Dealing with anxiety

katho31

Great stuff  cheered us up on a very dull, drizzly morning!!

RAwarrior

Hi leeCal, I have had Cognitive Behavioural Therapy which helped however, non medical remedies which have helped me are gardening, going to the park when it’s safe of course given Covid 19, just being outside for me makes a difference, observing nature including plants which takes my focus away from the cause of my anxiety watching videos on YouTube about things that interest me, reading a book, listening to forest sounds on an app as I love visiting forests when it is safe as I find the forest environment very calming and watching wildlife programmes. I have tried to do things which are not related to the cause of my anxiety which I have outlined in one of my posts. I would suggest spending time outside if it is possible as I don’t know the nature of your disability ( and I am not asking) as I find being outside lifts my mood but obviously this is what helps me. 

LouiseH

I've started going for walks and hoping that will help with anxiety and also sleep. I've tried mindfulness a few times but have struggled with it. Reading helps me, which is a form of mindfulness as you're focusing on the story. I find that easier than trying mindfulness on its own. 

leeCal

Hi @LouiseH have you tried the kind of mindfulness, whereby you count your breaths in or out either, though I find counting the out breath easier. You count from one to ten and then start again, if you forget what number you’re up to you start from one again. The idea is to be mindful of your breathing. This is mostly the kind of mindfulness I practise myself and I find it can help if I catch my anxiety early on ish.

katho31

Hi and the sea sounds and waves cassettes, showing my age there!! cd's the mobile library have them and online there are some good value calming ones.

leeCal

@katho31 I really like the sound of the sea, it’s also known to be a good masking sound for tinnitus, which I have as well.

katho31

Hi there @leeCal, i didnt know that but now you say it, it does make sense  also the music from when world cup is on is it opera or there one called Barcellona my late dad loved and maria calls too  memory not great at mo 

katho31

maria callas i think?

Msbettyboop

Planting in the garden really helps me. So growing things from seed, or buying plants and planting them out. Watering the plants isais really relaxing and feeding the birds. I have a few bird feeders and bird baths and watching the birds eat and drink is good.

RAwarrior

Hi Msbettyboop,
 I really enjoy gardening. I collect seeds every year to plant again, take cuttings and because of Covid 19 (I am in the shielding group)? I have tried to grow plants from seeds that I bought online as I haven’t been able to visit any garden centres. I find it very relaxing and it helps me to focus on something else. It is also rewarding to see the results. 

RAwarrior

Hi Msbettyboop,
 I forgot to say that  although I don’t feed the birds in the garden because I have cats, I do feed the ducks, geese and other wildfowl when I go to a park with swan and duck food which I buy online. 

katho31

Hi @RAwarrior, i read in paper yesterday that birds and ducks enjoy porridge and sesame seeds, the reason they say don't give them white bread is because they get no nutrients from it, brown breads good they say 

Msbettyboop

@RAwarrior yes my favourite part is seeing the rewards of growing from seed. Also if anyone is struggling to relax or sleep gardening world on BBC iPlayer is perfect to watch and very gentle. 

RAwarrior

Hi katho31,
Yes you are correct about oats. You can feed wildfowl oats, frozen sweet corn, defrosted peas, chopped up lettuce or swan and duck food which floats on the water and is very healthy for them. I wasn’t going to mention bread, however, it is very harmful for wildfowl and can actually kill them especially ducklings and goslings. Unfortunately it can cause Angel Wings which can be fatal and it means they can’t fly to get away from predators. Unfortunately I have recently seen Canada Geese and Egyptian Geese goslings with Angel Wings and it was heartbreaking to see. I know there are well meaning people however, it is better not to feed wildfowl anything rather than feeding them bread especially white bread. 

RAwarrior

Hi Msbettyboop,
There are also lots of virtual garden videos on YouTube because of Covid 19 which are also very relaxing to watch. I also found some videos about how to take cuttings from particular plants as I wasn’t sure and I found them very useful. Many places have put videos on YouTube since the lockdown so we can still see some lovely gardens and also get new ideas about what to plant. 

leeCal

Hi @RAwarrior if you want some to be aware that you’re talking to them you need to use the @ sign before their name, that way the system alerts lets them know. ?

RAwarrior

Hi @leeCal,
Thank you very much for letting me know as I wasn’t aware of this as I only joined today. Thank you very much for your comments earlier and I hope my suggestions regarding anxiety were useful. ?

leeCal

Yes @RAwarrior your suggestions are useful. I’m hoping the thread becomes a sort of compendium of methods to combat anxiety for both myself and any others who find this malady to be a constant. Thank you. 

RAwarrior

You’re welcome @leeCal. I only joined today and I have never joined any type of forum before however, I contacted Scope about something else and I was looking at their website when I came across the online community. I started reading some of the comments and I was really impressed with the comments, the kindness,  the information and support people were giving each other about so many topics so I decided to join. 

I am physically disabled however, because of the reasons I have mentioned in several of my posts, I also now suffer from anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I didn’t have PTSD before but thanks to being bullied and harassed at work for many years PTSD was added to my already serious health issues. I often struggle to find ways to cope so my suggestions might not be suitable for everyone. I find going outside really helps but because of Covid 19 I have been restricted. I also feel able to contribute because I can see that people posting do want to help other people. I am grateful for all of the suggestions people have posted and I think it’s a great idea of yours which hopefully will help you and other people. It is a refreshing change to read positive suggestions instead of the usual “you need to move on” that I usually get from people. Good luck with this thread?

leeCal

Reading around the breathing techniques I find the expert advice that whilst doing the exercise it can be very advantageous to think of the thing which produces the anxiety. Apparently this can retrain the brain as the breathing technique lowers anxiety whilst thinking of the anxiety producing situation or thing. Eventually the idea is that the anxiety is lowered or cancelled out by repeatedly doing this.

This could be very helpful for some types of anxiety I think.