Anxiety Support Group

Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...

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What do you tell yourself?

QueenJustine22
QueenJustine22

I'm new to this support group and just wanted to get some advice. I've been struggling with anxiety since I was 13. I'm 26 and have been on anxiety medications for a couple of years now. Dealing with this for over a decade I sometimes struggle to give myself a positive anchor thought or to believe that I'm actually going to be okay. I handle and cope with my anxiety well most of the time and I can say that is because of the medication. But sometimes I get so anxious for a few weeks, this happens a couple times a year. And this anxiety spree has been going on for a few days now. I don't want to leave my house or go to work. The anxiety is 24/7 from the moment I wake up to when I go to sleep. I have nightmares and wake up sweating. I feel like I can't get comfortable or relax. I just wanted to know what other people tell themselves to help push through it. How do you lift yourself up when your anxious? How do you calm your anxious mind? What do you tell yourself when your anxiety is telling you that you can't? When you are in the middle of a panic attack what do you tell yourself to help put you at ease? Send help! 

Pstvemynd
Pstvemynd
Hello, I can relate to you in regards to the feelings you get physically and mentally. I personally like to identify what is triggering my Anxiety. Then, I ask myself is this something I have control over or does this control me. You have to believe in yourself and know that you can overcome anything. Stay positive everyday. Look at yourself on the mirror and tell yourself that you got this!
arfie
arfie
Hello Justine. Welcome to DS.

When my anxious mind is chattering, still more words of any attitude are nothing more than still more verbal static to muddy my neural pathways even further. I take the focus off the verbal static and put the focus on my physical symptoms. How am I breathing? Am I clenching muscles? Have I eaten? Am I hydrated? Etc., etc., through the diverse array of physical manifestations of anxiety.

This approach is a form of tactile grounding. The mantras, positive affirmations, etc., work better for me after I am physically grounded. First things first.

But that is me and every case is unique.. . .

Gentle support while you find what works for you. Welcome aboard.
blue342
blue342
For what it’s worth, I’ve really come to invest in that term ‘grounded’, especially during panic attacks. The way I look at it (even outside of an actual attack), everyone dealing with anxiety is pretty much in a deeply unwanted game of ‘tug of war’ with themselves and typically on the losing end. You can literally sense your feet slipping on the ground in the exact direction you don’t want to go. So, you’re trying your best to get iron cleats under your shoes to firmly LOCK in the ground and catch yourself. The thing that seems to SLAP me back to reality/ground, is just to be bluntly honest with myself. My inner voice “Yo. . .you’re having a panic attack.’ Don’t try to hide from it, don’t try to pretend it’s not there. It is exactly what it is. But the minute you start acknowledging that, you’ve already started locking in and can then follow up, first and foremost by simply FORCING yourself to breathe.
Community LeaderMid
Mid
Welcome to the anxiety board at DS.

You've taken the important first step in writing it out.

Best wishes as you find your better balance.
lott4life
lott4life
I have struggled with this for so long as well. I have yet to find the right thing to tell myself to calm my mind. Just the last few weeks I have been experimenting with meditation. I use an app on my phone and have had some luck with it when my mind is just a little anxious. I havent been able to utilize it yet when the anxiety is bad or in a panic attack as I cant stay still long enough. But if you haven't tried it, I think its a good starting point to learn new techniques.
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