Yesterday I made a post about how it feels when I have an
anxiety attack, so today I wanted to post some of the coping skills I use. This
isn’t a comprehensive list since that would probably end up being a few pages
long, and it takes a lot of work. As you know, I’m a slow typist—these things
take time. I’ll try to make more posts about this same topic since I’m hoping
this will be helpful for others, so if these tips don’t work out, stay tuned
for more!
1. Water
Believe it or not, I’m not recommending water to drink it.
While that might help some people, since I have sensory issues that worsen my
anxiety, I prefer to use water for my skin. It started out that when I felt
like I had bugs in my skin I would take a shower or wash my hands to sooth the
nerves. However, sometimes when I shake, I can’t walk or even stand, preventing
me from being able to get up and do that. I’ve recently started filling bowls
of water that I can dip my hands in and hold there until I’m feeling better. It
can be a hassle to do, but it keeps me from scratching or rubbing myself and I
can calm down much faster.
2. Waving your arms
I was recommended to try this by one of my therapists, and
while it doesn’t work for me during panic attacks, it helps when I first start
to feel anxious. Basically, what you do is wave your arms nice and wide, like
how you do with jumping jacks (but without the jumping part). It feels
ridiculous, so I only do it when I’m at home. From what I understand, since the
waving draws attention to yourself, the large crossing motion tells your brain
to stop worrying, because why would you draw that attention if you were
anxious? Again, I find it works for mild things like waking up in the middle of
the night feeling anxious for no reason, but it doesn’t seem to work as well
when there’s actually something to be anxious about.
3. Chewing Gum
My dentist hates me for this since I already have jaw
problems, but chewing gum really helps me calm down when I’m panicking. My jaw
can’t chatter if I’m moving the muscles to chew, so getting that under control
helps me feel like I might be able to get the rest of the shaking under
control. The repetition gives me something to focus on, and the taste is strong
enough to ground me in reality but soothing enough so as not to be
overwhelming. I’ve begun trying to keep a pack at me with at all times, and so far,
it’s saved me from escalating twice.
4. Breathing
Dumb. I know. But often times this one gets forgotten. I
have a couple of methods for this one too. The first breathing pattern I use is
3 seconds inhale, 3 seconds hold, 3 seconds exhale. It helps with
hyperventilating, though it’s still pretty difficult to do. Once you can
maintain this, try 4 seconds inhale, 4 seconds exhale. These helped me a lot
early on with my panics, but unfortunately, I’m now at the point where I can
get my breathing under control and still be having a full-blown attack.
5. Support
If your anxiety is as bad as mine, you cannot do this alone.
It’s really hard to remember to do any kind of self-care or coping skills when
panicking, so it’s super important to have someone who can help you when you
can’t do so yourself. My boyfriend and I have gone through enough of this
together that he usually knows what kind of things to remind me of, but since
he’s not always here, I’ve had to find other support too. Since there are so
many different ways to cope with anxiety, once you’ve found some things that
work, it’s really important to keep those around you updated in case some unexpected
panics arise. Even if it’s just someone you can call who can walk you through
certain steps, its better than being alone.
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