Anxiety’s very bad today

I feel like my anxiety and sadness is literally making me feel physically ill today😣

5 Likes

Sounds like you would benefit from extra self-care today? :hrtlegolove:

I don’t no how today, any suggestions :two_hearts:

1 Like

well it can take a bit of experimenting. what do you tend to like? hot showers? movies? walks? pet time? cooking? ordering in? meditating? exercising? calling a friend? journaling? listening to music? letting yourself cry? sleeping?

1 Like

Anxiety is the worst and also so hard to manage when right in the middle of a peak of anxiety. I’ve suffered from anxiety myself after getting burned out from stress/work and I know just how terrible it feels- I really sympathize with you.

Is there something specific causing your sadness and anxiety? Like stress, loneliness, thoughts about the future or more generalized anxiety about “everything”?

Some things that I found working for me when suffering from anxiety was to:

  1. Call a friend, parent or sibling just to talk. Not even about the anxiety, just everyday things to take your mind of things and just have the comfort of having someone talking. This also works if you by chance like playing video games, and play something together with others while voice-chatting.

  2. Podcasts and audiobooks, the lifesavers when going to bed and feeling anxious. This comes down to your own taste, but I recommend something with less intensity, not the screaming-type comedians. Instead perhaps a documentary (you said before you were in the UK, BBC radio has some great ones!), interviews or whatever feels interesting and calming. The same goes for audiobooks, find something immersive, perhaps in the fantasy genre where you get to escape this world and travel to another for a time. You can for example never go wrong with Bilbo or The Lord of the Rings trilogy (especially the first book).

  3. This exercise is a trigger of our mammal instincts and sometimes works wonders, it sounds silly but believe me it works! Fill up a sink or something with ice cold water, then dip your head in it so the water covers the whole face and ears. This triggers the “diving mode” for mammals, where our heart rate drops and the body relaxes, to conserve energy and oxygen for when being underwater. It can for example cut of the peak of an anxiety attack or just plain feel good when you need to “reset” your mind. It’s hard to explain, but it really do work!

  4. Centering. This is a mental exercise that takes some mastery, but it’s a good one. I find it can be very hard the first few times, especially if the anxiety is very strong. But once you get better at it, the results are great. Sit down on the floor or your bed, relax as much as you can, get comfortable and do the following

  • Acknowledge FIVE things you see around you. It could be a pen, a spot on the ceiling, anything in your surroundings.
  • Acknowledge FOUR things you can touch around you
  • Acknowledge THREE things you hear
  • Acknowledge TWO things you can smell
  • Acknowledge ONE thing you can taste

This is a great exercise for leaving the anxiety loop of what if’s, and instead just trying to focus on the now and the things around you, acknowledging yourself in the space and the things around you.

  1. Lastly, a good Netflix binge can make you take your mind off things. Studies have shown that we kinda go into a mental “standby mode” when watching TV, and that’s exactly what’s needed at times when suffering from stress/anxiety. Just getting comfortable, finding something easy to watch and either watch it, or have it running in the background as company and comfort.

I hope you feel better soon!

3 Likes

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.