I know people have kept a hairband/elastic band around their wrists. For some they'd flick the band if they had any urges or thoughts to hurt themselves, or even if they did want to hurt themselves they'd do that instead of something potentially more harmful. It's an interesting coping strategy I'd never heard of before. That's interesting with the stone though, it's just about little things like that which can help you at the time reducing the anxiety. Another thing a psychologist discussed with me was imagining a stop sign whenever you experience a great sense of panic. It sounds like it probably wouldn't do much for some, but I imagined the symptoms of anxiety slowing down and drifting away and kind of 'restarting' the scenario I'm in, in my head.
Distraction is great though for anxiety and panic symptoms. On the days where I managed to not throw up before leaving the house, I'd try and read something in the shower. Although this sounds very strange, when I felt a lot of nausea I'd try and take my mind off of it by reading the ingrediants to a shampoo bottle. That and breathing techniques helped me a little. Focusing on something completely different is useful.
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