Just a word of advice...

[AnimatedFreak101]

This was actually something that I had already posted on another thread yesterday, but I felt like I needed to share it with everyone on here. It's just basically techniques that I'm trying to help with my anxiety, and so far, it appears to be working:

"I've actually picked up on some useful advice while flying over to Oklahoma today. And this is going to sound totally insane of me, but trust me. It works. Instead of trying to fight your anxiety, expect that you will get it. If you keep telling yourself not to panic, that only adds to the stress. Instead, think about the situations where you are most likely to panic, and accept that you will likely panic in said situations. That way, you are better prepared to handle it should it come your way. I really hope that makes sense. I tried it this morning right before I boarded the plane and I did not panic one bit, believe it or not. Yeah, I had some butterflies, but it was nothing serious at all.

Also, on the subject of that. There's another technique that my own dad actually shared with me, and mind you, this takes a bit of practice: Every time you get those racing panicky thoughts inside your head, try and completely erase those thoughts from your mind and then focus all of your attention on the act of your breathing. I know that sounds very basic, but here's the catch: don't try any 'deep breaths' or special techniques for breathing. If anything, that can actually add to your panicking because when you do those 'breathing techniques,' you automatically get that mentality that "Oh god! I'm doing this because I'm panicking! Oh no! Make it stop!" So, instead, breathe as you normally would, but put all of your focus on that. Our own regular breathing can serve as a security, we're just not aware of it because it's naturally involuntary. Also, when we panic, we tend to put our attention on our quickening heartbeats, which again, adds more to the panicking. Again, focus all of your attention on each breath that you take.

The bottom line: Focus as much as you can on your normal act of breathing, and don't change anything about the pattern of your breathing.

I hope I didn't confuse anybody with that. XD But I'm just now starting to try this, and it makes perfect sense to me."

[afraid213]

I know what you mean by "oh god! I'm going to panic that's why I'm deep breathing" thing. Haha. Everytime I start to panic and do "deep breaths" I automatically panic more!! But now it makes sense why! I will definately try these things

[AnimatedFreak101]

It does make plenty of sense, right? My dad is earning his doctorate in psychology, and that's one thing that he had learned during his schooling. It's worked wonders for me during this trip, and I hope it does for everyone who reads this too! But yeah, one ridiculous example of the deep-breath technique is the paper bag trick for hyperventilation. That's even been proven to worsen the situation and it was something my dad had brought up while explaining this method. It's also good to practice what I had explained while doing stuff that you love too. If you multitask it with focusing on your regular breathing, it could actually make your favorite activities more enjoyable!

[transcend6887]

I love your advice!! Thank you for sharing that. Your right most times we know we are anxious in certain situations and we make it worse by denying or running away from it. I love the idea of focusing on your breathing. I had a therapist correct me today. I told her I am completely out of control of my body when I go into panic about getting sick and she asked me if i could still walk, breathe, think, etc and clearly that was a yes. Small idea, big realization for me. Oh yeah I am not that handicapped when I panic afterall