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Old Jun 27, 2021, 04:15 AM
Anonymous32451
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Originally Posted by Soupe du jour View Post
I try to focus on comforting or distracting things. Have you ever tried a sound machine? I have a really good one with many sound options. I think ones with many give a chance to pick one that may offer pleasant associations. For example, ocean waves or brook. I also love rainfall and fireplace. These things also help me fall asleep, when I'm having trouble. Even white noise is known to help calm anxiety in both people and pets. A simple fan can even help with that.

Some food items can be comforting for me. Ones, like yogurt, seem especially comforting. Hot herb tea or applesauce are also nice. I put cinnamon in my applesauce.

Smells, like cinnamon, that bring back nice memories can calm me. When my husband would be away on a business trip, I'd even sleep with a shirt he had worn.

Soft things and weighted blankets certainly help many.

Basically, anything that can involve mindfulness activities can help me. Actually, many DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) coping skills can be helpful. See DBT: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills, Techniques, What it Treats

If there is a true discernible source/cause for my anxiety, I also find working through a Dysfunctional Thought Record to be helpful. This is also called "challenging cognitive distortions". It helps me to put the source of the anxiety in better perspective, which helps to minimize it. This is a primary CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) coping tool. See Challenging Our Cognitive Distortions and Creating Positive Outlooks

Sometimes my evening anxiety is simply because of some physical discomfort, or exacerbated by some. Namely, for me, indigestion/heart burn, which may cause my anxiety, or even be a result of anxiety, causing a Catch-22 effect. I keep Alka Seltzer chewable antacids in my night table.

Breathing exercises. I used to not be a believer, but over time I grew to be.


I had a sound machine once, ordered all the way from australia. it was pretty good to be fair. it had the sounds of birds and the sea, and you could either have them individually, or you could mix them and have them both going at the same time.

plus: when it came to the sound of the sea, you could pick between a calm quiet sea, or a rough sea. not sure what happened to it, but it was a good little device. it lay next to my bed a lot of the time
Hugs from:
Breaking Dawn, Soupe du jour
Thanks for this!
mssweatypalms, Soupe du jour