back and think how
can i over come this ??? I wish i new back then
what i no today . I don't think i would be on this site
today . Boat ride

[Dafyddjohndavies]

Great topic.

My top tip.

Instead of distraction as others have said, do the opposite and actually want anxiety. In your head tell yourself you want all the anxiety in the world and feel like you want it. I know it sounds wrong but it works so well. I you actively let the anxiety do it's worst it disappears. In my head I actually accept anything that will happen, including the thought of heart attack, and it all disappears. Takes time to accept it but once you do you have started your recovery!

Another top tip, be fully aware of what your thinking and saying about yourself. Positivity is key. If you start to notice negative things you say to yourself then it starts a process of stopping the pattern. Be aware and if a negative thought comes up then think of a positive thought to counter it. Keep doing this and your life will eventually become more positive.

Last tip. Exercise more and reduce intake of sugar, alcohol and caffiene.

[selphie]

when im anxious i look at at my 6 month old he looks at me and smiles
(hes got such a lovley smile):D i pick him up and play/hold/cuddle until it passes sorry it aint much of a strategy sorry but it helps me for a whilexxx:D

[sarahblonde32]

thanks blondiou, i will try hypnosis (when i can afford it) im sceptical too.
i think letting the anxiety come to you is a good idea...but i dont want it to come to me i want to beat the damn thing, i have to keep saying to myself 'i dont have anxiety' over and over or 'dont fear the fear'.
one small thing i did find helped...if you can catch it early...is to smile...or laugh.....sometimes if im a bit apprehensive about something and think i might get a bout of anxiety.....i sit up straight and smile, or try and laugh, like the car radio or whatever...

sarah

[Tish]

My top tip:
when you wake in a morning with negative thoughts racing through your head i.e. 'I feel terrible, how am I going to face this problem, how willl I cope today etc.' Just IGNORE THEM before they get a hold of you and set you up for a bad day.
Remember, everything takes practice and patience. Never give up because you think a thing isn't working straight away.

[blondinou]

Another tip by the way:

I recently bought The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund Bourne and it is really really good. It has chapters on each different way that you can tackle anxiety. The general idea is to take a 'multi-pronged attack' and change lots of different aspects of your life, and not rely on one strategy e.g. just CBT or just medication. You can pick and choose out of all the suggestions it has in there to find out which ones work best for you. It is the most comprehensive book I have come across and it's really written in a way that people suffering with anxiety can identify with :-) x

[Hazel B]

Hi, mine is similar to Tish. Learn to ignore the thoughts or challenge them, know that thoughts will not kill you and just let them pass. They will pass.

Once I realised that anxiety for me was a fear of the future and that the worst could happen, l I faced the worst thoughts and learnt that the worst does not usually happen.:)

[urbanhermit]

From my own experience, I have found three things that have really helped me:

1) I always make sure I've drank enough water - I found that if I felt anxious, drinking water made the anxiety go away.

2) Breathe slowly and calmly

3) If I do get panic symptoms, I don't worry about them as I know they won't harm me. Combining 1 and 2, means I can stop the symptoms within a minute or so.