[Anneinside]

I have been having anxiety for the last week. I know what started it, I know that it doesn't matter but I can't seem to escape the anxiety. My therapist suggested I make a "toolbox" for anxiety with things in it that can help the anxious feelings. I am restless, my muscles tighten, I clench and grind my teeth, can't concentrate, stomach in a knot, and the worst... it feels like the skin on my back and shoulders is crawling. I HATE that!

Anyway, what do you do when you are feeling anxious, other than taking medications?

[Perna]

Distraction helps me a lot, like reading a comforting book. Looking beyond when it will be over is good too, if whatever the literal event is can't happen anymore; I look forward to "next week" or whenever and what I'll do then and how good I'll feel, etc.

If it's an ongoing anxiety I make a list of possible ways I can confront it; I'm often worried in the middle of the night about my husband getting sick or dying and how I'd deal with our finances so I'm working to study our financial set-up so I understand it better and it's not quite so frightening.

When anxiety hangs on longer than I think it should I look at it harder to see just what it is that is bothering me. Usually I find something I feel helpless about and I either see if, like above, there's something I can do to make myself feel less helpless or I see if my thoughts aren't out of line (someone else I love has a problem and there's nothing I can do no matter what; no point being "anxious" about that) and/or if there aren't others who feel similarly that I can talk to.

I'm old enough that I have enough life experience that I can think back to other examples of when I've been anxious and how those situations resolved okay and I can then trust "myself" a bit better to manage the anxiety and contain it. I've been okay before when I've been frightened and I'll be frightened in the future but "it will be okay" is what I'd tell myself if I could go back in time and talk to a younger me who was afraid.

I don't try to "get rid" of anxiety though; it is a tool to help me better understand myself and I look for what "good" I can get out of feeling what I feel. That's all information and "practice" in living?

[perpetuallysad]

I'll be interested to hear everyone's ideas. So far I really don't know of anything that helps completely alleviate it. Mostly if it gets too bad I either lay down or sit in a room that is quiet for a while. (But I also take a xanax, I have bad panic attacks and if I let it go on for too long it makes me really sicky.)

[Moreta]

When I get anxious at work I first go outside and smoke a cigarette, then if that doesn't work I do some tapping and deep breathing, and then if that doesn't work I take a klonopin. If that doesn't work, I usually repeat the process over. After that I go home.

To do deep breathing, breath in for 2 counts through your nose, then breath out 4 counts from your mouth. repeat.

Tapping takes a bit more. It involves using your first 2 fingers and tapping certain points 7 times (or any odd number of times) and while doing this you say an affirmation like "despite my limitations, I am no different from anyone else" or something more affirming. You can look it up online, there's probably guides to do it out there somewhere.

Good Luck.

[lonegael]

I tend to do a couple of things.
1. I try to examine the thing I am getting anxious about and analyse how reasonable the anxiety is
2. I focus on breathing and work on relaxation, This is easier to do t some times than others
3. excersize - long walks help, though at times just during the walk.
4 Very warm baths - great at relaxing tensed muscles and getting me sleepy. Combined with a good, light hearted book this is very good.
5 Stop asking myself if I am still anxious. This will just get me going again.
Good luck! QA's tapping suggestion is pretty good, too, though I haven't tried it.