How do YOU cope with Anxiety?

a reply to: truth0rdie

Yes, seeing all the crap in the world around us doesn't help either. Instead of things getting any better they just get worse. It is a completely different world than the one I grew up in. I am often left shaking my head at one thing or another thinking how can this be possible? How can people be so mean, so cruel or whatever. So yeah, on top of one's normal anxieties that doesn't help.

a reply to: DigitalJedi805

I cant disagree with anything you have said but in my case there was no defining trigger for panic /anxiety disorder . Childhood was great , well everything until the problems started . I developed little tricks for everything , for instance , travelling on a plane . Plane travel would panic me from the time i got up that morning . I learnt that if i knew how long the flight was , and i worked out the amount of breaths that should take i could count each breath and try to match my estimation . Before i knew it we would be coming in to land and i had that , my head has just released something and i feel kind of stoned feeling . I wish i could bottle whatever was released .

You are getting some really good and some really bad advice in response to your question. I've been dealing with anxiety and panic attacks for more than 30 years and have tried just about everything.

Alcohol... I cannot express strongly enough how bad of an idea drinking or turning to illicit drugs is. I just lost a good friend to liver failure recently because he coped with alcohol. He was 46. Now he's dead.

Learning deep breathing, self-hypnosis, biofeedback, and relaxation techniques help, but they are hit and miss. I can breathe away an anxious moment. I cannot breathe away a panic attack. When it comes to full blown panic attacks nothing natural, over the counter, herbal, etc works. Benzo's are the only thing I have ever found that will hammer back a panic attack.

The best thing you can do is find a good doctor and get on medication - or at least get a prescription for something you take PRN ( only as and when needed ).

Animals are also exceptionally helpful for the general anxiety, as stated above.

Should you have questions, I've done a ton of threads on the issue and my inbox is always open.

a reply to: Hefficide

Heff i commented on one of your threads similar to this once and from memory your symptoms mimic mine for the most part . Yes benzos are great but in my case they have been put on a schedule 8 which means psychiatrist prescription only . I went cold turkey and was fine but i still have them on my person at all times . A security blanket if you want .

a reply to: ChefSlug

Something is bugging you on a subconscious level.

I know - I went through it many years ago.

At the time, I wasn't aware that anything was bothering me mentally...I didn't even know that the panic attacks were panic attacks; I thought I was either having a heart attack or else going insane.

Years later, I realise I was worried about not finding a job.

I started nurse training and - the panic attacks suddenly stopped. That's how I knew.

The subconscious and the conscious don't talk to each other, so you wont necessarily be aware of the worry which is causing the panic attacks. When you find out you'll feel a lot better, even if there's no obvious solution.

First thing - ditch the booze. It just makes things worse and makes you depressed.

Get the doc to prescribe anxiolytics if you need them (I suffered without them).

Most importantly - seek talk therapy.

Get some counselling.

a reply to: CJCrawley

Most importantly - seek talk therapy.

Therapists are a must . I have had a shopping cart full of psychiatrists . One said that anti depressants were crap and had me on 4mg of xanax or as needed a day . That was all good apart from lowering you IQ by 30 points . If you go to see a professional and they dont seem to be listening to you , get another if you can .

a reply to: Night Star

Potatoes contain small amounts of Scopolamine which can possibly help with this. It has some Muscarinic antagonist properties. en.wikipedia.org... The solanine shouldn't be a problem in potatoes without damage or greening.

Asparagus contains compounds with properties similar to valium. They are mild with moderate consumption but would take the edge off. boiled Cabbage in soup has some good properties also without the goiterogenic properties of broccoli. The broccoli has to be boiled to mush to get rid of that problem. Raw spinach is not good but cooked spinach is ok. It's bad properties disappear when cooked but many of the good properties remain.

I know a lot about foods that calm you down and how they work. If you take sulfur foods for calming, you may need to eat more foods containing molybdenum or supplement with a pill. Copper and zinc should be supplemented with the molybdenum and possibly selenium also. A small multimineral containing these is fine.

I wonder if copper supplementation in anxiety would work, a chocolate bar has copper. So does turmeric. Too much copper can lead to depression, aged or fermented foods can help in that case but bringing down copper levels a bit is better sometime.

Probably won't be a popular answer.. but maybe investigating your thoughts or notions leading up to the panic attack, and doing some sort of self analysis, finding out the root of the problem. Be mindful/aware of the conditions, and the thoughts/notions leading up to it. Trying to change the conditions and/or making something right inside. Often it has to do facing something to come to some sort of acceptance about something.

Alternatively, go outside and take a walk.. take deep breaths.

a reply to: nOraKat

Recognizing the triggers is a HUGE part of learning to cope! Great advice! Also the walking. I forgot to mention that. Walking really, really helps. I've gotten lazy lately but was walking at least 5 miles a day. Winter kind of killed that habit for the time being.

a reply to: DigitalJedi805

Great advice!! I totally agree and couldn't have said it any better!! I have lived with anxiety for nearly 30yrs. I did exactly what you have advised. It took me two years of hard inner work to come to a point where I control the anxiety instead of it controlling me. Now I live a happier life but I know that I must work at keep the balance everyday! I mediate everyday, twice a day. Once in the morning and once before bed. Other coping mechanisms I use are singing, reciting a favorite poems , mantras, learning something new, art, ect. Anything to keep the mind focused where you want it! Mind over matter! Exercise and getting out in nature, also a great tool!! And your furry friend loves you unconditionally and will always be happy to be with you!! I feel for you and hope you find other positive coping mechanisms to help you control your anxiety!

I'm pretty much an expert on this by now.

Anxiety and Depression really stunted my growth. At the end of college I started having panic attacks and figured if I was going to have panic attacks on the ssri's then the ssri's were BS. After I graduated I went into severe withdrawals. I had panic attacks, no car, no job, and ended up shivering on the couch with a B.A. degree in biology. The Ssri's took about a year to fully get out of my system, or at least for my system to recover. All the decisions I made while on them were "not myself" so I pretty much wasted 6 years of life in an altered state of mind, not that they affect everyone that way, but I'm not a fan.

My advice?

1. Put yourself in an environment that supports you. I get anxiety regarding driving in cities, and working. so I work from home mostly and slowly work up to driving in the city. Also, stay near nature.

2. Stay away from drugs and alcohol, they are fun for a little bit but the next day anxiety is worse. I'd get panic attacks from medical hypervigilance so keep homeostasis in the body as much as possible, until you are in a better place.

3. Eat healthy and exercise. EXERCISE. It helps probably the most, especially if it's like a walk or run outside in nature. Look for supplements that work for you but don't take them if they cause anxiety.

4. Meditate, watch self help, read self help, watch ASMR on youtube to get to sleep. The hippie stuff really does work, just keep your mind open. Play it in the background while you work, it lays subconcious goodies that help you develope new belief systems. Don't worry if people judge you reading Jack Canfield or Wayne Dyer, # 'em, it's your life, which brings me to my next point.

5. Don't give a #. Most of our anxiety is related to how others will see us, therefore, not giving a # is medicine. Be positive about it though. I just mean if you are worried about people thinking you are fat or something, don't.

6. Don't take depression/anxiety meds, as a personal opinion. The only time I got better is after I stopped taking meds. I think they are bull# anyway, and a crutch if not. I did start drinking green tea with stevia, cut out most sugar, don't smoke, add turmeric and ginger to my tea (I drink about a gallon in iced tea form daily) That # stopped my panic attacks almost completely within a few weeks. I also took fish oil during this time. Turmeric and ginger I originally used to help headaches. I didn't believe it until it happened but hey, could have been any number of things, but turmeric seems to have helped. I will say that a vallium or xanax were helpful when I had a bad attack, initially, but the less I took them and confronted the anxiety the better it got. The benzos are great for a bad attack, just don't get dependent on them.

7. Make friends or hang out with them, if they are #ty friends get them out of your life. Hide negative posts on your social media, they bring me down and will ruin my entire day, no matter how hard I try to not give a #. Just the way we are wired if we don't have other things or friends to distract us.

8. Be productive. Limit videogames and internet. It's helped me a lot, to find a purpose and continue on with life towards a goal. Having a goal makes all the difference in the world. Remember, we are here for more than going to work, watching tv, and sleeping. Go out and find a passion. create something, it will make you feel better.

9. Freedom. For me at least my anxiety is connected with a lack of freedom and the judgment that goes with a search for freedom. In my case it has to do with my wanting to be my own boss or find creative work to do. It goes against my training and 9-5 cultural bearings. I hear it to no end from my family and friends too, but hey, I'm surviving just fine doing what I want. I'd say find some kind of freedom or passion and go for it. You can work and have freedom, just remember that while you are working you can save up for an investment in something you can produce and make money on. If you can help it don't blow your check on BS and put it towards something that will MAKE you money.

Hope any of that helped. In summary, get to nature, get healthy, get security (mental, social, and financial)

a reply to: ChefSlug

The key word there is coping.

One of the reasons you need to see a therapist is to learn coping skills.

I see a lot of people suggesting medication, and that too will help if you really think it is that bad. A little beer helps, a lot of beer doesn't. It won't help as much as hurt you in other ways, but you already know that. You have to get mad at your anxiety and take charge of your reactions to it. It is not what happens, but how you react that counts.

I was diagnosed with PTSD in 1998, and went through several years of hell with it before I was diagnosed and a few years after. I tried the meds, and they worked on some things and made others worse. Depression would go, but the anxiety would skyrocket. Switch meds, anxiety gone, depression back. We could never find anything that worked.

Now I might be luckier than most, as I have a deep spiritual center and for years I relied on that when nothing else was working. Meditation, relaxation, visualization were my coping skills and they worked, sort of. When nothing else did they were my safety net. A combination of meds and meditation seemed to keep everything from overloading. And then I cracked.
Went through a divorced which pulled out the rug from under me (More like the entire world) and found the PTSD,anxiety,depression magnified 10 fold in one day.

I had to put myself in the hospital.
At that point I was so full of anxiety and massive depression that I was not functioning right. My body was like someones who had just gone through a car wreck and just got out of the car. The shakes, the OMG feeling, constant.

A 30 day treatment program that really did help me out in ways people won't understand. I got to see what everyone else was like who was suffering from multiple things, and I realized, I am not that bad off. Therapy, along with medication under the supervision of a psychiatrist, my own spiritual center, meditation and anger at my anxiety and depression, along with a major life change due to divorce and suddenly finding myself to be a "free" man, all of these things are what broke the cycle finally.

My advice to you is get therapy and talk to a psychiatrist now, before you end up going through something like I went through, because that really sucked and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Get mad at your anxiety, and when you have it, turn it against itself and use it for something positive. Learn to channel it into something like art, and take advantage of it.

You might not ever be able to rid yourself of it,
but you can use it for something other than suffering and once you start to do that, it won't bother you as much.

Good luck!

How do YOU cope with Anxiety?

For anxiety and depression I do a few things ...

I pray my rosary. It's a good meditation and a good distraction from whatever I'm ruminating on that is causing the anxiety and depression.

I try to get outside ... either out on the back porch or go for a walk with the dog.

Honestly ... over the years I've used ATS as a distraction to get my mind off what is causing me anxiety or depression. If I'm busy having a discussion with someone here, then I can't think about what is nagging at me and causing depression.

a reply to: FlyersFan

That is one thing I did always have through the worst of it,
a good place to hang out online where there were people I could talk with.

May not sound like much to some, but when it is all you got,
it actually works pretty good!

originally posted by: Kitsunegari
Mostly I keep to myself. I avoid interacting with other people as much as possible. I know it's pathetic so it's depresing, too, but that's how I live.
But every day, I'm an anxious person, too.I also suffer. Panic attacks and my past make every day a struggle, but life goes on anyway and every day is a new chance.

Don't forget that and just do your best

-Kit.

This is literally me, exactly how I cope and have done for years. I even get anxious posting on here, which is why I tend to just stick to the mood music thread and read, quite sad really.

Interesting responses though

Sounds like you said it. your problem is your past. You can should of, could of would of, shouldn't have. All you want it gets you nowhere. All you can do is accept what happened for what it is. ( good or bad ) learn from it. Don't do that anymore, don't treat people like that anymore, make the time for the things you care about. I have relatives that had problems in their life. Including the death of relatives. Treated badly as a child. They have those thoughts. Those are the past and cannot be undone. All you can do is be a better person now and learn from the situations.. No don't block out those things, they make you who you are now and that is a valuable tool in your evolution as a human being.

Take some deep breaths before appointments or dates. That works wonders

Yeah it seems like a mixture of coping and ridding oneself of self-doubt is the key here.

I concur with what another said about hallucinogens being the medicinal cure of the future. I actually am still warring with myself if I want to go into psychopharmacology or not--because on one hand I know that these things offer great benefits, but these benefits don't typically last forever. Well, the experience itself does but I remember McKenna saying that he had to partake on a yearly basis in order to keep those good vibes flowing.

I think it'd be great to isolate those properties without the trip or the associated 'high', put them into a pill and them whammo! perfect anti-depressant/anti-anxiety in a pill.

But methinks it wont be that easy. What with the legitimacy of such things, and the illegality, etc etc.

Not to mention the question of is the 'trip' the actual therapy/would removing it also remove the potential benefits of those substances? It's possible--in fact, likely.

Man, it's times like these I wish Shulgin and Hofmann weren't dead

a reply to: Maluhia

Meditation works wonders for anxiety. Exercise helps too. Try meditation, and don't give up after a week or two. It takes practice, but is so worth it!

My wife, my daughter and our dog have anxiety! Our dog solves it's anxiety by taring up paper and pillows when were not home.

I just recently suggested to my wife we should take classes in meditation. I've also heard it helps with anxiety. I don't have anxiety, but I do have a lot of stress from work. Do you have to sit on the floor with your legs crossed to meditate, or can you sit in a chair and do it? The reason I ask, is because I never felt comfortable sitting on the floor even in my younger days.

Engage yourself in more social activities.

Volunteering can work wonders.