If you ve struggled with stress / anxiety before what’s helped you the most?

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If you’ve had stress or anxiety before what’s helped you get through those times and made it easier to deal with?

Meditation, buddhist teachings, yoga, Rhodiola, Epsom salt baths, the anxiety guy (you tube & book), long walks with the dog, quitting alcohol & caffeine

Me too + less social media and therapy!

GP guided time away from workplace
Propranolol (a Beta Blocker)
Sertraline (an SSRI anti depressant)
Mindfulness Meditation
Time in Nature

Things that have helped me over the years and continue to help me are counselling, yoga/meditation, mountain biking (the adrenalin releases my stress energy and its fun), lots of deep breathing, the five senses theory (when you start to feel anxious or panicky try to pick one thing to touch and describe it to yourself, one thing you smell, one thing you see etc and describe each thing to calm down), journalling, lots of exercise and fresh air/being out in nature.

The four pillars

Diet - 95% unprocessed but still allow treats. Loads of brain foods.

Exercise - Daily walk listening to music is my therapy

Sleep - Solid routine 7 days a week

Rest - Yin yoga (incredible), Epsom salt baths, Reading before bed, one day a week with no plans just chilling at home doing what I feel like

Plus removing the major sources of my stress - leaving a toxic workplace and stopping doing too much but still socialising so as not to completely isolate myself

A few things have helped me - yoga, regular walks with my friend, counselling and going to bed at the same time every day.

However, I’ve recently had hypnotherapy and I am transformed! My anxiety is now at “normal levels”. I feel at peace and so much better than I have been for years, so can enjoy life and relax. The change is phenomenal!

Getting more sleep, exercise and healthy eating helps me.

I go through phases of doing well with those things and then not. Very up and down. Currently on a downer because I’ve not been sleeping very well recently. I find it hard to then break that cycle because if I’m suffering with low mood/anxiety/overthinking I then can’t sleep for another night and so on.

I do need something more permanent to help me. I’ve been prescribed Sertraline twice now but never had the courage to start taking them. I’m worried about side affects like weight gain and it affecting my eyesight.

Appreciating it has usually taken a long time for anxiety to build up, so it will take a long time to feel better.

Yoga, xanax and LTB! Emphasis on LTB.

Sertraline.
I did EVERYTHING else- journals, supplements, therapy, yoga, meditation… god, everything, for three years. And each thing was like lighting a little candle in a dark room- it all helped give off a bit of flickering light. But when I was finally brave enough to try meds (and it took me YEARS to) it was like someone turned a bloody floodlight on.
It has saved my life (literally) and all my close relationships.

I found sending £35k to barely legal drug addicts for a dick pic helped....

But being serious: actually reaching the point where I cried and couldn't go to work, then getting admitted as a day patient was massive. CBT helped a bit. But seeing nice people, who were in a worse way than I was, was really powerful. I was never suicidal, but seeing people who were, really helped me get some perspective. I over worked and worried I wasn't good enough. The impact of a breakdown, and actually getting back to work afterwards, was really good (but didn't feel it it the time).

I still struggle with procrastination, and do work too hard, including late nights, to compensate. But I think I'm better able to relax about whether what I've done is good enough. This is because I see where that path leads. Ironically my fear of not being good enough is now beaten by my fear of having another breakdown. Therapists might say this is displacement of one fear for another, so not really healthy. But it's working for me. I look for the positive in life rather than the negative.

I've also realised joking about something really isn't the same as really telling someone that I'm struggling. So really its about boundaries.

The way you’ve described the little flickering light is my situation I’ve explained further up. I do some positive things and they do help. But not enough. And I always end up having relapses.

I’m still at the point where I’m too scared to start meds, but I hope that I find the courage to start them and I get the same outcome as you with the big floodlight.

Quitting alcohol, taking anxiety medication, going for walks.

For me changing the way I talk to myself was a game changer. I wrote about how to do it recently (not written very well, but should be clear enough how to do it).

https://riot-room.com/is-your-self-talk-holding-you-back/

@Hangonaminutethere how long did the sertraline take to kick in ?

Joined a gym in a fancy hotel with a nice pool. I swim a kilometre most days. It’s not fast and it’s not pretty, but it helps to ‘clean out my head’. The first 10 minutes are a bit of a slog, and then I kind of zone out and all of a sudden it’s half an hour later and I’ve worked out how to solve most of my immediate and short term conundrums. I then have a sauna for 10 minutes and then a shower. Really helps with sleep which in turn helps everything else..

Reducing alcohol and increasing exercise.
Connecting with people I care about
Eating well and trying to keep s good sleeping routine
Facing my problems and trying to solve issues where possible

Gosh so my replies, thank you! I don’t know what to try first! For those of you who have mentioned ashwagandha I have heard of this, have you had any side effects?

Sertraline basically gave me myself back. Now I walk everyday and can function. I no longer go to bed at night hoping I will die in my sleep.

I used to suffer from stress and work out me on a course which really helped. Essentially ask yourself if you can change th situation. If you can, change it if no just accept that it's the way it is.

for example going to work one day we got stuck in a huge traffic jam. I rang th office to let them know and then settled down with my book. The guy behind me started huffing and puffing which got worse as the traffic jam continued. I arrived at work calm and apologised for being late the guy behind me would have been so stressed out but the same situation

@BeezHoney Thank you. Will order these this afternoon.

i started Propranolol today also. Hope it works as well as it has for you ladies

Sport.

Running and a team sport.

@Iwishiwasabutterfly amazing ❤️ hope it helps, lovely.

I’d maybe check its compatibility with that medication beforehand, if you haven’t already. Just in case it isn’t advised xx

If it's work-related, as mine was, taking time and getting signed off from work (I was suffering from really bad burnout which caused me really bad stress/anxiety/panic attacks etc) to rest, recuperate and not have anything work related to worry about. If I hadn't, I think I would have ended up in a really, really bad place (moreso than I already was).

@kizziee When I was suffering really badly from anxiety caused by a shit manager, I took three months off. I really didn’t expect it to be that long, but as the weeks went by, it dawned on me just how unwell I had become.

So to answer your question, as long as it takes, assuming you are paid/can afford the time off. Otherwise, it can backfire. I have seen colleagues take a week or two off with stress, come back too soon, and then have to take six months off. Some never recover or return.

It is important to take up any support your employer offers such as occupational health appointments or counselling. It demonstrates you are being proactive about recovery.

Best thing for me was stopping drinking. I haven’t touched it for about a year, and the impact has been immense to be honest.