Best ways to deal with general and social anxiety.

[Coupe]

@Major Tom I'm kind of like you in that I rarely leave the house unless it's absolutely necessary, or if I'm leaving to go somewhere "safe" - i.e. to visit my grandparents in Minnesota, out to eat, or to a store....places where I won't be forced to do much prolonged social interaction with people I don't know very well, or whose intentions I can't read.

Honestly, the only thing that's really helped me with general/social anxiety is having a comfort item with me - in my pocket or shoulder bag, where no one can see it. For at least two years now, my main comfort item has been a small "Tsum Tsum" plush of Dory from Pixar's Finding Nemo/Dory movies. Little Dory, as I call her, is very cute, soft and squeezable, and fits right in my pocket, where she stays most of the time. I've even bought four other Dory tsums to keep on standby in case the first one ever gets lost or worn out. I like being able to reach into my pocket to squeeze her when I feel nervous or start zoning out when someone is talking to me.

Stim toys/objects can help, too - I always carry several of those on my person at all times, too. Currently my favorites are a textured Tangle Jr., a fidget pad, and a red jasper worry stone. There's just something about occupying my hands with something that is soothing to me - I think it's because I'm really into specific kinds of textures, like really soft things, for example.

Sometimes, if I have a pen and paper with me, I'll draw, just to have something else to focus on. I usually draw my favorite characters, because they're calming to me. In addition, if you look busy enough as you draw, people will be reluctant to disturb you. Or if I happen to have a book with me, I'll start reading and become absorbed in that.

 

[Loren]

Music

Swimming

Hiking

Bodyboarding/gliding through the barrel of a wave

Sensory stimulous, such as the mountains and ocean. Listening to waves, gently crashing. The beautiful wildfowers at first bloom. The sent of night-blooming jasmine and saltwater in the air. The combination of wafts of espresso and wood-fired bread, coming from the local, Italian bakery. It is both, calming and invigorating.

Watching sand sift through my fingers is uncannily, therapeutic


For the first time, ever, I have been feeling powerless over anxiety.

 

[WereBear]

Also, one technique is to to not fight or try to ignore the feeling. Find a space and place to experience it.

Like a wave breaking on a beach, and then receding, this can make the feeling go away. Because it is finally felt.

 

[Gracey]

Not mentally running in the opposite direction and shutting off/down.

Shutting down switches off our coping mechanisms too. We need those to get out of a situation.

Trust that you won’t die,
even if your imagination and triggered physical sensations are convincing you otherwise.


It’s easy to practice breathing techniques and mindfulness in the safety of our own dwellings,

When I take the above ‘on the road’ with me and try to remember them when starting to get overwhelmed,

It sometimes feels like the equivalent of weaving fog.
I need something with a little more impact.

Something random and estranged to compete with habitual thought patterns and hopefully,
Start alternative thought processes.
(Thus interrupting the original habitual)

To date, it’s a certain type of humour that’s enabling me to spend lots of time beyond the boundaries of my home.
It’s difficult to feel afraid when amusing oneself.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

I try to approach most things with humour.

It’s easy to practice breathing techniques and mindfulness in the safety of our own dwellings,

When I take the above ‘on the road’ with me and try to remember them when starting to get overwhelmed,

I found picking up the habit while inside the house helps me to remember what to do when outside.

But that's a crucial point.

Something random and estranged to compete with habitual thought patterns and hopefully,
Start alternative thought processes.
(Thus interrupting the original habitual)

Sometimes it can seem hopeless as the pace of change for new things can be so slow.
Forming new habits takes time.

Humour is a good way to break down a negative thought pattern.

Like you say ,it's finding out what worse for you when you're out in the world.

First you can practice and imagine what works, then try it out .

Keep trying different image patterns or thoughts till you find something.

I go to my breath, then try and move to my images at the same time.

It's not thinking 'must remain calm' .- that's a forced thing which increases it.

It's just going to the breath , with my own 'add ons'

 

[WereBear]

A theory I like about PTSD is that, during the trauma of the event, we literally cannot think and so, we cannot process these thoughts and feelings. It's like a stuck file drawer; it just sits there causing problems and now we cannot open other drawers, either.

Mentally processing it helps release the problems it causes.

 

[Loren]

A theory I like about PTSD is that, during the trauma of the event, we literally cannot think and so, we cannot process these thoughts and feelings. It's like a stuck file drawer; it just sits there causing problems and now we cannot open other drawers, either.

Mentally processing it helps release the problems it causes.

So, very true and poignant...

 

[Loren]

I try to remind myself that my thoughts are just thoughts, and not, necessarily, reality.

 

[VJCJ0628]

I try to remind myself that my thoughts are just thoughts, and not, necessarily, reality.

This above,Plus, I would add also Feeling arent facts & Don't compare what you feel inside to what other show outside

 

[Loren]

This above,Plus, I would add also Feeling arent facts & Don't compare what you feel inside to what other show outside

This is extremely helpful, and something I have not been conscious of, but, in retrospect, I think this is, in large part, what perpetuates my anxiety. Thanks for making mention of it.

 

[Otis]

Hey Tom Otis here. I started a thread on memory. Being to great for us nt basically creating all kinds of feelings anxiety angry... I have been surprised to see the reciprocation on small amounts of cannabis. Seems to either disrupt the ability to focus on one thing inside your head or just makes it so you can only be present. Has really helped me and all my stress started when i stopped partaking years ago. I just have very small doses now. Sometimes big ones cause i do enjoy. its not for everyone though for some it can bring on anxiety. We are all different.

 

[Apleba]

It used to help me to divide the time into small units. If I would feel anxious about something, I would try to feel my feet on the ground and realize that I am here, at this moment, and everything at this moment is good. Life is made out of these moments,which, whenever you contemplate them, are not scary at all. Only very few moments, in comparison, are worth to be anxious about. Whenever I would feel anxious, I would do that, and it would help.

It helped until my anxiety became much worse, I am basically anxious about everything, real and not real, all the time, and the feeling is too overwhelming for me to try to 'meditate' my way out of it, sadly.

But that's an option to try in case the anxiety is still controllable.

 

[Gracey]

I am basically anxious about everything, real and not real, all the time

.

The level of tension that used to create for me,
Was like someone always behind me with an inflated balloon and a sharp pin.

You know they’re going to pop the balloon right behind you almost immediately.

That ‘freeze’ in anticipation of the volume of sudden noise was almost a constant for me.

I knew there was nobody behind me,
My description was to show my (almost) constant level of tension.

It’s no way to live, I had to explore it and change it.

 

[Ginseng]

I will also play the same song over and over and over again (Duran Duran's Serious), sometimes for days or weeks at a time, which tends to annoy co-workers, but keeps me calm, so they tolerate it.

This made me laugh. I would love to meet you.

 

[Ginseng]

Reminds me of when I was in Michigan, a friend brought me home from a brief shopping trip to the grocery store and asked me if I wanted to go to this other place in a couple of hours. I looked at him shocked and said "No, that would mean I went out twice in one day." This shocked him as he is an NT extrovert and always going going going. He said "Uh, yeah. It would mean that." We both laughed. Needless to say, I did not go out again.

 

[Aspychata]

l really enjoyed these answers. l use to be uptight and anxious, l spent so much time doing that, now l don't care. Tonite, this guy would not stop addressing me in the store, hey baby, hi, hello, blah blah oh no you didn't. l completely ignored him, it was the cashier, he followed me to the refrigerated drink section. In the past, it would have caused me severe anixety. l ran today at gym, so heavy excerise is my saving grace. Warm baths nice, paying my bills makes me extremely happy, living by the ocean also makes me smile.

 

[Loren]

I experienced relief of both, social anxiety and residual pain from a swimming injury, while taking the amino acid, DLPA. It had been extremely, effective for both conditions, for several months, but, the effects, eventually, dissipated, thus, I stopped taking it, and, have since, replaced it with CBD oil.

It has only been four days, since my initial dose of CBD oil, yet, I am, already, experiencing relief. I take it orally for anxiety, and in a salve that I rub into the effected area of my shoulder. My hope is that the effectiveness will continue to increase, and that CBD doesn't lose it's effectiveness, over time.

Electroencephalography (EEG) biofeedback therapy is another, effective and noninvasive treatment for anxiety and post-trauma stress, and a variety of other conditions. I had micro-seizures, due to photosensitive epilepsy, that resolved in large part, with EEG treatment, and, have been contemplating it as a means to alleviate symptoms related to past trauma, which is at the core of my social anxiety.