I'd like the opportunity to pass on some experiences, coping techniques, stories and just general help for people suffering with any form of anxiety. I'm not claiming to know it all and I don't even study psychology. I'm somebody who hasn't read the books but have experienced day-to-day anxiety on a severe level for many years until I finally (and gradually) overcame I'd say 80-90% of it within the last year. I turned 21 over Christmas and have suffered with it since 14. It was a damn long journey.
A few things about me...
Previous difficulties due to anxiety:
- Going to get a prescription/visiting the doctor's surgery.
- Panic issues (referred to doctor's as panic disorder) for a length of time which made it difficult to leave the house.
- Going into town.
- I'd leave the supermarket sometimes if the queue was too bad, that's when I had enough courage to go in the first place.
- I'd go to a small private gym as I couldn't handle being around a lot of people.
- Throwing up most days before school, college and work - never making myself sick but feeling that bad.
- Getting a job in the first place and keeping my job. After an 8 month absence I made it back and stayed back.
- Public transport.
- Family parties.
- I declined weddings, parties, ridiculous amount of outings and even a family funeral.
- I could write this list forever, you get the idea.
- Just thought of some of these would often make me ill/worry for weeks on end.
Overcame:
- Flying and went on holiday.
- Previously had a relationship.
- Can now eat out and not avoid/get extremely anxious for weeks beforehand.
- I'll now actually go to friends houses, out to eat, to the pubs/clubs (never EVER thought I'd do that) and have no issue with work what so ever, even though I'm working with students/people my own age in a heavily interactive job where I even have to instruct/teach groups of people.
- I no longer feel any form of anxiety with any of these issues I listed within the first list and the vast majority of daily things.
Recovery IS possible and things will get easier over time. There's many ideas such as CBT, exposure therapy (difficult but to overcome you have to be put into the situations you fear most. It worked very well for me in the long run) and many other coping mechanisms/strategies.
I just wanted to make this as some support thread for those suffering with any form of anxiety right now, however bad it may be. I figured it could be a thread where people can contribute things that have helped them and some of us could answer a few questions also if anybody has anything they'd like to bring up. Knowledge is power, right? If we could all help eachother manage our anxiety day-to-day and even learn one or two things then it could have a real positive knock on effect. Even if one person replied here and I got the opportunity to help them I'd be happy I made the thread.
Everything passes, everything changes. Just do what you think you should do.
Also, it's pretty amazing to have gone from that to now no longer feeling anxiety for the vast majority of the time. Just thought I'd say well done on that
What coping techniques have you used to help you get to this point if you don't mind me asking?
I hope the thread takes off. Even if it doesn't majorly and like I said one person picks up a few things then it's worth it. :)
That's really nice of you to say though, thanks. Recovery can be extremely difficult, long and mentally exhausting. It won't always run smoothly at all but it can be achieved.
Of course, I don't mind at all. I found it difficult to do things if I didn't do them regularly. With help of CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and general experience, avoidance can really make anxiety dramatically worse. Early last year I frequently went out whenever any friends would ask just so I kept pushing myself, although finding it very tricky I didn't give up on it. This was going to clubs, the odd pub, maybe eating out or just going to a friends house - anywhere with lots of people. I stopped doing some things as I lost interest and started to irrationally not look forward to them, so recently I took on all of that again and try to make myself go out more as I don't want to slip into old habits and go backwards. It helps me maintain confidence.
I believe it comes to your perception of the absolute worst thing that could happen regarding your anxiety. I mean, what is it you're fearing the most? For me I hated the idea of being sick in public and having other panic symptoms show - as to me it seemed like some lack of control, I came to really fear that. The more I did things I hated the idea of I learnt that you're able to control your body and mind through calm, rational thinking. My perception of fear has gotten a huge amount lower for doing these activities, thus I'm able to do them without anxiety or the tiniest little bit.
It's like rollercoasters. They don't make me feel sick, I have no perception of fear as I know I'll be safely strapped in. If I avoided rollercoasters for the rest of my life because one time they made me feel sick then I'd spend my whole life avoiding them as I'd fear the same again, I wouldn't know any different.
Rational - you're in control and there's no real danger. If I don't like it, at least I tried it and me going on one would be decided by personal choice, not anxiety related.
Irrational - omg they'll definitely make me feel ill (or I was ill on one before) so I subconciously feel ill/anxious thinking of them. I'll avoid them forever.
^ Apply that to anything. Easier said than done, I know. The key is gradual exposure, known as exposure therapy. Little by little. If you do too much you could risk going backwards and having to start again which is very difficult. I remember feeling stupidly sick at the idea of having to go into a fast food place with my therapist as I hated the idea of having a panic attack in public. Horrible at the time, but after time and time again it works. It's not a quick process.
Is there anything particularly right now you're anxious about, or anything day-to-day?
Everything passes, everything changes. Just do what you think you should do.
To help manage anxiety when I'm out somewhere, I carry a small stone given to me by a friend for the purpose of fidgeting with it. Fidgeting with it gives me a little something to focus on and helps keep me from absentmindedly hurting myself in small ways, as hand(s) are occupied with the stone. Anything small works really, sometimes if I don't want to pull the stone out I mess with my stretched-out hairband.
Every day the world is made a chance to change but i feel the same.
And I wonder why would i wait till i die to come alive?"
All alone the way she feels
Left alone to deal with all the pain-drenched sorrow relief
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.
Everything passes, everything changes. Just do what you think you should do.
the `hairband thing never worked for us.
as far as coping with anxiety.. sometimes if it isnt so bad that we cant distract ourselves we read alot or play pc games or listen to music but even that is hard if the anxiety is too high.
I know how hard it is to escape the anxiety. The only escapism I'd often get would be when I'd sleep. Even though I'd normally wake up feeling stupidly sick as soon as I opened my eyes. It all happened so quickly.
A little bit of escapism can be finding something to do that gives you zero or ideally minimal anxiety that you'd enjoy. This can be anything. Writing, singing, learning/playing music, making things and drawing (art therapy is worth a look-up), going running, talking walks, video games, a good dvd boxset, working out, etc. Some of these can be daunting, such as working out in a gym with many people, but it's just about gradual exposure to your fears. Or starting simple, something you may want to do at home on your own just to try and keep your mind busy.
I found some peace from music. Mainly relaxing music, post-rock genre, instrumental, water sounds. You could also adapt this to some form of meditation or even just laying down and breathing nice and slowly while listening to whatever genre/s help you relax.
Rational thinking is difficult to change quickly. But once you find you adapt your ways of thinking your ability to see things from many angles becomes easier and more apparent instinctively. Philosophy states rationality is the exercise of reason. It's about thinking reasonably and trying to think what the worst case scenario is for your fears, phobia or anxiety is and how you can interpret it all differently in a more realistic way. It's not easy, if it was nobody on the planet would have a phobia. This is where CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) comes in.
An example:
- I used to fear panic symptoms being triggered in public. Mainly sickness.
- If I throw up infront of people they'll just me negatively and I'll continue to feel anxious about it.
- I "can't do this, can't do that" (eating, shopping, etc) as I've constantly got severe nausea.
- More worrying about being sick before I've even planned to do anything, plus having a panic attack from other triggered physical symptoms of anxiety which kept the cycle going.
- Lots and lots of avoidance - making anxiety much much worse and keeping the cycle going.
Safety behaviour - never making, but 'allowing' myself to be sick most days at home so that it in theory minimised the risk of having anything to throw up in public.
- Will I die? No.
- Worrying about the symptoms is only keeping the cycle going and making the anxiety even worse.
- Will some people even notice?
- If I was sick in public before then it could easily have been as I was ill.
- This is anxiety sickness and not a physical illness taking over (it took me years to feel the difference and distinguish when I genuinely ill as I was always sick).
- How many times have I actually thrown up in public before?
- Getting yourself out of the cycle but minimising the safety behaviour, eventually stopping it.
- Through gradual exposure therapy to see what the absolute worst thing is that could happen when you're put into a situation where you could have a panic attack.
- It's a long process for most, but eventually through plenty of strength, support and courage you'll get to the point when you're comfortable doing things without these rational fears. - One step at a time. Don't let anybody else push you too quickly, but push yourself when you can. You're the only one who can truly make the recovery possible.
Everything passes, everything changes. Just do what you think you should do.
I get severe anxiety at times. Normally it is triggered by sensory overload (i.e. I start screaming or crying hysterically when a fire alarm goes off) or a moderate/major change in routine.
I find the best thing for me to do (and to prevent myself from going non-verbal) is to hide in a dark, warm room and listen to calming music (I can do that at home in the evenings - get into my bed and dim the lights down).
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
I suppose it could be fair to say that that kind of anxiety with triggering sounds, words, etc can be down to previous negative experiences, although everybody's different and this could not be case. It can also be correlated with perception of fear. If you perceive this noise to be threatening, could link it to a past negative experience or have links to previous anxiety then it's going to continue to make you anxious.
Example:
- Sounds of an ice cream truck - oh wow, happy, happy (mint feast, please) - associated with something good, unless you perhaps dislike ice cream.
- Sounds of an ambulance siren - although not great as they're ridiculously loud, you're going to associate it with something alarming and negative as it's somebody in need of emergency help. Very simple and kind of 'captain obvious' I know, but a little example of how sounds/noises can give you forms of anxiety and panic.
Everything passes, everything changes. Just do what you think you should do.
true. words, sounds, tone of voice and sometimes even facial expressions can trigger us.
sometimes, given that we suffer with GAD.. things that shouldnt be trigger are..
