Patricia Grisafi
I still remember my first anxiety attack. It was one of the scariest moments of my adolescence—and the introduction to a lifelong struggle with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. The good news is that there are now so many ways for people to cope with anxiety—and people are not ashamed to speak up about their struggles.
Whether or not you have an anxiety disorder, everyone suffers from anxiety at some point in their lives. It can make life difficult and sometimes even prevent you from functioning. Everyday tasks become monumental, and you stop wanting to engage with friends and family. Work or other responsibilities can feel overwhelming. You feel like someone is pounding on your chest, like you might faint. Maybe you crawl into bed and give up for the day (which is fine, we can’t be at our best all the time).
Even though anxiety can often feel insurmountable, there are lots of coping strategies out there. Whether you take medication and have a therapist, exercise, keep a routine, or have a support animal (or all of these things—let’s face it, there’s no shame in having all the support you need), there are so many ways to deal with anxiety.
On Reddit, folks generously shared their best strategies for keeping anxiety under control. From reducing coffee to practicing yoga to adopting a pet, here are a few ways to help manage anxiety in your life.
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Keeping busy. I notice my anxiety gets pretty bad when I don’t have a job (I’ve just left uni and am traveling now so haven’t had a steady career yet) or anything to keep me occupied. Exercise is great, as a lot of people have said, but having a solid routine is what keeps me settled.
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Watch a funny video on Youtube. Seriously. Panic attack during lab? Step out, go to the bathroom, watch a video on the toilet. Generally helps.
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For me it depends on the situation. If I’m having a rough week I tangle up two necklaces and keep them in my pocket and when my anxiety picks up I take them out and detangle them. And repeat until I’m just focusing on untangling the necklaces. Also if I’m sitting in class doodling helps me. It helps me focus on what the teacher is saying. And if it gets really bad like on the verge of panic attack and I don’t wanna leave I draw circles in the same spot over and over. Repetitive stuff works good.
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Getting a dog. Funny thing is I didn’t even want to get one, I’m a cat guy and had a bad experience with a dog when I was younger. However my wife put up with my 2 cats for long enough so it wasn’t fair of me to refuse her when she wanted a dog, so here we are. Having something that both loves AND depends on me makes a huge difference – no offence to my wife or cats, but they’re pretty independent!
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Staying off social media seems to be overlooked but it helps me a lot. It’s not the total cure but a piece to the puzzle. You’re subconsciously comparing your life to a bunch of fake portrayals of other people’s happy lives which can make you feel down.
Also if you’re on it a lot you become way more productive when you delete it which lifts your mood.
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I chose self meditation instead of self medication. I pep talk myself in my head and control my breathing by saying over and over… “It’s not life or death, you CAN do this.” “Take it one breath at a time, you GOT this.” And I make no excuses for moving slow or eating slow or accomplishing tasks slow.
I refuse to let anyone control me anymore or dictate to me how I should behave, including society. There’s only one me, and I have to live with me, so only me can make or break — me. One breath at a time.
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50mg Sertraline, no caffeine & no alcohol. Also, acceptance. Once I actually accepted I had a disease and saw my doctor for treatment, I felt so much better. You can make your anxiety so much worse by questioning why you have it, and even wondering if you’re making it up.
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Force yourself to do the thing you don’t want to do. After you do it a few times the anxiety goes away, and it becomes routine. There’s really no secret to this. At the end of the day, you just have to pick yourself up and do the thing. Whatever your reasoning, whatever your motivation, you still just have to do it.
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My therapist once taught me this extremely effective method that I still use to this day.
In your mind, or out loud name: 5 things you can see 5 things you can hear 5 things you can feel
It always instantly made me realize how physical my presence was and how my mind was not the only thing in the world happening. It helps you step back and see the bigger picture of the goings-on around you. If you are ever overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, or on the verge of a panic attack, try this method once and let me know what you thought. Really meditate on the 5 things you observe.
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I bought an adult coloring book “The Enchanted Forest” and try to exercise regularly. Honestly I think coloring and exercise are the only things keeping me sane anymore, and ever since I started doing both of these things, my anxiety has calmed down considerably.
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Making use of a journal and writing in it daily. It is key to get out of your head and putting your thoughts down on paper is what helps. And most importantly doing rather than thinking. Of course visualizing is great, but be careful you’re not day-dreaming. Again, get out of your own head and do something.
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