How do you all deal with anxiety?

Shergar6

So i have something coming up this week that's causing me some stress/anxiety. It's not majorly serious and i am chill enough but it's still there on my mind. What do you lot do to deal with stress?

Funny and serious replies welcome :pac:

Noveight

Remind myself that I'll be dead in 50ish years anyway and that even if I cock up really, really bad, it's all be irrelevant in the long run.

Best o' luck.

Mountainsandh

I try to go to bed early



does not always work

Parachutes

Noveight wrote: »

Remind myself that I'll be dead in 50ish years anyway and that even if I cock up really, really bad, it's all be irrelevant in the long run.

Best o' luck.

This.

None of us will even be remembered in 100 years and we'll be dead for a lot longer. There's not too much to worry about to be honest.

Beer and Rocket League. The last few months have had too much go seriously wrong for anything that else to work.

jackofalltrades

1. Control your breathing.
2. Rationalise things.
3. Work on improving my self-confidence.
4. Try to do something new every now any again so your OK with new challenges

RayM

I deal with it by hiding, avoiding, vomiting, dry-heaving or shitting.

Sometimes all of the above.

It passes. It always passes. I hope you feel less anxious soon.

Mountainsandh

What I find good too is to plan something that I'll do after the "bad moment" has passed.
Like a day or a week-end away, or a photo excursion since photography is my thing. I think of how much I'll enjoy it, regardless of what went on before.

I find it helps put things in perspective.
Doing things that make you happy is (probably) more important than whatever this thing that's causing you anxiety is.

harry Bailey esq

RayM wrote: »

I deal with it by hiding, avoiding, vomiting, dry-heaving or shitting.

Sometimes all of the above.

It passes. It always passes. I hope you feel less anxious soon.

Benzos do the trick for me,they dont agree with everyone though it must be said.Cognitive behavioural therapy is excellent apparently,but again,its not for everyone.

FanadMan

Avoidance, meditation, concentrating on something (designing and building a circuit or playing the guitar).

If that fails, alcohol or valium....or both But in long term anxiety neither of those are recommended. Found mindfulness and CBT really good - gives you the tools to step back and see where the real problem lies. Took a lot of trial and error to find a CBT that worked for me. Some were too by the book and others were too distracted.

Duff

Diazepam 10mg.

Cupcake_Crisis

I go away from everything and everyone. Take a quiet moment, preferably in the fresh air, take a few deep breaths and try to shut my brain up.

Outlaw Pete

I do a bit of Yoga, listen to music from the composer Claude Debussy and watch hardcore pornography.

AllGunsBlazing

Deleted User wrote: »

Beer and Rocket League. The last few months have had too much go seriously wrong for anything that else to work.

This only works when I'm winning. Otherwise it's throw the controller against the wall.:o

Leilak

anticipation can be often worse than realisation

Grayson

AllGunsBlazing wrote: »

This only works when I'm winning. Otherwise it's throw the controller against the wall.:o

I have a friend who's destroyed two xbox elite controllers playing Rainbow Six Siege.

I find a healthy dose of stoicism is good. Acceptance of things for what they are. I also like existentialism. It's about the freedom of the individual and the responsibility that comes with it. Most of the time when we get anxious about something it's because we don't want to make a decision. Once you make the decision to do something or do nothing the anxiety quite often disappears.

So for example, lets say that you have clinical anxiety. It's not something you can just shake off. You however can still do something about it. You can visit a doctor, get a prescription, see a therapist. And just doing that is something that will help you get better.

So, either way, the answer is to do something.

puppieperson1

Xanax and walk the dogs

RobertKK

Go for a walk, listen to music, rationalise the issue causing stress, and as said above the anticipation is usually worse than the reality.

biko

Stop comparing yourself with people better off than you, and start comparing yourself with people worse off.

fryup

Shergar6 wrote: »

So i have something coming up this week that's causing me some stress/anxiety. It's not majorly serious and i am chill enough but it's still there on my mind.

public speaking is it???

Shergar6

fryup wrote: »

public speaking is it???

Ha, no - Thank God!

bodice ripper

I watch Boston Legal and draw.

fryup

fryup wrote: »

public speaking is it???

Shergar6 wrote: »

Ha, no - Thank God!

well tell us then, maybe we could help

midnight city

Avoid ruminating about it as much as you can. Try to think of other things.

COH

Exercise

thee glitz

It's drink, isnt it - pretty sure I'm right.

nkav86

Had a Xmas party this week with the job, not long there and I have social anxiety, so I was dreading it! Did the usual run through of all the ways I could mess up and reactions from my work mates to my actions..... Made myself worse of course! But in the end I went, felt a bit odd but tried my best to dismiss my anxiety and ended up having a great night!

We have a habit of shooting ourselves in the foot and ruining things for ourselves, but we need to try push through and take things as they come, it can be worth it.

Good luck OP

Spanish Eyes

For some strange reason I get a bit panicky when in a crowded church. Not that I go very often but recently I had to do a reading at a friend's wedding. Yikes, even the thought of having to be near the front in the church had me sweating days before.

I bit the bullet, went to the doc explained my dilemma. She gave me two valium 5mgs that's all!

I took half (2.5) earlier in the day, and the other half outside the church. Sailed through it. They have their uses, but only for now and then.

(I still have one 5mg left for emergencies!).

I'm just saying that occasionally they can be brilliant. Not advocating benzo taking every day or anything!

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Honestly, learning to put yourself first and making yourself happy was what worked for me. During really hard periods of my life, I thought I may have been depressed or anxious but for me - it was other people putting their problems and issues on me. I was perfectly fine when I was left by myself but would get sucked in to others moods/drama.
I learned to take a fucck it approach to most things, cut myself off from negative energy and put the same effort into relationships as the other person, which was fucck all, and I was much happier.

I rarely feel anxious or sad anymore

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

For some strange reason I get a bit panicky when in a crowded church. Not that I go very often but recently I had to do a reading at a friend's wedding. Yikes, even the thought of having to be near the front in the church had me sweating days before.

I bit the bullet, went to the doc explained my dilemma. She gave me two valium 5mgs that's all!

I took half (2.5) earlier in the day, and the other half outside the church. Sailed through it. They have their uses, but only for now and then.

(I still have one 5mg left for emergencies!).

I'm just saying that occasionally they can be brilliant. Not advocating benzo taking every day or anything!

I love Valium

Spanish Eyes

LexieOnRale wrote: »

I love Valium

Slippery slope...:D

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Slippery slope...:D

I used to take them for the craic back when I was carefree.
They'll always hold a special place in my heart but they're my favourite thing about having sciatica.

If I'm going through a period of anxiety or stress I keep my dog close to me. I find she has a very calming affect on me. If I have to go someplace without her I really notice the difference and sometimes have to ask strangers can I rub their dogs just to get my fix!
If it's a particular event that's making me anxious, then like someone else said, I try to divert my mind to something good happening after the event.

RayM

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

(I still have one 5mg left for emergencies!).

Here, give you €2 for it?

I used to have a very old doctor who happily prescribed me 30 Valium tablets a month. He's retired now, sadly. I was always a bit wary of using them as prescribed (prn), so I'd keep them for 'special occasions' instead, like when I was watching snooker on tv. Sometimes, instead of taking one before a stressful event, I'd 'reward' myself with one (ok, three or four) afterwards instead. The thought of being able to relax later helped alleviate anxiety sometimes.

Shergar6

fryup wrote: »

well tell us then, maybe we could help

Can't, bit too private.

Fleawuss

Learn the secret of simplifying issues to core issues. Put your own peace of mind first: stop factoring in that so and do might be upset. Prepare prepare prepare and prepare. Control your time so that you direct your time to having things done. Face things head on. Avoidance makes them worse. Be direct with most communication.

You have one life. Either you control it or others will do it to your disadvantage.

And for stress relief: walk, get sea air, learn self acceptance and smash things up. PS gardening is great.

Shergar6

thee glitz wrote: »

It's drink, isnt it - pretty sure I'm right.

What do you mean?

Grayson

LexieOnRale wrote: »

I love Valium

I have valium and zanax for when I have to fly somewhere. I don't always use them but it's comforting to know that if I get on a plane and feel anxious then I have there on me.

I listen to certain songs or read. Sometimes I take a drive and park up in a quiet place, close my eyes, and try to drift away. Anxiety isn't a pleasant experience but I'd take it any day over not being able to feel.

Mind you there have been times in the past where I took an auld zanax just to avoid the feelings, sleep through them. But that wasn't during periods of anxiety it was immense sadness and overwhelm.

Pac1Man

You need to develop a certain amount of internal arrogance that only you are aware of.

For example if you had a presentation to make, convince yourself that the people you are presenting to are so fuking lucky you are standing in front of them speaking (no matter what about).

Take that same mentality elsewhere. The people you are dealing with are extremely fortunate, whatever the situation!

Sounds crazy but it kind of works for me.

pragmatic1

RayM wrote: »

I deal with it by hiding, avoiding, vomiting, dry-heaving or shitting.

Sometimes all of the above.
It passes. It always passes. I hope you feel less anxious soon.

Yep. All things pass.

pragmatic1

I make a conscious effort too not take life to seriously and try to count my blessings.

Very few things are as bad as they seem and even really bad things lose their sting in time.

Colser

I stop eating when I'm anxious and have lost a lot of weight at times due to it.I try to imagine that there are loads of people going through a lot worse than me who would swap places in an instant to have my worries instead of their own,sometimes that helps but not always unfortunately.

Winterlong

I distract myself.
Try to spot 5 people that look interesting,
4 colors that are pure.
3 items of clothes that I would like to own.

That type thing.
Enough to shift my focus elsewhere temporarily until the anxiety passes.

Stigura

I ball up into a foetal position and begin to emit a high pitched keening sound

pauliebdub

I suffer from anxiety in social and with stressful work situations. I'm able to deal with it by acknowledging it - consider the feelings as a separate entity to you. Take deep breaths, think of positive or happy times, wait and let the anxiety pass.

I give the unwanted feelings a name, so when I feel anxious about up coming meetings or a job interview I think, here's x, fück off x thanks very much and wait and try and relax. It really helps to try and shift the anxiety as it can be overwhelming.

Autonomous Cowherd

Accept Death. And Dance.

buried

Somefolks may not agree with me on this but it worked for me and has done till this this very day. IMO anxiety is just fear you manifest yourself. Ignoring it is useless. You must face the F**ker even if you think its a Medusa. Face it and embrace it. Do it little by little but make sure you do it. Thats how you will eventually kill it. Its like all those classical stories, thats where they come from. The universal ancient story where the protagonist must go down into the underworld to stop the bad energy, the monster, which is effecting the protagonists world, they must face the monster, engage with the thing, only then can the protagonist/eventual hero destroy it.
Easy for me to say all that because it is hard to face your fear, to face the f**ker. I know it is and I've been there, Not long ago I was anxious of some of the most basic day to day things that everyone does, but I just jumped into the useless, wasted energy fear that I had built up my own self, faced it and eventually, like good practice at a hobby, I killed it. My only regret is that I didn't do it for certain things I was really anxious about sooner. That's what worked for me anyways

relax carry on

I try all sorts as in the last few years I've gone from being totally relaxed about everything to having no filter for anything. Anything from the simplest thing to the most life altering decisions seem to cause me the same amount of anxiety and stress.
First thing I try is to visualise somewhere I had a great time/associate with good memories and sit somewhere quite focusing on that image and it's memories. That usually brings me out enough to step 2.
Crappy sci-fi TV and xbox to get my mind out of anxiety mode and focus on almost nothing.
Next year when I've time again step 2 will be cycling and running again to focus on almost nothing.

Goya

Yoga. Bit late I suppose but try some techniques anyway - you really have to focus and it helps take your mind off what's concerning you. All the best!

IamtheWalrus

Chin up my fellow anxious boardsies