Anxiety and how to combat it!

[Bert&Ernie]

For many Including myself Anxiety can be a real bitch.

Here is a thread for everyone to put together helpful ways at combating it!

I'll start with my anxiety and how it affects me and what i do to help deal with it.....

I find it hard to leave the house ( like going to the shops or a pub) without feeling like my stomach is going to implode, Its totally irrational i know because once i get out there everything is fine and the world is beautiful. I also suffer with groups of more than 3 people as i find it impossible to engage with anyone with the fear of being judged or something stupid like that.

Alcohol does not help unless i'm so drunk i cant even see plus i don't like drinking that much. I have found codeine to be one of the best things to get me to be social and talkative, also just breathing and remembering how irrational all my feelings are helps a lot too....

I'll try and add some more story's and things i do to help when i can think of them but right now i'm really interested to hear everyone else's issues with anxiety and how they combat it as i find just reading about other peoples anxiety really helps mine... makes it seem less bad somehow.

Anyhow thanks for reading! cant wait to here from all you lovely people!!! Love you all!

Edited December 30, 2013 by jwerta

[PsillyBean]

Hey jwerta, I can relate with you and also find controlled breathing helps. Also found breathe holding to be helpful. Have watched a few of this guys videos which have helped better my technique. https://www.youtube.com/user/breatheology

Another little thing that a mate said to me once has really helped too. Kind of a fatherly thing and even though Im 34 it really helped. He said " Dont be afraid to play with the other kids" kind of put into perspective that we are all the same, no one is socially above you or below.

[CLICKHEREx]

Try Progressive Muscle Relaxation, at http://www.drcoxconsulting.com/managing-stress.html and EFT.

It is free via the searchbar at www.mercola.com "EFT" & "EFT therapists" (

) or www.tapping.com (13 free videos) or eftuniverse.com. Professional is best (Google local EFT therapists). There is a version for use in public places, as you employ the acupressure massage/lightly tap your temples.

Use whichever works best for you.

[planthelper]

use a beta blocker, for the day out.

[Dreamwalker.]

use a beta blocker, for the day out.

beta blocker's are good......(the chemistry makes a lot of sense, worth a search for info)....gotta take them an hour or so before playing with the other kids....ps stay clear of the bullies

[paradox]

not sure how helpful these are but heres just a few things that work for me..

humans are very insane & messed up creatures, get away from them regularly & be extremely selective in which domesticated primates you allow to help inform your reality. while away from humans learn to experience the world directly instead of through the grotesque filter of the psychotic mass cultural collective reality tunnel..

if your job sux, quit.

move to the bush & take up ecological farming.

don't allow social pressures from the masses of extremely dense humans to impact upon your own instincts & intelligence (if you feel you can trust your own intelligence).

learn to trust your own intelligence (likewise learn to recognize your delusions & the all too common traps our minds can fall into when trying to comprehend reality)

do more fishing & gardening or other physical art forms which the human organism has evolved to do (like hunting etc, if even to get photographs of animals or such), exercising these deeply instinctual genetic programs helps us to become more balanced & hones very important neural pathways which helps to fine tune our senses which in turn can lead to greater intelligence on all levels.

realize that the psychological experience of your being a separate entity in a world of objects is entirely an illusion. with this knowledge love everyone & everything unconditionally. fill your your entire being with that feeling all the time.

meditate. a lot.

cultivate compassion, we're all on this planet suffering together. even the biggest, most extreme, anxiety inducing fucktards are only that way out of ignorance &

their behavior generally is a result of their own profound suffering (whether they are fully aware of it or not). it makes more sense to feel sorry for someone who's too stupid to not realize what they are doing to others & themselves than to develop your own seething negativity towards them & seek revenge. with that said, learn to recognize when 'revenge' is actually the most intelligent course of action.

realize that it is a fact that you are going to be dead very soon, whether you live to an old age or not, it won't be long, you will be rotting away.. there is no reason whatsoever to not do what you love to do every day of your life (balanced with what you HAVE to of course) any excuse you can come up with is no more than self deception. if you make excuses, take the responsibility on yourself that it is your own choices that are making your life suck.

realize that happiness is actually a choice & your entire world (as you experience it) is a construct of your own nervous system, you have the power to change your own world in unimaginable ways. if you get to understand that, use that knowledge responsibly.

realize that it's most likely that you are anxious not because theres something wrong with you but that there is most likely something right with you.. the world is seriously fucked up, humans are fucked up, this very often results in deep anxiety in intelligent & sensitive people who have not yet learned to process that anxiety in positive ways.. be happy that if you are experiencing axiety, at least you are not so far gone as to be numb (as many are) in a world that needs more than ever for people to be sensitive to what is going on & have the courage to act positively in the face of the apparently crippling intensity of their feelings when trying to comprehend these very confusing times.. looked at in this way, anxiety is truly a cause for hope.

[whitewind]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest something m,ost people are afraid to do, or don't see the point. Or it just never occurs to them.

Go see a psychologist, talk some of your anxiety out. Sure, it's a hell of a lot to do with brain chemicals, and if you can get the imbalance back into shape you're on a short-term winner, but a clinical psychiatrist will be able to subscribe some seriously good shit. And it's really great to pinpoint just what the fuck it's all about, the cascade of things that happened that led you to this state so you can try to mitigate it in your current situation and prevent it from happening again!

I didn't even realise I suffered from chronic anxiety til I started to talk it out, and then, holy shit, it's not easy but tackling all that built up crap in your brain is just fantastic. And getting targetted medication* is just awesome.

I think you need both methods of attack, talking through it to pinpoint issues and ideas, and drugs (of a bewildering range!) to tackle the specifics. Because one leads to another, you may fix your deficit of serotonin by medication, for example, but if you don't tackle what led to it you'll be hooked on that medication for life and may need to increase it.

*As I write this I realise I have a specific problem to do with serotonin levels and general anxiety medication isn't quite so well targetted, but trying a few things may help pinpoint the specific areas of your brain which are in trouble.

Edited December 31, 2013 by whitewind

[naja naja]

i grew up on a huge bush block, I thought anxiety was made up or self induced. I have lived in town on a duplex block for ~5 years now and have just recently gotten a script for valium. There is something poisonous about the city/town crammed in feel esp working full time. It is truely toxic, I feel like a mear shell of my real self

[Yeti101]

Mindfulness - or mindful awareness (or whatever you want to call it) - I've learned to be aware, in a non-judgmental fashion, of what my body and (to a lesser extent) my mind are doing. Don't try to hide from your fear. But also don't fixate on the fact that you are afraid. Here are some things I ask myself when I get The Fear. What does it feel like? What bodily sensations are happening? What is my breathing doing? What does my heartbeat feel like? I found that mindfulness practices such as body scan meditation - where you progressively and mindfully experience what all the different parts of your body are doing/feeling are very helpful. Occasionally I'll reflect on what I'm thinking and why I'm afraid, but a lot of the time there is nothing rational underneath to find. All I can do is be with/in/around my fear and things tend to sort themselves out. Some people might think it a bit lam, but I found Mindfulness for Dummies (book & cd) to be really helpful and as good as anything that anyone else is selling (and much cheaper and less pretentious). My anxiety was all internal - only altered my outward behaviour in subtle (but insidious) ways - I avoided social situations, avoided going to the doctor, avoided difficult conversations, avoided conflict etc. But I know people who had serious PTSD and anxiety that made them virtual shut-ins who benefited from this stuff.

Whitewind gives good advice too - a half-decent psychologist will help and probably in fewer sessions than you think. The mindfulness stuff I do - encouraged by a psychologist (I remember she got me to think about how my fear felt, what colour would it be and things like that - surprisingly helpful). My only advice with psychologists is that if what they are doing is not working for you then let them know and if they don't want to try something different, go and see a different psych.

[Zen Peddler]

What naja naja said is so spot on it hurts.

I never experienced anxiety or stress of any kind until I was working full time and living inner city. Developing a five coffee a day addiction probably contributed...

maybe cut the cycle with some valarian, rhodiola, kava kava and then sit back and reassirt your mind. Often axious people I have known feel to anxious to go and have fun but life is short and fun will help.

nowdays my body is wired the other way - hypotension, fatigue and sleepiness are my bread and butter