I really struggle with anxiety. Social anxiety, generalized anxiety…basically I’m constantly anxious. What are some of the ways you cope with anxiety? What helps you the most?
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Mindfulness helped me a lot but it took many years to really come to terms with it. Trying to get out of my head and into the present as much as possible. If I’m having an anxiety attack I try to ground myself by thinking about what can I feel e.g. clothes, table, chair etc what does it actually feel like?
Listening to the sounds going on. This one I find difficult if there is no natural or calming sounds. Sometimes you need to just pop head phones on and listen to wherever calms you.
What can you see? I try to focus really hard on the smallest thing I can. The veins of a leaf, the feet of an ant, the inconsistent ink on a page.
Breathing exercises are one of the best things you can do too.
If you are in actual danger like your boss or spouse is yelling at you or you feel like you’re going to act aggressive or not respond properly, remove yourself from the situation and find somewhere quiet.
Once I am calm, understanding the main issue I’m facing that I’m anxious about e.g. going to work. Break it down to tiny goals in your head, you just have to first get to work. Don’t think about it till you’re there. Once you are there, focus on small tasks at a time rather than the big picture.
If you catch your mind wandering off somewhere it doesn’t need to, like getting worried about something in the future that may or may not happy, go back to your grounding techniques.
If you’re genuinely not satisfied with something like your work, then you should confront the issue and try to make it work, and if it isn’t going to work, make arrangements to find other work.
It’s so hard when your anxious though, you need to be super patient and kind to yourself. Take it easy and find great support people to help you through it, you can’t do it on your own. This app will be great for that.
If you also think it is a very serious issue, please talk to a doctor.
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Thanks for writing this. Gives me some good things to try!
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Have you ever tried box breathing?
It can really help when the anxiety hits.
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I have tried this it is what I usually try first. I like the idea of doing it with this picture you sent. Something to help me focus on it more.
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Gratitude.
It’s totally retrained my brain.
Ya I still get anxious about things. But gratitude really helps.
There’s a lovely bunch of Gratidudes keeping sober and sharing experience strength and hope on the daily here. I think we got room for 1 more.
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Thanks for this, I like it a lot.
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I found meditation, exercise, quitting caffeine and changing my everyday drink to water absolutely destroyed my anxiety. Used to be a 9 or 10/10 on a bad day now it’s a 2 at it’s worse.
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