[Closed] Are you a worrier? What helps?

What helps?

Ride a bike up a big hill, then ride it down, then drink some beer and take a nice nap.

Build a wall.

Of course it doesn't have to be a wall, the point Churchill was making was taking your mind away from the big things and just engaging in an activity that has flow and gives you pleasure. You know, like riding a bike. Or something.

Nah..

Lets Build a Wall.

Armed sentries every mile, then conscription.

That’s in the Tory manifesto, P24, para11...

I find 20mg Citalopram every day helps wonders....

I used to be a news junkie, radio 4 on all day, TV news, newsnight, question time etc.

Trouble is it's overwhelmingly negative, sensational and depressing. Plenty of good news out there but it doesn't sell papers or attract viewers. As a news consumer I was partly responsible for the demand.

I am now going cold turkey and it's helped my mood immensely. Give it a try.

yes
flourexatine

Beta blockers.

I used to be prone to anxiety attacks, most of which are totally irrational. I still get the odd one.

I carry a pack of beta blockers around in my bag and when I get the fear I just pop one of those. Stops the physical symptoms immediately

I find I need them less and less (not had one for a few months) as I've learnt not to give a flying **** about most things any more, but I keep them around just in case.

If you pop to your GP and tell them you're having anxiety attacks, they'll prescribe you them

I'm not thankfully, I don't worry about owt (which in itself can be an issue I suppose!).  However, my Mrs is a born worrier and she takes Propanalol (sp?) which seems to help when she's anxious.  Sadly our eldest takes after  his mum and is showing all the signs of an anxious disposition at 10 🙁

I find the above mentioned bike up/bike down/beer method really helps if I do need to distract myself for some reason.  Or working on a bike (or drinking beer!) 🙂

I am. Anxiety is one of the reasons I had to give up work.

Riding a bike is a good idea but I find that walking is actually better. Fit in a short walk when you can but get out and enjoy a longer walk when possible.

There are some usual stock answers.

I'd seriously consider downloading the free trial of headspace and giving the meditation a go.
I find mountain biking relaxing because I'm completely focused on not face planting or hitting a tree. Meditation is a more convenient way of directing your focus on a task to relax and remove more negative emotions.

You can try and rationalise it but I've got a vague memory of that not being effective in the long term. You can try and accept it, worry is a normal emotion, one that can be a good motivator and survival skill. Is there something practical and useful you can do in response?

https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/worry-decision-tree/

Talk about it. It is often an internal monologue that reinforces itself. Saying it out loud can give perspective and change the way you look at it.

Good luck. It's not easy, but remember, it'll pass.

Currently going through a relapse of panic attacks and worsening anxiety, I take propranolol but that doesn’t help, sadly I’ve found booze has been making me feel worse during this relapse, not the nice buzz that 3 pints gives me, but in the days after.

I try to not ‘live in my head’ eg. Don’t just mull over the slightest feeling in my body, stop thinking/worrying and focus on what’s going on outside me and distract myself with that

I’m part way though a group (lol!) anxiety cbt sessions but it’s not really helping. What’s really bothering me and getting me down is that it’s affecting me now in places/situations that it never used to before ... So being outdoors I get it, being out on my bike and walking I get it. So markedly avoiding these which I know is worst thing I can do.

I’m seriously contemplating hypnotherapy so would be good to hear if others have tried it

I take propranolol but that doesn’t help

It's a Beta Blocker, so whilst it can suppress the physical symptoms eg racing heart, it doesn't stop your brain winding itself up. I find SSRIs stop the thought process going AWOL and keep it all in check.

Normally no, I try to live by the maxim that you if you are concerned abuot something you can affect, then you change what you can - if you can't affect it, then don't worry about it

Late last year though I found myself increasingly lying awake at night, worrying over things - mostly about brexit and the implications thereof, but that was piled up on top of family issues. It affected my whole life as I just wasn't getting enough sleep

I stopped watching the news, and stopped using facebook and things have improved massively. Doesn't mean we're not f****d, but I don't have the sheer awfulness shoved in my face any more so it's not as overpowering

Another anxiety and depression sufferer here.

20mg of Citalopram certainly helps take edge off it, though I've been off it for a year now.

I worry about smaller, family stuff rather than big issues. Nothing I can really do to stop the worldwide spread of coronavirus, but far more worried about whether my wife will be in a random car accident.

Counseling helped me take a step back and see "bigger" picture so I wasn't fixated on details. Exercise helps me to focus on things not to worry about. Booze makes everything worse.

Lots of people swear by Headspace/mindfulness. It didn't work for me personally, just left more space for the worries to take over in my head, but I think I'm an exception to the norm.

SA v Russia ‘oil price conflict’

I'm not entirely sure why this is a reason to worry TBH......C-19, maybe more so.

Over the last 12 months I've become much more prone to short periods of anxiety/depression - mainly due to work and relationship worries.
I'm learning to try and take a step back and look at the 'facts' as opposed to the shit that my head makes up of its own accord... usually at 3am.
When I'm able to do this I feel a lot better. There are certain things you can do nothing about so there's no point in worrying about them.

I can recommend reading this:
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Think
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/147363749X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_r15zEb14EZWVP

- it shows just how the world is way better than we think it is and how to look at many things in a different light (for example there's a graph on the coronavirus thread showing how everybody will be infected using a straight line created from existing data....... lines are almost never straight and this will never happen!)

As above but avoiding high intensity sessions(adrenaline release), and sadly avoiding alcohol which I find just postpones anxiety. I don’t meditate formally but try to catch myself when the inner monologue starts and find a distraction. I also catastrophise about family members etc.

and sadly avoiding alcohol which I find just postpones anxiety.

The Daily Mash absolutely nailed it...

It's funny because it's true

Have you tried running? Or a-n-other fitness regime that stimulates the whole body?

I’ve never been a worrier, found sometimes getting things in perspective a challenge... so years ago started trail running. Been wonderful for focus on the immediate stuff and let go of the crap.

Worked for me. Don’t ride bikes much anymore, trail run instead.

Have you tried running?

Are you mad?! Have you ever seen a runner smiling? Exactly! I rest my case.

And trail runners? They terrify me. Especially when you see a lone head-torch bobbing along a bleak moorland when you're all out on a night ride. I'm convinced that they're all actually serial killers and the only reason they're on the moors on their own at night is because they've just buried a body in a shallow grave up there.

Actually... know you come to mention it, that would certainly sort out my anxiety...

I may give this serial killing 'fell running' thing a go...

I got to the point in the middle of the election run-up that I realised that politics is f'd, the climate is f'd, and there's f' all I can do about it. At that point I gave up worrying about 'big' stuff.

I have one worry currently, and that's how to engineer a job and life move back up North. All the other stuff will just happen.

If you need a BA job we can get you in here nettles, you'd be permie though. Just need to get Mrs Nettles on board with it first

If you need a BA job we can get you in here nettles, you’d be permie though.

Oooooh, hello. Where are you again?

You mean waking up in the middle of the night unable to sleep with existential dread? Then yes. Come the morning it's mostly gone. Weird.

I find that deliberately and wilfully not giving a shit is the solution.

When i start getting stressed about something I find a loud exclamation of “f it!” most efficacious in almost every situation.

Do what you can and then say “F it”

That’s my motto these days.

I’ve had my moments, but I’ve tried to be strict in how I manage it and am much, much better now. What I find works is!

Exercise. Do it habitually (6 days per week for me, but whatever you need), but as soon as the worry arrives I grab my running shoes anyway. As little as 20 mins does the job.

Be careful on social media and news intake. I look at BBC News once per day and no more. I am careful who I follow on Twitter and Facebook, I don’t need a constant stream of negativity. Become wilfully ignorant.

Try to be realistic. Worry about what you can control.

Get outside. Everything is worse inside, in front of a screen. Step outside, take some photographs, look at the tree, listen to the birds, whatever it is, do it outside.

I'm back in therapy with CBT and immediately re-started 4 things:

a) The worry tree technique (see above)

b) Daily mindfulness / time to yourself moments

c) Establishing work/values around timing aka finishing work at an appropriate time

d) Considering Safety behaviours/triggers, and actively working toward removing them e.g. launching into a tirade everytime I'm asked to repeat myself at work / looking for the nearest air steward on a flight.

I find meditation helps a lot (this is coming from a long time skeptic). I don't get on well with woo and incense bothering, and didn't like Headspace app but enjoyed Sam Harris' approach and his Waking Up app. Meditation but with all the woo stripped away.

That and realising how pointless worrying is. Nothing,and I mean nothing I have ever got anxious about has ever happened in the way I feared. A few months back I was going into overdrive about work worries,yet here we are all about to die of corana but work is fine.

@Houns I tried the hypnotherapy and for me it was a big help. I'd promised my wife a trip to Barcelona and was becoming very anxious about flying for the first time in over 10 years. Panic attacks and waking up with sore jaw after grinding my teeth in my sleep etc. So I had three sessions with a hypnotherapist who also gave me a relaxation tape. Flying was no problem. However the whole experience made me realise that what ailed me was generalised anxiety which had "latched on" to something out of my comfort zone which I couldn't avoid. Now nearly six years later I still use the relaxation tape when I feel the anxiety mounting. Points made by the hypnotherapist:
It works best for specific anxieties - arachnophobia etc or changing behaviours like stopping smoking.
It works better for some folk than others.
Finally IME anxiety is not curable but it can be managed effectively and each person's way of doing this is different.

I was a real worrier, as was my Mum, whether it's a genetic or environmental factor I don't know, probably like most things a bit of both. The state of the world, Brexit, my children's careers / partners, my job, money, pretty much everything was a source or worry.
My worry levels have been completely re-adjusted over the last six months, due to major health challenges. I've realised that most things work out OK and there's no point worrying about things you can't control. I wouldn't necessarily recomend contracting a serious disease but it does change your perspective on life.

Simple solution, Avoid exposure to too much news media...

I am considered quite chilled for the most part, it's been commented on by friends and family lately.
I limit myself to listening to the R4 on the way to/from work on the radio (if driving). And then I actively avoid most news for the rest of the day. If I want to know something specific I google, skim read and that's it...

There is seldom any really new information in news broadcasts after about 17:00hrs but the presentation on, for example, ITN seems calculated to increase anxiety levels a couple of notches...
I'm no worse informed, just a wee bit less panicky.