What Helps You?

[KTKat]

I thought it would be nice to share ideas on how we cope with our anxiety and panic. Is there anything you do when you're feeing anxious that helps you calm down?

Besides prayer, I find talking to myself works. I usually tell myself things like "this is silly, there is nothing to panic about" or "this will end, it's just in my head"
Also something I have found that works is distraction! If I can stay busy through the day I have less anxiety. Keeping a schedule helps a lot. I like to look at how far I have come too. I went from barely leaving the house, to pushing myself out there. Trust me, I'm far from cured, but I know I'm getting better...slowly Anyone else?
p.s. this forum has helped me tremendously!!! When I first came in here I barely knew myself anymore. So thankyou everyone for your support and prayers!!!!

 

[Amhacajo]

Yeah distraction is probably my best one. Once when I was absolutely on the edge of panic (we were driving to church and the closer we got the worse the feeling got) my husband kept me talking. He saw that I wasn't really coping but kept on talking and engaging me anyway. Can't remember whether I ended up panicking or not but I do remember the distraction of it and feeling glad that he kept talking.

My psych who I saw suggested watching the second hand on your watch. We actually practiced that one in her office and I could see the validity in it but I never managed to get that one to work. It might work for some one else though. the theory; By focusing on the second hand for a whole minute distracts you from your anxious thoughts and the tension needed to topple over into full blown panic.

 

[KellyLeigh]

keeping myself busy helps keep anxiety away.

When anxiety has come, oddly enough, reading about others having anxiety problems and panic attacks makes it go away. I guess just knowing that I am not alone and not crazy and that it is indeed anxiety and not a heart problem.

talking to others helps the anxiety go away

praying of course. THough when I pray during an anxiety episode I end up pretty much begging to end the panic/anxiety and to not let me die of a heart attack. I feel better when I am praying but as soon as I've said the prayer, the anxiety starts again. I can end up praying like that for 25 minutes straight.

listening to hymns that I have on my ipod makes me feel better. I focus on the words of it and sing along in my head

 

[Inkachu]

Distraction is definitely a helper. Read a book (not a boring one!), watch a movie, go for a walk. If you're a Christian, saying a prayer, reading your Bible, singing hyms, etc can help, too.

I'm also learning the CBT method of seeing anxiety and panic in a different way. It's a 3-step thing: 1. Something stressful comes at you (whether it's real or imagined) 2. You SELF TALK about it. This determines whether you work yourself into a panic or deal with it in a calm, rational manner. 3. You respond to the stress based on what you did in Step 2.

The self-talk takes lots of practice, and it helps to have a therapist or counselor to discuss it with, since they can give you an objective, calm perspective. One of my massive fears is that I'll have a serious reaction or side effect to any new medicine that I take. My counselor asked me, "Out of all the times you've taken new medicines in your lifetime, how many times have you died?" And I had to laugh and say "none", and that helped me see how irrational my fear was, and that I could take control if I put my mind to it.

Keep your chin up!!

 

[SarahJD3584]

Being here. I suppose that'd be a mixture of distraction, staying occupied, and knowing I'm not alone and I'm not crazy. Playing games (board games, card games) sometimes helps me too. Praying can help sometimes but I tend to do the same as KellyLeigh and I end up just begging and pleading with Him to make it stop and not to let me die. Reading sometimes can unless it's too quiet around me and I can hear my heartbeating too loudly.

 

[goldenviolet]

*silly alert*

practicing finding things in the room to focus on. like picture on the wall. say/think what it is... move to next thing... "green carpet".... "picture"... "waste can"... "little rock on ground"... watch... blue sky... tree... etc...

practice breathing exsersizes...

petting animal, watching fish, feeding ducks, or watching birds...

music. aaaaahhhh.....

 

[Amhacajo]

Stopping the irrational is the big clincher isn't it!!

Another thing which sorta helps when I'm starting to have my mind just race and that feeling of just not stopping with that anxiety train of thought (I'm sure you all know what I'm trying to describe) is to make a conscious thought to stop and think about how the rest of my body is coping; are my arms cold? Am I trembling? Is my heart really beating that quick? Sort of distractive type thinking again. This is a way of allowing you mind to stop the train it was on and allow some rational thinking to step in.

I haven't had to do this for a while as I haven't had my anxiety get to that point again for a while but it has actually worked for me in the past.

 

[Mrs. Luther073082]

Exercising, sitting on the floor with my dog, counting backwards from 100 (this is how I keep myself from freaking out when I am in traffic), praying (another way I keep myself from freaking out on the road), listening to music (yet another way to distract myself from anxiety in the car), talking on the phone, also... singing a song from my Bible study group:

Isaiah 43

When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you,
And the waves will not overcome you.
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you,
I have called you by name, you are mine.

Chorus: For I am the Lord your God
(I am the Lord your God),
I am the Lord your God. (I am,)
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior. (Repeat)

I am the Lord; (do not fear).
I am the Lord; (do not fear).
I am the Lord; (do not fear).
I am the Lord; (do not fear).

When you walk through the fire,
you’ll not be burned,
And the flames will not consume you.
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you,
I have called you by name, you are mine. (Repeat chorus)

 

[KTKat]

That's great MCN!! I usually sing in the car too.

 

[Mrs. Luther073082]

I only sing in the car, the shower, and in front of my dog. My dog is mostly deaf so he doesn't mind Plus he likes my "dancing".

 

[LongAgoNThGarden]

I find that panic, and or depression can easily creep into my immediate environment more frequently when I get too focused upon myself, instead of keeping my focus upon the Most High God in Christ.

It seems that the more I think of me, and the less I think of Him, the more depression and panic episodes are able to find me and trouble me.

Daily reading in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) first thing in the morning when I get up helps to get closer to Jesus and to focus more upon Him, and less upon myself.

Also reading a daily portion from the brand new edition of Foxe Book of The Martyrs that was recently published and released by The Voice of The Martyrs in Bartlesville Oklahoma, www.persecution.com, is good too, as it again takes my mind off of me and reminds me to pray for the persecuted church in today’s world.

Listening to the Four Gospels on CD or Mp3 can help.

Playing a musical instrument can help.

A daily exercise program can help.

And then for really serious cases, I might pull out my double DVD edition of the two Garfield Movies and watch them. That Cat can usually make me laugh a lot.


Garden Prayer

 

[LongAgoNThGarden]

This is a TEST to see if the character picture I've been working on will appear on my posts

Grrr, it did NOT show up, and now I can't delete this, bummer city

Way Kool, its working now

 

[Inkachu]

Way cool, hippie-in-the-desert-dude!

I agree about Garfield. You can't read his books or watch his movies and NOT smile. Garfield's been tweaking my twisted funny bone for the past 20 years and counting!

I also agree about exercising. There is nothing WORSE for depression and anxiety than being sentient and locked indoors. In fact, there have been studies that show that it is almost impossible to be clinically depressed when you maintain a daily exercise program (not saying it's impossible...but the likelihood seriously decreases), since exercise is good for your whole self; body, mind, and spirit.

Ok, I'm rambling again...!! God bless!

 

[Inkachu]

OK, folks, I need to take my own advice tonight. I'm getting over bronchitis, and of course, I'm scared to take the medicine because I'm afraid I'll have side effects. So I took some cough stuff with codeine a while ago, and been trying to fight off nerves ever since. Have I ever been allergic to codeine? Nope. But my panic wants to tell me that something horrible will happen, that I'll stop breathing, etc. I'm doing OK so far...the meds only work for about 4 hours, so around 10:00pm tonight I'll definitely feel calmer. It's ridiculous, I know. I tried to sing a little, tried quoting Scriptures. I'm hanging in there. Thanks for listening...

 

[Mrs. Luther073082]

I also agree about exercising. There is nothing WORSE for depression and anxiety than being sentient and locked indoors. In fact, there have been studies that show that it is almost impossible to be clinically depressed when you maintain a daily exercise program (not saying it's impossible...but the likelihood seriously decreases), since exercise is good for your whole self; body, mind, and spirit.

Do you have the authors or other information from those studies? I love reading research like that. Also, I may need it later in the semester because I'll be writing a paper about exercise.

 

[Inkachu]

You can find some articles at the Mayo Clinic website (www.mayoclinic.com) and also I found one at CBS's site (www.cbsnews.com) I hope that helps!

 

[Mrs. Luther073082]

Cool, thanks!