Trying to get out and do normal things....

[Phoenixess]

This year this episode of anxiety has been by far the worst i have ever experienced. although things are slowly settling down now i have had confirmation my heart is ok, im generally struggling with everyday life. I just went out to the shops in the dark, something i would never have thought twice about and the whole time i was quiet i couldnt enjoy it i still did it and engaged with it and i managed to talk to cashiers without having a panic attack but it seems to really leaving me feel on edge and uneasy after.
I feel riled as i type this knowing why all this is happening because of my anxiety and stress levels. I would really like to learn some new effective relaxation techniques any tips anyone?

best
PH

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, I've often seen how my anxiety affected me as reducing me to a child with little or no confidence having to relearn the world. I had to push myself to go back out into it and learn it's not as scary as it seems.

It is demoralising because with these conditions you can go from very confident in confident work or social roles to someone unable to open the door or answer a phone (or even open your post!). This is where it always comes back down to exposure work in getting out there and learning to sit with the uncomfortable feelings.

Sometimes you feel a boost, other times you feel nothing and feel like you can't find a way to beat it. But it's time & repetition that is needed. And as you are now doing it';s not just about being there but feeling what is there when you are and having mechanisms to cope with it such as the techniques you are now asking about.

It's great that you are doing this and talking to people when out too. At first it may be very hard to do that and it can be easy to get stuck in a pattern of being out but not engaging with people. I found talking to people, whilst making me more anxious at first, gave me a boost and showed me most people are just getting on with their day and will be civil & friendly to you.

It's an exposure, the panic/anxiety reduces over so many minutes. This can mean you come out feeling a mess and then it subsides as the chemicals in your body are dealt with. The trick is to keep going and over time this will change.

As for techniques I found grounding/Mindfulness is excellent when in somewhere. You can just stop, find an object to focus on and use the techniques and everyone will just think you are browsing anyway. Distract your mind away from what you are feeling by really focussing on something on the shelf to fill your mind up about it. But you can also learn how to calm your breathing and change how you are focussing on your body too with these techniques.

[tommy1982]

It sounds like you have anxiety but you are getting some part's of the day that you can at least escape from it for moments, maybe an afternoon you stay up later as you feel calm, or a moment you forget about it you know its there but you forgot about it.

think back to when the anxiety was constant and you could'nt hide form it .

if it gets too much there are medications, that work after a few days but really when you go down that road you tend to go back to them and back to them, and end up having a problem with them and its hell to get off them.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It sounds like you have anxiety but you are getting some part's of the day that you can at least escape from it for moments, maybe an afternoon you stay up later as you feel calm, or a moment you forget about it you know its there but you forgot about it.

think back to when the anxiety was constant and you could'nt hide form it .

if it gets too much there are medications, that work after a few days but really when you go down that road you tend to go back to them and back to them, and end up having a problem with them and its hell to get off them.

Tommy raises an important point to remember. Whilst it can still seem bad we can look back and know we are moving in the right direction.