How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by baumy300

It really is this simple bro

Actually it isn't that simple.

One of the worst things you can do to someone experiencing an anxiety attack or depression is to tell them to stop caring, thinking about it, letting it bother them, etc...

That doesn't do anything but escalate the feelings they are currently going through.

[baumy300]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

Actually it isn't that simple. One of the worst things you can do to someone experiencing an anxiety attack or depression is to tell them to stop caring, thinking about it, letting it bother them, etc... That doesn't do anything but escalate the feelings they are currently going through.

That's unfortunate. I have known this method to help some people with the same or similar issues, but to be fair I understand that everyone is different and every situation is unique.

[Caulfield]

Quote: Originally Posted by baumy300

That's unfortunate. I have known this method to help some people with the same or similar issues, but to be fair I understand that everyone is different and every situation is unique.

in a roundabout way, this was my experience.
though I didn't intentionally set out to stop caring.
part of my problem was that I did care too much, and about things I had no control over.
but finally my give-a-damn busted, so to speak, and most of my anxiety was almost immediately gone.
but it is a hard thing to do to say '' I'm just not gonna care anymore''.
if I had know ''then'' what I know ''now'', I would have intentionally tried to stop caring,
so to save me from a lot of needless worrying.
but I don't think I would have been successful in stopping on my own.
it had to happen naturally. my give-a-damn busting, if you will

[EUBlink]

Binaural and isochronic audio therapy, meditation. I'll explain more later and I'll provide a Spotify playlist that'll help as well.


I help people in my every day life deal with stress and anxiety. It's something that I feel I've been called to help with and I enjoy helping others, so it works out well for everyone. Audio therapy isn't the only option, but it's the option that usually works the best for people, including myself.

[ODogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by Caulfield

in a roundabout way, this was my experience. though I didn't intentionally set out to stop caring. part of my problem was that I did care too much, and about things I had no control over. but finally my give-a-damn busted, so to speak, and most of my anxiety was almost immediately gone. but it is a hard thing to do to say '' I'm just not gonna care anymore''. if I had know ''then'' what I know ''now'', I would have intentionally tried to stop caring, so to save me from a lot of needless worrying. but I don't think I would have been successful in stopping on my own. it had to happen naturally. my give-a-damn busting, if you will

This trait you speak of was raised in a therapy session and the idea is that as a child you maybe took on some responsibility that should have been done by an adult and so as an adult now you feel the need to help everyone and care about everything because, as a child, that's what you were asked to step up and do.

My therapist said that it really is not that you have to stop caring, but it's, as you said, have to realize what you can do and what is out of your control. What is your responsibility and in what situations other people should do some lifting, in other words..

For example if you see a dog by the side of the road it isn't your responsibility to pick up the dog, take him home, bathe him, give him food, etc...but you don't just have to say "well I don't care, not my problem" and drive on either..

Someone like us (I suffer from this too) simply should pick up our phone and dial a shelter or someone to come get the dog.

May not be the best example but I think it illustrates our desire to do it all when there are other people who can help us and/or things that are not our responsibility don't have to be a burden that we assign to ourselves, simply because as kids we had to, we don't have to as adults in each and every situation in which we could "be the hero"

And in fact, if you look it up it's called A Hero Complex in regards to childhood neglect of some fashion. People like us basically have to learn to trust others to help take care of the world around us and not try to do everything, because we can't do everything and when we try we fail, then failure gives us anxiety.

[PVarck31]

Just stop caring to cure anxiety is basically just turning it into depression.

It's also impossible for most people. I agree with the trying to stop worrying about things you can't control. But if you just stop caring about everything, that's just depression.

In the interest of raising awareness to mental illness, I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm Bipolar. I'm 43 and was diagnosed at 28, but the onset was probably around 22-23. I just didn't know wtf was wrong with me. I've spent time in a psychiatric hospital a few times because of it, but since my diagnosis and my medication regimen, I've become mostly stable. I still suffer with bouts of mania, depression, and anxiety. But now it's mostly just the anxiety that I can't seem to shake. I am going to start doing yoga. So we will see how that goes.

I've also developed an eating disorder recently, and have lost 20 pounds in six weeks. I'm now getting help for that. My therapist has helped me so much over the last couple years as well. Now we have to work on this.

So yeah, I'm pretty messed up. But I'm trying. I'm lucky to have a good support system with my wife and parents. Even my sister is always there for me.

So as it's been said, don't be afraid to get help. If I didn't, I don't know where I'd be.

[EUBlink]

I have used binaural beats and isochronic tones for years now with managing anxiety, stress and other tasks such as getting through trauma. They are also beneficial for long drives or when you’re needing to focus, depending on what hertz you use.

Staying in the 4-8Hz range is good for reduced anxiety when you’re wanting to rest. Increasing in the 8-13Hz is better for decreasing your stress and anxiety during times you won’t be able to rest, just everyday life. I would recommend a good headset or earbuds when trying this or when using it in the future.

Close your eyes, just relax and let the audio play. Try to pace your breathing so that you can use your body to calm itself as well.

I also brought up isochronic tones. For some people, isochronic tones work better than binaural beats. For some, binaural doesn’t work at all but isochronic does. I’m fortunate that I enjoy using both, in that both work for me.

I would recommend stretching or just being still when doing this. I either sit still and meditate, lay down or I will stretch my back and neck using a high-density foam roll. Those rolls work wonders. Having that roll helped me recover faster after I broke my neck and it helps me with pain caused by the bone spurs I have floating around my neck still. The ACDF surgery didn’t mend entirely. It was rough. I manage, though, now with stretching, yoga and audio therapy to displace the pain as well.

I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner. Life has taken a hard left turn as of late, and I’m managing best I can with what I’ve been given.

One last thing, some playlists will work in nature sounds with the binaural and isochronic sounds. If that’s not your thing, skip it and go on the next or change playlists. Do you use Spotify? I’ll create you a playlist I think will help for different situations and will send you a private message with the links, unless me posting the links here would be alright and not violate board terms.

[jasontoddwhitt]

That's the neat part...I don't proactively manage it.

In all seriousness, over the past year, I have survived a terminated engagement, being laid off, and a particularly nasty bout of Covid.

I survived the first three and have upgraded from being a fat a** to having a dad bod by losing 55 pounds. So hey, I look at the brighter side of things and realized what doesn't kill me makes me stronger.