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Tips for dealing with anxiety?


Sarma

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My anxiety is more severe ever since i quit gaming. Before I used gaming to deal with that anxiety, to make it go away. I'm gonna exercise when i get home, so hopefully that will help. 

What are your guys' ways to deal with anxiety? Please, anything is welcome. 

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2 hours ago, Sarma said:

My anxiety is more severe ever since i quit gaming. Before I used gaming to deal with that anxiety, to make it go away. I'm gonna exercise when i get home, so hopefully that will help. 

What are your guys' ways to deal with anxiety? Please, anything is welcome. 

First I gotta ask if the anxiety is the panic attack anxiety or if it is a more general anxiety ?

What I tend to do, to feel better in general, is to do something that I can argue to myself is usefull in anyway. 

I can feel anxious when too much time has passed and I dont feel like I have spent the time on anything usefull. It happens usually when I am bored as well so it might just be moral panic, but then when I do something I find usefull, it really helps. Like 30 minutes ago I really wanted to install some games and play them, but I picked up a book instead and started reading up on fractures in radiology. It could also be to go for a walk and listen to your favorite music if you have some. 

 

But again depending on what kind of anxiety you have I hope you can find some way to deal with it or make it go away completely ?

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1 hour ago, The radtech said:

First I gotta ask if the anxiety is the panic attack anxiety or if it is a more general anxiety ?

What I tend to do, to feel better in general, is to do something that I can argue to myself is usefull in anyway. 

I can feel anxious when too much time has passed and I dont feel like I have spent the time on anything usefull. It happens usually when I am bored as well so it might just be moral panic, but then when I do something I find usefull, it really helps. Like 30 minutes ago I really wanted to install some games and play them, but I picked up a book instead and started reading up on fractures in radiology. It could also be to go for a walk and listen to your favorite music if you have some. 

 

But again depending on what kind of anxiety you have I hope you can find some way to deal with it or make it go away completely ?

Thanks for the advice! It feels more like a panic attack when it happens. I usually think about how my life isn't progressing, how I am broken and can't be fixed. That all usually leads to me thinking I have schizophrenia or something of the same severity. The therapist im supossed to go to is off work till the 23rd, but i wont be able to go until the beginning of august. This anxiety really worries me sometimes, maybe i should find another therapist in the meantime. It's been happening ever since i finished highschool. I guess i feel like a failure or something like that. I could go into detail, but i don't think you want to be my therapist lmao. 

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Okay then I Think you are doing the right thing already by the therapist. He must be able to give you some Good tools to handle the anxiety when it comes. But of you wonder wether or not you have a mental disorder or if you are afraid you could use the therapist to find out about that too ? 

 

And no I Will not be your therapist, But you Can always use is to get some burdens of your shoulders like you are doing now. We Can listen and we Can talk. That Can sometimes mean a World og difference ? 

 

the only thing I Can say about the attacks is that they are not dangourus, I have one close to me who gets these attacks usually right after something very joyfull has happened. The person Will start shaking, feel of choking and crying automatically, But always knows that Its not dangourus. That might help you to not fear getting the attacks ? 

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Hi dude! 

I will give you some links. Check if you want. My anxiety is not that bad and panick attack are almost gone. For me really helps disconnect from the internet(check only few sites), read books, try new things (drawing, desing..) and go out to the nature. BTW Love is the answer dude. Loveyourself on 100%. 

https://thiswayup.org.au/how-do-you-feel/worried/

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323454.php

https://www.anxiety.org/what-is-anxiety

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/anxiety-disorders-and-anxiety-attacks.htm

+ Know your "enemy"

Here's a list of common cognitive distortions:

  1. Mind reading. You assume that you know what people think without having sufficient evidence of their thoughts. “He thinks I’m a loser.”

  2. Fortune-telling. You predict the future negatively: things will get worse, or there is danger ahead. “I’ll fail that exam,” or “I won’t get the job.”

  3. Catastrophizing. You believe that what has happened or will happen will be so awful and unbearable that you won’t be able to stand it. “It would be terrible if I failed.”

  4. Labeling. You assign global negative traits to yourself and others. “I’m undesirable,” or “He’s a rotten person.”

  5. Discounting positives. You claim that the positive things you or others do are trivial. “That’s what wives are supposed to do—so it doesn’t count when she’s nice to me,” or “Those successes were easy, so they don’t matter.”

  6. Negative filtering. You focus almost exclusively on the negatives and seldom notice the positives. “Look at all of the people who don’t like me.”

  7. Overgeneralizing. You perceive a global pattern of negatives on the basis of a single incident. “This generally happens to me. I seem to fail at a lot of things.”

  8. Dichotomous thinking. You view events or people in all-or-nothing terms. “I get rejected by everyone,” or “It was a complete waste of time.”

  9. Blaming. You focus on the other person as the source of your negative feelings, and you refuse to take responsibility for changing yourself. “She’s to blame for the way I feel now,” or “My parents caused all my problems.”

  10. What if? You keep asking a series of questions about “what if” something happens, and you fail to be satisfied with any of the answers. “Yeah, but what if I get anxious?,” or “What if I can’t catch my breath?”

  11. Emotional reasoning. You let your feelings guide your interpretation of reality. “I feel depressed; therefore, my marriage is not working out.”

  12. Inability to disconfirm. You reject any evidence or arguments that might contradict your negative thoughts. For example, when you have the thought I’m unlovable, you reject as irrelevant any evidence that people like you. Consequently, your thought cannot be refuted. “That’s not the real issue. There are deeper problems. There are other factors.”

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I went through severe anxiety and panic attacks a while back that put me in hospital at one point! They're awful! But eventually I learned how to deal with the anxiety in my own terms. I still feel anxious sometimes but it's a lot better. 

All I can say is: exercise! That's a great start for me at least. When you're super anxious you have all this excess energy and adrenaline flowing through you, and it has to go somewhere. Either you can roll into a little ball in bed and let it express itself by driving your heart and brain into a frenzy, or you can get up and do fucking jumping jacks and burpees at 2AM until you're so out of breath you want to puke. Who gives a shit if you look or feel ridiculous, it'll make you feel better by channeling some of that energy elsewhere and tiring you out so you can calm the fuck down.

Otherwise, therapy definitely helps. Do you know the serenity prayer? That got me through some tough spots. 

Edited by ElectroNugget
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I personally really began to thrive on a 100% plant-based diet however that was also the first time in my life I really started to focus on nutrition. I think as long as you try to eat healthy along with exercise / sleep / hydration it will do you a good service. 

Neil

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I think all of the posts in this thread offer valuable advice. Implementing those should help reduce general anxiety. 

Another thing you ought to consider is if the anxiety is being caused by something you are avoiding. If that's the case, the only way to truly rid yourself of this will be to face the fear head on, whatever that is. In reality, it's a chicken-and-egg like scenario. For example, anxiety can cause gaming compulsion which by not facing one's fears causes anxiety which causes gaming compulsion, and so on and so forth. Your best bet, is to tackle each at the same time. Try and lower your anxiety so you can give yourself more "emotional bandwith" to handle your fears, and handle your fears so you can lower your anxiety. 

I still struggle with this quite a bit, but I've learned to listen to my anxiety a lot more. I'm trying to cultivate a habit where when I feel anxiety, I think about what is making me anxious and what I can do about it and act on it. If I can resolve the issue, I feel instantly better and the anxiety melts away. Hack Your Anxiety by Dr. Alicia Clark was a decent read about this--maybe a little repetitive, but the core message made sense and has worked in practice, at least for me. 

Hope this helps.

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My psych advised me that I have a dissociative disorder. But made the choice with me not to refer me since i'm high functioning and being recognised with a disability wouldn't make my life easier anyway. I don't take medications also and don't intend to. I've also had drug induced psychosis before for about two weeks, it went away on its own without any outside intervention.

I've been dealing with lots of general anxiety for years. Recently i'm taking on not being so anxious in public. What started my journey was quitting pot. Found StopGaming not long after. I've got this mindset of wanting to improve, learn and apply advice about self development. I've been taking steps to cut out other things that don't benefit me too like smoking. I also left behind all my friends at that time, since they only enabled my drug habits and didn't have any will at all to be something more (No goals, no aspirations).

The two things I recommend are self reflection whenever you feel lost (What are you goals? Aspirations? What action are you gonna take to solve your problem?). goal setting and meditation. The more you practice meditating, the more control you have over yourself. Sounds strange, but I feel like now I can use that anxious energy and turn it into productive energy. I've heard similar things from NoFap too. For the 'Schizophrenia' level things - You might be familiar with psychosis or symptoms alike to it (Although it is pretty rare to experience, something like 2% of the world?). I'm no doctor ofc. I wouldn't know how Schizoprenics handle pre psychosis either (Since their onset is sudden, probs why they req. meds). Tho with my disorder, I start having those symptoms only when i'm extremely stressed (There's also no medication specifically for DD). Might be helpful for you to practice 'grounding techniques' - They're usually what I do in pre-psychosis, but I think they'd help for other disorders too (Tho usually apply to symptoms of losing touch with reality). If you are familiar with psychosis, I use this STEPI indicator test to help let me know if something truly is changing (Usually your cognition slows down to a point where you won't realise without the aid of a test to tell you). I've also heard psychosis like symptoms can come from other disorders too like types of anxiety including OCD (But the same principles apply that it's not extremely common).

I've been doing Cognitive Brain Therapy for a few years. Very helpful. Helps me become a better person by challenging my behaviours, thoughts ect. in a contructive logical way. Was afraid at first that it'd permanently change my personality lol. Self diagnosing isn't worth the effort tho. When I was younger I knew I had something, searched a lot about it and was overall just a waste of time and source of anxiety.

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Oh man I can totally relate to this after high school anxiety. Same thing happened to me and to a lot of people I know. First thing I would recommend : do therapy!

Chances are high you have a "normal" anxiety disorder which is what I had and what some people I know had. Which is not a big deal and can be well treated and doesnt have to last long. Mine took about half a year until it was a lot better, no medications or anything. 

And dont talk yourself into bullshit like severe psychological illneses that are not diagnosed. Thats the main reason why I recommend a therapist. A good therapist will instantly be able to tell that you are not "crazy " or anything like that.

And I also recommend doing stuff. Basically anything. Even better : not being at home too much . Like dont hide. Never hide. Hiding makes anxiety a lot worse. I mean if you are having a panic attack you shouldnt go out but if your are anxious or uncomfortable its better to go out and not stay home. Working out or any kind of sport is also very good to get rid of the anxiety that can build up. 

Also try to avoid shitty foods, stuff that is high in bad fats and sugar. This can also increase anxiety.

And most of all: accept anxiety. Its ok to feel it. I know it sucks but when its there its there. It will go away. Its ok to feel anxious or panic or sadness. Acknowledge your feelings you are on a path to a happier life.

And something that helped me in my darkest times: If you can feel good for a second or maybe even a minute a day : You can be happy and feel good again in general. I mean I am not feeling my best right now (because of gaming) but the past 2 years of my life where really amazing and even if it might not seem like it right now, you will also have amazing days and weeks and months and years.

So just hold on you will be fine.

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