Tips for calming yourself down in waiting room?

[Qæliw]

I was just wondering if anyone had any tips. I really need this. I had an anxiety attack at my last appointment and had to reschedule. But now I'm afraid it'll happen again. What has worked for you lovely people?

[swgrl09]

I do progressive muscle relaxation with deep breathing. Here is a good link with a walk through:

http://www.amsa.org/healingthehealer/musclerelaxation.cfm

[Emilym80]

Deep breathing works well for me. I also try and distract myself by playing games or something on my phone.

Best wishes :)

[Chlobo]

Take someone with you who knows about your anxiety that can help calm you down. Play games on your phone or take a magazine or a book. Maybe take a kalms tablet if your not on any other medication?

[MyNameIsTerry]

Intense focussing on an object can help if you do it for a few minutes. At my worst point, this got me through a difficult wisdom tooth extraction. I spent the time breathing normally and focussing on the ceiling light and it did work.

Count backwards in your head from 100. Repeat as required. Do it slowly though and breathe normally. If possible count with breathe e.g. breathe in 99, breath out 98. In other words, don't aim to go fast with it or you won't think about it as much.

Have an object in your pocket that you feel and try to concentrate on. Feel the texture, how does it makes you feel, etc. Try for an object with more than one texture as well. This is part of what you learn in Mindfulness exercises so I would suggest you trying the full thing as it will help with anxiety in general.

[Munchlet]

Many years ago I used to visit a lady for reflexology and massage etc. She used to tell me when I was worried to sit and hold each finger in turn for a couple of minutes and each finger represented something. This was how she explained it Thumb W for Worry, then working along, next finger F for Fear, Middle Finger A for Anxiety, Ring finger S for Stress and Little finger T for Tension, she said by holding each finger in turn for a couple of minutes and taking nice deep breaths it would get rid of Worry Fast, which I kind of liked as it spelt out W FAST with the fingers as well.

I have used that technique for many years on countless visits to the GP/Hospital etc and I don't know why but it works for me and the good thing is it's something you can do quite subtly so no one realises what you are doing. Obviously she also said if you have something in particular like worry or stress you can hold that finger for longer, she used to study a lot of Chinese medicine and many holistic therapies and told me it came from there.