Coping techniques for anxiety

[hART]

Anyone else tried relaxation techniques or meditation for anxiety?

Any good coping techniques that I am missing?

 

 

What already helps to calm me down:

 

-meditation

-calm instrumental music and slow moving nature photos.

-Pausing when I can feel tease and taking a few deep breaths.

-Cognitive behavioral therapy.

-Fear conquering therapy.

-regular exercise.

-movies

-time management...

 

In emergency situations:

-medication (I'd take it all the time, but the body builds both dependence and immunity to it).

 

What to do if someone is panicking:

-Escort them to a quiet place, if there is no quiet place, but there is a computer or television, put something calming on. If they are a metal head or hate hippies, then improvise with some sort of neutral movie or a cool youtube clip.

-If you are in a public situation where this isn't possible, find a quieter area.

-Make them feel comfortable

-Stay calm yourself, if you can't find someone who can. If you are alone with them and cannot relax, bringing them to a quiet space and saying you will be right back is good.

-Wrap them in a blanket or coat.

-If they can't calm down enough to sit, let them pace, they will tire out and sit within a few minutes, if they can't consider professional intervention.

-If they keep pacing, have them do jumping jacks.

-Read about the symptoms of a panic attack.

-give them a glass of water.

-improvise, light candles, turn on the shower, take a walk with them. There are many levels of anxiety. Everything from average to needs professional help.

-touching, talking or hugs only if they initiate it or if you are excellent at reading other's emotions.

-listen to any concerns they have, if they are angry with you, remember that they are acting out of panic and don't mean it. If they are abusive and you are in a relationship with them, that is an entirely different issue.

-Any others?

 

 

Stuff that will agitate them: (doing anything and caring is great, so don't worry if you slip, it helps to have anyone who understands and cares).

-confusing or fast moving images with fast talking and aggressive beats.

My mom showed me doctor who when I panicked and it made is 10x worse.

-Telling them to calm down, breathe, relax. This is very frustrating when panicked, because the panic makes it difficult to breathe and relax. They are probably know they are stressed and have already been saying this in their head.

-Telling them it is all in their head. Whether or not this is true is inconsequential at that moment, it feels very real, so this doesn't help.

-Don't compare it to anyone else. Resist this urge, negative feelings are bad, it doesn't matter what the level is, all that matters is progress.

-Any others?

 

Also...

-panicked or scared people may act irrational or may not respond to this. It is impossible to control another person, especially if they don't want help.

-If this fails to work, it isn't anyone's fault. It means he/she needs professional help.

-If you are the one panicking, don't get mad if the other says these things. If 70-90% of their behavior is towards helping you, then don't take it personally. People react to others emotions and will also feel anxious, making it harder to calm someone else down.

 

Phew, long post, thank you for making it through it!

[skydiveaddict]

I use some meditation as well. But rely most on meds, they haven't seemed to wear off yet

[hART]

How long have you been taking them?

[Yer_Blues]

I disagree with the notion that telling someone it's all in their head is automatically bad. I remember numerous panic attacks where I was ready to get emergency help and I managed to break out of it by focusing all of my energy on the idea that I was physically fine and my brain was going crazy.

 

Not that any fast acting benzo won't take of it a lot quicker...

[hART]

I can see that. Sometimes, if it gets beyond bad, that isn't what I want to hear. I guess that could go either way.

[creighton0123]

I like to blow stuff up in video games to relieve anxiety. It always seems to work for me :-)

[Cee]

I deal with panic and agoraphobia. The thing that worked best was getting on Seroquel. I'm taking it for another mental condition, but it has calmed me down considerably.

 

I have a script for Xanax for flying. I don't need benzos any other time.

 

The rest of the time I use distraction techniques. When I try to relax I become more panicked. So instead, I get my brain thinking about something else. I will fiddle with my phone, walk around or talk to someone.

[skydiveaddict]

How long have you been taking them?

 

 

about 14 months

[whichwayisup]

Awesome post Hart! I have suffered from anxiety in the past, not so bad anymore, but it used to be. I did CBT and it saved my life. My motto is, what you put into therapy is what you get out of it! And, lucky for me, I had the most wonderful therapist, she was amazing and we had an instant trust and a connection first time we met.

 

Yoga, deep breathing, visualization, brisk walking, meditation all so helpful when dealing with anxiety.

 

Your list is so good and even more so with helping others who suffer as well. I will add to your list, just being there, a comforting and calm voice, letting them know that the anxiety and panic will pass, not to be afraid of it, that it's okay. Some people chant, some pray, some just go with positive thoughts and affirmations..Whatever helps, do it!

 

At my worst, I always had to call someone, so scared to be alone, scared I was either going to pass out or throw up. I never did, but at times felt like it. My whole body would tingle with a cold feeling, almost go numb and then my arms and legs would get pins and needles. My mind would be mushy (blah brain) and then once the aniexty passed, I felt so exhausted.

 

Now, I feel if it coming on, I talk to myself in my head and make it go away. Once you take control of anxiety and put it in it's place, and know that the physical feelings will pass, it's less scary and once it does pass, so now if they hit me, I feel enlightened, quite powerful to not let it take over.

 

I managed to work through my issues, talk therapy, no meds... which was causing my anxiety (prolonging pain and dealing with my fathers death) along with not talking, and basically shutting people out. Everything came and hit me all at once, making me afraid of (at the time I thought it was stupid, but now I see it isn't) so much..Fear of the unknown, things that I have no control over, I would propell 20 years in to the future, fear of being alone, fear of my hubby dying, fear of other family members dying, funny thing is, I never feared myself dying, always feared the loss of someone else, that pain.. It took over and basically I became depressed, had anxiety and panic attacks. Hid it well for a long time (like 2 years) until finally I realized if I didn't get help, it would get worse.

 

Finally over the years with the help of my T and doing CBT, I've learned to live in the now and do my best not to worry about tomorrow or next week, next year, let alone 10 years from now.. Enjoy today, and make the best of it. Worry about sh.it when it actually happens.

[hART]

Sorry everyone to take so long, life has been kinda hectic.

 

creighton0123-video games can be good.

 

skydiveaddict-cool, I'll have to consider trying meds.

 

Whichwayisup- thank you for the further advice! CBT is something I need to do more often. I can relate to the fear of loss. Depression is an evil disease, I'm sorry it happened to you. Telling people it will pass is very good thing. Calmness is also good. Definitely finding something that works for you is also good.

[Feelin Frisky]

...

In emergency situations:

-medication (I'd take it all the time, but the body builds both dependence and immunity to it)....

 

Only the older medications that blanket the central nervous system builds dependence and loss of efficacy. There are newer meds that don't cause dependence and work all the time. But these are not for "emergencies"--they are for "therapies" so that one doesn't have "emergencies". I've had some physical anxiety in recent months. I have been taking Neurontin and Buspirone for it and they work. They don't produce any calming effects--they simply deal with the chemical problem that manifests as anxiety. The system that is a bit out of wack in my brain is called the gaba amino butyric acid system and I think I depressed it by taking health store gaba supplements. I started having fight or flight adrenaline release in my gut for no good reason and it would happen as I was trying to get to sleep, keeping me awake. I'd also get a flood of fear chemicals if I awoke for an instant keeping me from going back to sleep. Xanax helped me sleep but Xanax is one of those addictive drugs that one can't take w/o getting dependent. I took it short term while taking the other two drugs to get rid of the problem long term. So far I'm pleased with the results.

[Yer_Blues]

I have a new strategy for attacking my anxiety, most of which is specifically social phobia more than generalized anxiety.

 

I am trying to improve awareness/concentration/"mindfulness" in my life. A lot of the problems I have with anxiety is that my fear responses are habituated and automatic. It's not something I really have physical control over.

 

In the past, I've tried to escape this through alcohol, drugs, anger/aggressiveness, etc. I think it may be better to simply recognize the habituated behavior/thought patterns/anxiety as they happen and accept them instead of giving them so much power. By staying aware of what is happening to me instead of being so absorbed in thought and negative emotion, I think my logical brain may be able to reappraise social situations and cause these Automatic Negative Thoughts and fear response to disappear.

 

I'll let you know if I have any success this way. It's going to take me some time to really judge the results. If my post wasn't entirely clear, think about the idea of ALWAYS meditating, even while in public or working on something. This extreme focus on only what is occurring and the clearing/calming of your mind is already known to have a ton of positive benefits. What if these benefits could be extended BEYOND just the time you were meditating, and this mindset could remain at all times? This would overcome the limitations of traditional meditation sessions.