Anxiety - tips to relax instantly!

[CadenceAlex]

I have noticed that lately so many people are suffering with Anxiety/Panic attacks on here... some people have suffered for years... for others this is a new thing and very frightening.

The main thing is realising that you aren't going mad and this is happening to many people, in many situations for many reasons. It's not the Mental Illness people tag it with.

How do you relax when getting into a Panic. It really is all in the mind, so we all have different coping strategies.

Tips would be great!

 

[Teri]

I'll be watching this thread like a hawk, bet my bloody broadband goes off now!!

Thanks for this, if it helps just one person the thread has done it's job.:hug::hug::hug:

very thoughtful!!

Teri x:hug:

 

[CadenceAlex]

I'll be watching this thread like a hawk, bet my bloody broadband goes off now!!

Thanks for this, if it helps just one person the thread has done it's job.:hug::hug::hug:

very thoughtful!!

Teri x:hug:

This is how I'm dealing with it at the moment!

I always eat when feeling lightheaded... you must eat small amounts but regularly or this can make Panic worse...

If getting worked up.. I find a distraction and it helps.. even if it's mopping the kitchen floors at 10pm - it's all good! Your brain can't think or worry whilst you're engrossed in something!

Lay off the Caffeine!

At the moment I'm getting into Crystals and have been taking Amethyst to bed... and just holding them takes my mind off things... Sodalite is always kept close and you can buy small tumblestones for 50p!

Making sure I get 10 minutes to me.. a bath with Radox is good.. and splashing your face with cold water helps when panicking...

Breathing into paper bags... listening to music.. burning off nervous energy cleaning... dancing.. whatever!!

 

[Zo Zo]

If you ignore the dial 999 bit, here are somme breathing exercises:

NHS Direct - Self-help guide

 

[ValencianNails]

Just found this... Strategies for Coping with Stress

[SIZE=-1] 1. Remember that although your feelings of stress and symptoms are very frightening, they are not dangerous or harmful.

2. Understand that what you are experiencing is just an exaggeration of your normal bodily reactions to stress.

3. Do not fight your feelings or try to wish them away. The more you are willing to face them, the less intense they will become.

4. Do not add to your panic by thinking about what "might"happen. If you find yourself asking "What if?" tell yourself "So what!"

5. Stay in the present. Notice what is really happening to you as opposed to what you think might happen.

6. Label your stress level from zero to ten and watch it go up and down. Notice that it does not stay at a very high level for more than a few seconds.

7. When you find yourself thinking about the fear, change your "what if" thinking. Focus on and carry out a simple and manageable task such as counting backwards from 100 by 3's or snapping a rubber band on your wrist.

8. Notice that when you stop adding frightening thoughts to your fear, it begins to fade.

9. When the fear comes, expect and accept it. Wait and give it time to pass without running away from it.

10. Be proud of yourself for your progress thus far, and think about how good you will feel when you succeed this time.


hth's
[/SIZE]

 

[1999judy]

I have had a problem with this a lot atm and am very glad of the advice.
I only have caffeine a lot when I go out, but it got to the stage that I drank a lot of it in the day just to keep going.
I'm really interested in all this stuff about crystals and would love to know where to get some for me and my mum.
Where do you get all your info?

 

[CadenceAlex]

I have had a problem with this a lot atm and am very glad of the advice.
I only have caffeine a lot when I go out, but it got to the stage that I drank a lot of it in the day just to keep going.
I'm really interested in all this stuff about crystals and would love to know where to get some for me and my mum.
Where do you get all your info?

Google Charles Linden - I purchased an E book which cost me almost £70 but I swear it was the best £70 ever spent. Send me your email and I will forward the lot to you (at no cost whatsoever - this goes for anyone).

Crystals are brilliant, I only wish I knew about them sooner... Sandi has the best links for Crystals.. I bookmarked them but can't find my Bookmarks :Grope:

Ignore all the sites online that tell you you've got a problem.. reading depressing sites is just reinforcing that you have an anxiety problem!

Feal the Fear and Do It Anyway is a brilliant book...

.. and Google Louise Hay.. her books are really good - she is a Meta Physicist who cured her own Cancer with positive thoughts. She believes that all illnesses are brought on by our thoughts.. like Anxiety is a Fear of the past.. buried Guilt etc etc...

It's funny though.. she gives symptoms.. like Psoriasis.. and she gives the feelings people have within.. and everyone I have quizzed would agree with her!!! I found the book really bizarre to begin with.. but am now fascinated!

 

[Teri]

Sandi, I'm going to print this out, I am forever thinking about what might happen and my mind exaggerates it into something that very rarely happens to anybody.

Thanks for the advise and I think it's about time I laid off the coffee, I've had at least 10 mugs today.

Teri x:hug::hug:

 

[CadenceAlex]

Sandi, I'm going to print this out, I am forever thinking about what might happen and my mind exaggerates it into something that very rarely happens to anybody.

Thanks for the advise and I think it's about time I laid off the coffee, I've had at least 10 mugs today.

Teri x:hug::hug:

Same here Teri... you think a little nomal thought.. and then whoops... in 10 minutes.. you've envisaged something that even Wes Craven couldn't imagine!

 

[tracey louise]

i also suffer from anxiety but i go through phases with mine.from when i get up in the morning to when i go to bed i get this thing where i need to take a deep breath all the time,if that makes sense?i can have this for maybe a couple of weeks at a time then i might go a couple of weeks without it.i do find that sometimes i can manage to forget about it and sometimes i cant.i just hope i grow out of it if thats possible cause i hate having it.its nice to know that im not alone as i think people that dont suffer with it dont really understand.one of my friends suffers aswell so its nice for me to talk to someone who doesnt think "im just being silly".no offense to anyone.
great thread,really thoughtful and interesting:hug: thanks

 

[Lellipop]

I have many years experience with mental illness and anxiety, There are lots of things to help you cope but the one that works is cbt cognitive behavior therapy this works by changing the way we think about situations so eg
You have had a panic attack your thoughts may be omg I am going to faint etc. You need to learn to tell yourself that if you faint then you faint nothing is going to happen to you and nobody as ever died from a panic attack.
Always try and see the positive it helps, Do you know that positive thoughts trigger off happy brain chemical thus improving the mood.

 

[CadenceAlex]

i also suffer from anxiety but i go through phases with mine.from when i get up in the morning to when i go to bed i get this thing where i need to take a deep breath all the time,if that makes sense?i can have this for maybe a couple of weeks at a time then i might go a couple of weeks without it.i do find that sometimes i can manage to forget about it and sometimes i cant.i just hope i grow out of it if thats possible cause i hate having it.its nice to know that im not alone as i think people that dont suffer with it dont really understand.one of my friends suffers aswell so its nice for me to talk to someone who doesnt think "im just being silly".no offense to anyone.
great thread,really thoughtful and interesting:hug: thanks

We all get it at some points in our lives.. I wonder why, it's more common these days and I think it's because everyone is just doing so much.. it's mental exhaustion.

Most people I know have had it in the past, are suffering with it now or know someone else who suffers - and no, I didn't meet them all on the same Anxiety forum


FREE Cognitive Behavioural Therapy!

The MoodGYM Training Program

Brilliant site...

 

[ValencianNails]

This site is interesting too... ANXIETY & PANIC

Are you judging yourself harshly?

• Are you focusing on your failures and forgetting your successes? Have you managed to survive similar situations in the past (or even to succeed despite them!)? Are you judging your entire existence on the basis of this one event or one part of life, or are you expecting to be perfect?

Are you "catastrophising"?

• Are you seeing things in all or nothing terms, or assuming that to not succeed would be an absolute catastrophe?

Are you worrying about the future?

• Are you assuming that you know what will happen in the future?
• What evidence have you got that your fears are valid?
• Are you exaggerating the chance of something going wrong or minimising the possibility of your working it out fine?
• Are you spending time frightening yourself about situations that you aren't actually facing at present, and which may never happen?

Are you comparing yourself to others?

• Are you assuming that everyone else is doing fine except you, when you don't actually know how others are feeling or managing?
• Are you blaming yourself for things that you cannot control, or are not your responsibility?

Two examples of challenging irrational thinking:-

• Irrational: "I'll make a fool of myself in front of all these new people and they won't like me."
• Rational: "A lot of people will be feeling anxious like me. If I try to be friendly and pleasant, people have responded well to that in the past - I should be able to do it this time as well."

• Irrational: "I'm going to fail my exams."
• Rational: "I have been doing some revision. I've done OK with the course work. The work is supposed to be more challenging. I've passed exams before."

I think a lot of us are guilty of judging ourselves too harshly.
It's far too easy to slip into the 'irrational' thinking without even realising we're doing it :hug:

 

[sherlea]

hi, i have suffered with anxiety and panic attacks for about 25 years now and am still here!! i found a great book (my bible lol)by claire weeks an australian doc, she is great, the only book that explains all and really helps, the title is self help for your nerves, hope this helps, sherlea.:lol:

 

[marian]

Rescue remedy is great for panic attacks. Also deep breathing slowly in to the count of ten and out to the count of ten helps bring down your heart rate. I found the only way I can control panic and fear is to try and face up to and resolve any problems that are worrying me although this is sometimes easier said than done but setting goals help.

 

[Lellipop]

Panic attacks are different from being anxious all the time and what works for panic attacks may not for general anxiety, We need to remember that stress can cause anxiety and panic but anxiety can also be part of depression and this cant be helped with a brown paper bag etc

 

[CadenceAlex]

Panic attacks are different from being anxious all the time and what works for panic attacks may not for general anxiety, We need to remember that stress can cause anxiety and panic but anxiety can also be part of depression and this cant be helped with a brown paper bag etc

This is just a lighthearted thread offering ways of coping with Anxiety/Panic attacks.

I have not intended to suggest that using these ways will substitute any medication people may need...

.. these things work for me and I am over the worst of my panic. Anxiety is beatable, so are panic attacks. Depression, true clinical depression, is a complex illness and one that I can't comment on as I have been fortunate enough not to have suffered with it.

I think at times like this, people need reassurance that Anxiety is not a Mental Illness.. they're not going to go insane when they get a panic attack, nor will they drop down dead.

Relaxation/Meditation/Exercise.. a well balanced diet.. all of these things are good for the mind.

In Russia, they prescribe exercise for people with severe mental illness and actually have a very good success rate. Sadly here, where money is being received by the Government through major drug companies.....people are handed prescription medicines to help block their feelings, rather than address them.

I was offered Valium when breast feeding, and suffering extreme Anxiety. I refused when the Dr told me the baby would receive the Valium through my milk. Valium is commonly handed out for anxiety to relax the muscles and make people calm - there are other natural ways of doing this.

 

[Lellipop]

This is just a lighthearted thread offering ways of coping with Anxiety/Panic attacks.

I have not intended to suggest that using these ways will substitute any medication people may need...

.. these things work for me and I am over the worst of my panic. Anxiety is beatable, so are panic attacks. Depression, true clinical depression, is a complex illness and one that I can't comment on as I have been fortunate enough not to have suffered with it.

I think at times like this, people need reassurance that Anxiety is not a Mental Illness.. they're not going to go insane when they get a panic attack, nor will they drop down dead.

Relaxation/Meditation/Exercise.. a well balanced diet.. all of these things are good for the mind.

In Russia, they prescribe exercise for people with severe mental illness and actually have a very good success rate. Sadly here, where money is being received by the Government through major drug companies.....people are handed prescription medicines to help block their feelings, rather than address them.

I was offered Valium when breast feeding, and suffering extreme Anxiety. I refused when the Dr told me the baby would receive the Valium through my milk. Valium is commonly handed out for anxiety to relax the muscles and make people calm - there are other natural ways of doing this.

Yep totally agree with everything you have written and hope this thread will help those who are stressed and suffering with panic attacks etc

 

[Ophala]

i agree with everything that's been said.

i've been seeing a cognitive behavioural therapist every few months for the last yr or so to help with my panic attacks/anxieties. Although I didn't get a proper big panic attack I had a few small ones and health problems due to my nerves/anxiety. It's made a huge difference - I still have problems but nowhere near the extent I did a couple of yrs ago.

I'm also a big believer in rescue remedy - i won't go anywhere without it - I have about 3 bottles of it! I don't know if it really works or it's psychological but it works for me and that's what counts!!

 

[becki x]

Thankyou for this thread Caroline xxx

Does anyone have any suggestions in regards to the nausea ? Thanks