To ask how do you deal with your anxiety?

[BadLuck2023]

Ive got really bad anxiety right now, I keep ruminating on things that are no big deal, or cant be solved just yet.

Sometimes I have to drive back home to check I locked the door and if my DH/DC dont reply to a text within X amount of time I assume something terrible has happened.

Aby advice? I couldn't sleep last night and today I feel like Im in the trenches

Badly tbh. DH is still not talking to me because I got anxious in ikea 2 weeks ago and asked him not to talk to me like that.

Well you are in the trenches. You probably should go and see a GP to try and nip it in the bud before you're in the grips of full on OCD.

I deal with my anxiety by walking early in the morning to ground myself. Yes, I can't deal with anxiety easily, but the grounding does help, listening to the birds and seeing the sun rise

I do weight training. Got me off all pills and rarely get for no reason anxiety anymore. Just the normal amount.

Sorry, tried to delete my comment but it won’t let me.

Have you tried controlled breathing and mindfulness or growth mindset techniques?

@Hotandpointy ive tried controlled breathing, haven't heard of the growth mindset technique?

Sorry you are having a tough time. As already stated go to your GP for advice re. medication Anti depressants can be prescribed to help with anxiety and really help to controll it. Also you can do courses in anxiety management which your GP may be able to refer you to. There are also some good self help books which teach strategies for managing anxiety.

It’s a discipline to be honest. Being very conscious of your thoughts and feelings and knowing your brain lies to you. So I’d “mark” turning off the oven in some way and then when I started ruminating remind myself I did it and marked it (eg by remembering the song on the radio at the time, or saying out loud “I’m turning off the oven”), then I’d actively push the thought out of my head. I might still feel physically anxious and need to use some grounding techniques to self regulate.

Also breathing exercises, do them first thing in the morning and last thing at night to get into the habit and then when you’re aware of feeling anxious. The practice gets you into the way if doing them, how it feels when you do them etc.

Remember what you can control and what you can’t control - worrying never changed a thing but it robs you of your joy in the moment, and you still need to deal with the “thing”, but are less well resourced to do so. Cross that bridge when you come to it.

Pills, therapy and insane amount of cardio

Therapy and medication. Life is too short to be struggling without seeking help.

Things like CBT strategies help me, a worry tree (is it a hypothetical worry or an actual worry - if it’s hypothetical what’s the point in worrying it might never happen, deal with it if it does, if it’s actual, can you do anything about it, if yes, do it, if no what’s the point in worrying, deal with it if and when it happens and look for strategies to help cope with the eventuality) a designated time to think about worries so you’re not ruminating all day, write them down and analyse your thoughts, are you catastrophising, is the worse case scenario actually likely to happen, what might be a more likely outcome? If you’ve got an iPhone there’s a fab meditation app called Mantra, or even just try slow controlled breathing. Music, a walk in nature, those colour changing light boxes are very soothing, doing exercise, dancing in your kitchen to your favourite song all help. Sometimes distraction is enough if I’m heading for a panic attack, I distract my brain by tidying out my bag, or my car (if I’m in a traffic jam for example) or tidy out and delete stuff on my phone, etc. it’s about retraining your focus so you don’t keep going down the same negative paths. It’s a skill to learn and practise. Good advice about saying out loud I’ve turned the oven off etc. and to speak to an understanding and kind GP. Good luck, you can do it xx

Your anxiety is prob caused by a DH problem

I’m the same, I went to my Gp and currently waiting for CBT. I had it before and it really helped but I now have different things that trigger my ocd so I’m struggling again. Please reach out to your Gp I felt ridiculous telling them the things that were triggering me but they were so understanding and took it very seriously. X

I don’t.
I mask/hide it as much as I can, push it down and try not to show it.
So it doesn’t worry my kids/DH.
I have done all the therapy offered by the NHS. But they aren’t good therapists because I know what answers they are looking for and I just parrot those answers and they don’t actually get to the root of my anxiety and have never resolved it. I’m very very good.

I'm a long standing anxiety sufferer and have been on meds for over 20 years now.

I've done a lot of therapy over the years but I have to say (and some people might think this is a bit 'out there') that what has really helped me temper the anxiety right down was BWRT - https://bwrt-anxiety.com/. When you get down to the science of what are pesky brains are really doing to protect us, you start to understand more about your own reactions to every day things.

I'm not suggesting it's right for everyone and personally I don't think it's a cure as such, but I'm in a much better place than I used to be in the main.

I do have a snoozeband that I religiously use every night either listening to the Calm App or another app that not everyone knows about called Insight Timer, it's brilliant in my opinion.

I did Cognitive Restructuring to get myself out of rumination spirals. This is the core skill in CBT, where you catch a negative automatic thought and replace it with a more balanced or helpful one. I always replaced the thought with a happy one, which is more close to ‘positive redirecting’ - deliberately shifting attention toward a different emotional tone can build new neural pathways and weaken the old anxiety loops.

Thing is, that's not really the victory you think it is. If you push it down for too long, it starts to come out in funny ways. Like stomach ulcers and other physical symptoms. You adopt unhealthy coping mechanisms that take a toll on your health

If you find someone you feel safe with. You probably should empty the pot

My anxiety is much worse first thing. I box breath and I try to mentally list 5 things I am grateful for/ like about myself. Sometimes I get to 2/3 before anxiety takes hold, but it does help.

Generally; take magnesium, limit booze & caffeine, limit screens (find it hard), exercise.

with meds!

I have the 'did i lock the door' anxiety. Have even got off a bus once to go back and check!

Someone told me to take a photo on my phone of my key locking the door when I leave the house. It's really helped!

I don’t think it’s a victory. I now it’s a massive failing on my part.
I need help, I just can’t find it. I get stomach ulcers, mouth ulcers and tonsillitis all the time. I have a shocking immune system and I have just been diagnosed with CFS and I have to have hysterectomy when I can loose weight. It’s not a victory, it’s a giant problem I’m storing up for later, but with 2 ND children, an ND husband, a grandad with dementia, a dad with knee surgery and hip surgery, a mum who’s loosing it and my own business, I don’t have the luxury of time to be able to get it out.

I'm the same. Beta blockers help. Also hobbies and walking in the fresh air.

As well as most of the things mentioned I genuinely find exercise definitely keeps my anxiety at a lower level

CBT helped me a lot. Sometimes also going with it - I deliberately left my back door unlocked overnight to show myself that even if I did leave it unlocked by mistake, chances are thst nothing would happen. I’ve done this sort of reality-checking with myself a few times. I also catch myself having “nice thought times” and I try to tell myself thst this is how normal people think, and how enjoyable it is to rid myself of the anxious thinking.