How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

[ODogg]

I have generalized anxiety disorder and have been in therapy for it for a while. I have made massive strides in managing my anxiety but I still find that I get a bit more anxious about simple things such as just going to a small get together with friends, or having to call off work if I'm ill, things that can cause most folks a minor amount of anxiety can cause me a good bit more than is normal.

So as part of my therapy "homework" this week my therapist told me to find a pro-active way to manage my stress and try to do it two days a week at minimum.

She recommended breathing techniques and of course meditation.

Right now I'm doing meditation but as anything, I am wondering if there are maybe other techniques for anxiety management that some of you might recommend?

[Caulfield]

Re: How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

for years I carried a baseball around in my jacket pocket, sorta used it like one of those rubber squeeze balls you see.
obviously I couldn't really squeeze it but it sure took my mind off stressful times when I was trying to squeeze the hell out of it.

I don't stress out like I used to so I no longer feel the need to carry it around.
I was drawn to carrying a baseball around being as its my favorite sport.
guess I was lucky basketball wasn't my favorite lol

[Bullit]

Re: How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

I am interested in this as well.

I wont go into the whole story unless others want to hear it. But I just recently had a complete mental breakdown. I have actually been in a Psychiatric Hospital for the better part of a month. I am home now and doing well. I have a new Therapist and starting some groups as well, but I am trying to adjust to my new "normal" and get back to some semblance of life.

So anyway, advice on ways to deal with anxiety and depression are certainly something I am interested in.

[Gramps91]

Re: How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

Well, after having lived through a natural disaster a few months ago my anxiety has been at an all time high. I don't deal with anxiety well to be honest.

[Hassan Darkside]

Re: How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

I haven't been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder or anything, but since anxiety is part of the human experience regardless, here's some ways I've been learning to manage it. I find that essentially I have to have a number of activities that involve "practicing stillness" in order to proactively manage my anxiety before I end up feeling overwhelmed/depressed.

Prayer: I heard someone say once that the same muscle that worries is the muscle that prays (metaphorically speaking of course). Belief in a higher power aside, the practice of verbalizing what's emotionally burdening me and transferring it away from me is helpful, as well as intentionally reflecting on other things that may be happening around me as a result of prior prayers.

Journaling: Similar to above. I often lack the EQ to recognize how I'm feeling in the given moment, so sometimes taking the time to write down what happened forces me to sit with those feelings for a while until I can make sense of them and hopefully know what to do next.

Emotional recognition: Probably because of how I grew up and also unhealthy thoughts of masculinity, I spent many years denying my feelings or just pushing through everything. Recently I've had to learn to feel where in my body those emotions were coming from and take mental inventory of the things that were causing them.

Keeping a task list or calendar: I'm still terrible at this but knowing what's coming and when helps me not feel overwhelmed or overburdened.

Saying "no." I've had to learn it's okay to say no or reschedule things because I don't feel like it in the moment. It's an intentional practice I have to do because I know that sometimes my self-image can be based too much around what other people think of me and the best way to keep it positive is to do what they all want me to do.

Routine: I have to have the same routine pretty much every morning, which includes working out.

Working out/exercise: Major thing for me and allows me to separate socially from everyone and give myself mental space to process whatever is going on in my life. Doing it early in the morning allows for me to get in the right headspace for the day. I work out alone for this reason.

Close community. I have a couple of friends that I basically "walk through" life with who are wise enough and intelligent enough to take whatever I throw at them and either just listen or offer thoughtful responses back. This has been a life changer, especially because much of my anxiety revolved around the toxic belief that "I'm the only one that deals with this. I'm the only one that thinks this way. Nobody would want to be around me if they found out about this."

[baumy300]

Re: How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

It really is this simple bro

[SmashMan]

Re: How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

...not sure every topic needs the dumb frog thing...

[baumy300]

Re: How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

...not sure every topic needs the dumb frog thing...

Don't be mad bro. You should really listen to the frog...


Here, just in case you missed it:

[countryboy]

Re: How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

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]

Re: How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

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]

Re: How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

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]

Re: How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

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]

Re: How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

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]

Re: How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

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]

Re: How do you guys pro-actively manage anxiety?

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.