Coping with Anxiety

LegacyUser

Hi everyone

Just wondering if anyone can help me with some anxiety coping techniques (breathing exercises etc)

I'll give ya a little background...

This time last year I discovered a lump in my testicle, it turned out to be fine after an operation, but I had to move back to the UK (where I'm from) to get free NHS treatment.

Since then, I've developed a kind of anxiety, it kinda grew out of nowhere and with it, I've gotten IBS. So now, if I have to leave the house for ANYTHING (shops, appointments, job interviews) I start to get really anxious and my IBS flares up which in turn makes my anxiety worse. It's a vicious cycle.

I know that my anxiety comes from the fact that I'm worrying that I'm going to need to go to the bathroom while I'm out. It's like I can't stop thinking about it and this obviously just makes it far worse, I even had to turn back from a job interview last week.

The thing is, I know that if I could get a job go for a few days and be settled that it would calm down but I just can't get over that hurdle. I know it can be done because I had this exact same thing about 8 years ago, while at school, it was brought on my my parents getting divorced and stuff. I was off school for 2 months but once I managed to force myself to go back and got into a routine it went away and hasn't been back till now.

What I'm trying to ask here is, if anyone here has suffered from anxiety similar to mine and what techniques did they use to conquer it?

I've discussed it with my GP and I've been given good tablets for the IBS which help a lot but hasn't eradicated it completely and I don't want to go on anxiety medication (at least not until a last resort) as I know they can be addictive.

I know I've went on a bit here but thanks for reading and I hope someone has some helpful tips! It's ruining my life! but I know it can be overcome...

Thanks

cgarrad

Get one of these, no drugs, they are brilliant

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-StressEraser-Stress-Eraser-Relief-Relaxation-System-/360299412865?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e384bd81#ht_1715wt_1139

It will be gone in a couple of weeks.

LegacyUser

cgarrad wrote: »

Get one of these, no drugs, they are brilliant

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-StressEraser-Stress-Eraser-Relief-Relaxation-System-/360299412865?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e384bd81#ht_1715wt_1139

It will be gone in a couple of weeks.

Thanks mate but I'm looking for some free advice... I don't have $180!

Thanks anyway...

Anyone else?

hubba

Firstly I sympathise with you. I have suffered anxiety all my life, some years worse than others so I've always been searching for a 'cure'. I've seen many shrinks and taken prozac and other anti-depressants/anxiety pills and all have helped but at the end of the day I feel it comes down to me conquering my mind. Sounds like I'm stating the obvious but I really feel that if I can become familiar with a calm mind and tame the raging emotions then I can deal with all the stuff that life throws at me.

So I've always listened to CDs etc, self help calming stuff but in the past couple of weeks I've started actual mediation in the mornings. Bought a CD on 'how to' and just started. And I find it brilliant! During the day I immediately notice if I've tensed up physically which tells me the head is in overdrive and then I remember the calmness of the mediation and it brings me back to 'normal'. Honestly, it really helps to nip potentially stressful situations in the bud and not let my thoughts get out of hand.

So just thought I would share that with you. I have't become a buddhist or tree hugging hippy or anything, just simple mediation. Mindfulness of breathing to be exact though I plan to move on to other areas after a while.

Hope this helps!

hubba

Of course that should ready 'meditation' and not 'mediation'. D'oh.:cool:

Mr Marri

I've been looking into this lately.........

Have a spud before bed time (needs to be at least 3hrs after diner). Here's the science. Complex carbs increase the level of insulin in your blood, insulin binds with most amino acids but not tryptophan and therefore increasing the concentration of tryptophan in the blood increasing it's ability to cross the blood brain barrier. Tryptophan is a precusors for serotonin (mood control)

Also look at GABBA, again more brain chemistry, i haven't managed to do enough research yet to offer any recommendation on this one yet.


Finally a big +1 on meditation, I have just started doing this myself and have been amazed by how immediate the effect is. Also there is some science behind it in the form of Beta-endorphins.

I know a lot of people recomend CBT, but haven't gotten that far myself yet.

I hope this helps some.

Odysseus

OP why not address the issue with therapy, either find a counselling service which offeres low cost counselling. Some people find CBT help but there are plenty of other forms of psychotherapy. Your GP can also refer you to the local psychological services which are free. Both are much better options than asking for help on the net, as you never know who you are talking too, I can tell you I'm a psychotherapist, and years of posts here on the psych forum back that up, but even then I can't prove it; if you get my point.

Ammsy500

hubba wrote: »

Firstly I sympathise with you. I have suffered anxiety all my life, some years worse than others so I've always been searching for a 'cure'. I've seen many shrinks and taken prozac and other anti-depressants/anxiety pills and all have helped but at the end of the day I feel it comes down to me conquering my mind. Sounds like I'm stating the obvious but I really feel that if I can become familiar with a calm mind and tame the raging emotions then I can deal with all the stuff that life throws at me.

So I've always listened to CDs etc, self help calming stuff but in the past couple of weeks I've started actual mediation in the mornings. Bought a CD on 'how to' and just started. And I find it brilliant! During the day I immediately notice if I've tensed up physically which tells me the head is in overdrive and then I remember the calmness of the mediation and it brings me back to 'normal'. Honestly, it really helps to nip potentially stressful situations in the bud and not let my thoughts get out of hand.

So just thought I would share that with you. I have't become a buddhist or tree hugging hippy or anything, just simple mediation. Mindfulness of breathing to be exact though I plan to move on to other areas after a while.

Hope this helps!

What Cd do you listen to for meditation? I would love to get one and find recommendations good

To OP CBT is great for anxiety I did that and helped alot with my anxiety. It will help you deal with your fears which in your case is IBS when you are anxious. It helps put your fears into perspective and gives you tools to deal with your anxiety.

wexfordia

Anxiety... wrote: »

Hi everyone

Just wondering if anyone can help me with some anxiety coping techniques (breathing exercises etc)

I'll give ya a little background...

This time last year I discovered a lump in my testicle, it turned out to be fine after an operation, but I had to move back to the UK (where I'm from) to get free NHS treatment.

Since then, I've developed a kind of anxiety, it kinda grew out of nowhere and with it, I've gotten IBS. So now, if I have to leave the house for ANYTHING (shops, appointments, job interviews) I start to get really anxious and my IBS flares up which in turn makes my anxiety worse. It's a vicious cycle.

I know that my anxiety comes from the fact that I'm worrying that I'm going to need to go to the bathroom while I'm out. It's like I can't stop thinking about it and this obviously just makes it far worse, I even had to turn back from a job interview last week.

The thing is, I know that if I could get a job go for a few days and be settled that it would calm down but I just can't get over that hurdle. I know it can be done because I had this exact same thing about 8 years ago, while at school, it was brought on my my parents getting divorced and stuff. I was off school for 2 months but once I managed to force myself to go back and got into a routine it went away and hasn't been back till now.

What I'm trying to ask here is, if anyone here has suffered from anxiety similar to mine and what techniques did they use to conquer it?

I've discussed it with my GP and I've been given good tablets for the IBS which help a lot but hasn't eradicated it completely and I don't want to go on anxiety medication (at least not until a last resort) as I know they can be addictive.

I know I've went on a bit here but thanks for reading and I hope someone has some helpful tips! It's ruining my life! but I know it can be overcome...

Thanks

Have you ever considered hypnotherapy ? I have read that it has been used to help people conquer their anxiety.Hope this helps.

LegacyUser

Ammsy500 wrote: »

What Cd do you listen to for meditation? I would love to get one and find recommendations good

+1 - Would love to know what CD you are listening to hubba.

hubba

It's a DVD actually. 'Meditation for Everyone', ordered online through www.clear-vision.org. It's a 'how to' DVD with a 20 minute guided meditation at the end which I use every morning. It's not fancy or glitzy, and I wouldn't say it cost too much to make but it is just what you need to get started.

But I find it great. I used to tend to get very wound up at work - the pace is fast, boss is very demanding and keeps throwing things at me last minute but I find I can react less to this type of frustration so avoiding getting wound up in the first place. It's a learning process though so I'm expecting things to get even better, very gradually over time.

I also analyse everything to death and mull over things in the past, and worry about the future but this helps you to ease off on yourself and stop obsessing. Wasting time in past or future when you should be enjoying right now.

Thoie

You could try some of these podcasts while you're out and about. Check to see if your one's voice drives you crazy at home first though - nothing worse than realizing half way through your relaxation that you want to stomp on your MP3 player

If you do a search for relaxation podcasts you can normally listen to some first and find out whose voice you like best.

LegacyUser

I never thought of mediation podcasts, excellent idea.

Thoie

I've come to love podcasts, not just for meditation/relaxation, but also for exercise routines and a variety of other things. I was very put off by podcasts in the early days, as they all seemed to be men with boring voices talking interminably about boring topics. However as they've become more mainstream you'll find there's a lot of great resources out there now.

Pre-podcast days I had an earlier edition of The Three Minute Meditator. Haven't seen the more recent editions, I get the impression they've gone a bit over the top, but my 3rd ed is great. It's full of a lot of very simple things you can do. One that might work well in the OP's situation is that if you find yourself getting anxious is to "witness your thoughts". There's a more detailed description here, but I use a simpler version (and sorry if this gets a bit long winded).

Try this alone in bed initially. Just lie in bed and try not to think of anything in particular. Random thoughts will float through your head. As each one comes, say to yourself "That's a thought. One. There's another thought. Two." Focus more on the recognising and counting, and the thoughts will start drifting without making you tense. Sometimes a particular thought will interrupt you, and you'll get annoyed at yourself, in which case just recognise the annoyance as another thought, and start from one again When you can keep that up for a while, start with the labelling - "That's a thought about housework. That's a thought about health. That's a thought about work." Then you can build up to numbering the categories, and can take it deeper and deeper.

hubba

Sounds good, Thoie. I might give it a try.