Does anyone have any calming techniques?
I have awful anxiety, with panick attacks associated with panic disorder. I have had thus since I was a child of 6 or 7. I am prescribed a medication to get rid of the anxious feeling I have when I feel a panic attack coming on, but I hate taking pills especially the ones I am supposed to take for this disorder, for they are highly addictive and bad for you all around. So, when I feel as ifs panic attack is coming on does anyone have any helpful ways to get rid of the attack with out use of medication? Ive tried many things and nothing seems to work!
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My mother-in-law is in social work (and specifically, dealing with holistic approaches to healing the psyche), and she has helped several people with anxiety and other stress-related disorders through Hypnotherapy. If you want to learn more, you can google or you can PM me for some references.
Plenty of ways to calm oneself. I personally just smoke a blunt or something and call it a day.
A simple thing is breathing. Several big, deep, slow breaths in a row. Consciously relax your body and then relax it again. I unconsciously hold my breath when I’m under stress and I find that if I just exhale, I feel a whole hell of a lot better. I understand that stress and anxiety aren’t the same but if you can head it off before it turns into a full blown attack, it may work.
This happens to me a lot – sometime reguraly and sometimes out of the blue. Here’s what I do.
1. Run cold water on the inside of my wrists, or hold a cold washcloth / wet paper towel on the inside of my wrists, elbows, the back of my neck, and the back of my knees sometimes. These are pressure points and cool you down from the sweats and heat of a panic attack.
2. Breathing / focus exercises. I breathe deep through my nose and imagine that I’m actually breathing through my eyes. Or I’ll imagine that I’m breating in through one nostril and our through the other. This makes me focus on something other than my panic.
3. Take a walk, or otherwise change my scenery a bit for a few minutes.
4. If all else fails, I try and remember that nothing will ever be changed by my anxiety or panic – except for how much my stomach hurts!
Good Luck!!!
I agree with Megan64. I’ve found that the breathing I learned for childbirth really helps me out in stressful/anxious situations. If I can focus on deep, cleansing breaths, I can keep the anxiety under control. It’s true that when we’re anxious we tend to hold our breath & clench our muscles, so if you can keep your breathing going, that will help. Also, doing stretching exercises (especially in your neck & shoulders) can ease the stress.
diaphragmatic breathing. I tend 2 be put in incredibley stressful situations relatively often, & my psychologist highly recommended this very useful technique. As the name implies, you breathe from your diaphragm, allowing all the muscles on your abdominal area & chest to totally relax. Take a deep breath that forces just your stomach 2 expand & exhibiting no movement from your chest. This takes practice, but once mastered, it’s absolutely invaluable.
You can always try to take up kickboxing classes or karate. That usually helps to churn down the stress levels. I have a friend who has serious ADHD but it helps when he goes kickboxing or jogging. And I had a friend who would stare at a wall whenever he felt like he was going to panic. It works to relax since it allows you to focus on one thing and not let anything else touch you.
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