Ways to Help Yourself Get Through Anxiety
-Practice facing your fears on a consistent basis!
- Exposure therapy is a great way of making progress with your anxiety. The more you practice facing your fears, the stronger you will become.
-“I have a list of my Triggers and I add to it when something occurs to me. Then I can go back to my wellness tools’ list and find something on their to distract or help me focus on something else until the anxiety passes.” —Daisy in the Willows [On figuring out the cause of anxiety and then dealing with it]
-Exercise!
- “I certainly have a few but my biggest one I like to tell my followers is EXERCISE! Google Endorphins! They rock! Find a form of exercise you love and stick with it! I always find I am in such a better mood when I am lifting weights 5-7 days a week.” -Oliver, Cluttered Stories
“I find that my irrational thoughts are often stronger than the logical ones (story of my life ha), so I write them down and look for the false assumptions in them.” –theintrovertgirl [On dealing with irrational thoughts]
A list of ways to help anxiety sufferers*
-Ask how you can help us
- We all struggle from anxiety in different ways and therefore, different methods work for different people. If you’re not sure how to help someone with anxiety, ask them!
- “My suggestion is to know the person you are caring for. If you do not know the person you want to help on a personal level, don’t be afraid to ask “What can I do to help you?” Don’t be afraid to ask them how they are feeling or what they need as well, it is the only way you’ll learn.” – Kristian, Life Lessons From Around The Dinner Table
- More of Kristian’s tips can be found here!
- “My suggestion is to know the person you are caring for. If you do not know the person you want to help on a personal level, don’t be afraid to ask “What can I do to help you?” Don’t be afraid to ask them how they are feeling or what they need as well, it is the only way you’ll learn.” – Kristian, Life Lessons From Around The Dinner Table
-Don’t force us to do things that you think will help if we know they won’t.
- Many of us know what will and won’t help us. If you ask us to do something and we tell you that it won’t help, don’t push it. I had someone tell me to drink water once and while I know they were trying to be kind, they practically forced it on me. It honestly just made me more anxious.
-Give us more that 24 hours heads up
- If you want to go somewhere with us, please let us know before 24 hours beforehand. While knowing about a certain event too early may cause us to over-think until we don’t feel able to go, springing on us the fact that you want us to go somewhere or just showing up unannounced will just add extra, unnecessary stress!
-Scope out the place ahead of time and report back
- While this may sound extremely needy, if we’ve never been somewhere before, sometimes it helps put our mind at ease if we know the lay of the land. If it’s not too much to ask, maybe even take pictures so we can visualize what the place looks like and how it’s set up.
-Tell us what time we’re going out
- If you’ll be picking us up, it’s helpful to know when to expect you. As mentioned in my first piece of advice, showing up unannounced can be very nerve racking!
-Be patient with us!
- This is the most important piece of advice overall. For some anxiety sufferers, going out can be extremely difficult. The fact that we’re trying is a big step. While that may be hard to understand, yelling at us when we struggle will only make things worse. Please try your hardest to be understanding and patient!
-“Don’t be upset if an anxiety sufferer has to leave earlier than planned!” – Ariel, Writing Radiation
-“I think, for people who don’t have physical/emotional limitations, but who try to understand us, they let their disappointment show before they realize it. Maybe not doing that would be a good bit of advice too?” Ariel, Writing Radiation
-Educate yourself on how to help anxiety sufferers by taking out books on mental health and going to websites such as The Mighty, YouShare Project, etc.
-Take the time to talk to us and really listen to what we say. Ask how we are, but if we don’t feel like talking, respect that too.
-Remind those who struggle that they are not alone and that you are there for them.
-Try to understand that anxiety can hit us at anytime and can effect us quickly. If we say we want to go somewhere but then we change our minds at the last second, please try to be kind and understanding. Trust me when I say that we wish we could just do things without so much difficulty.
Helpful Links:
(Remember different methods help different individuals. Not all of these links may be helpful to everyone.)
https://www.drugrehab.com/co-occurring-disorder/anxiety/
http://www.youshareproject.com/
*Article on this subject can be found here!
**A special thank you to all who contributed advice!**
Getting Through Anxiety 