Things to do which help

These are techniques I have picked up over the years to help me fight this anxiety or make me feel better when feeling really bad.

When having a bad anxiety attack/panic attack you need to distract yourself. I try everything from using my laptop to playing games. If you feel a little better then start to do some breathing techniques such as breath in 8 seconds through your nose and out 16 seconds through your mouth. This will decrease your heart rate. The thoughts you need to be saying are: I can only be in a hightened state of panic for a short amount of time so it will go away, it can not harm me and I will not die or go crazy ( big one for me as I always think I will flip out).

One of the things you need to set your mind to,

which is so difficult, is to not be afraid of it. You need to let it happen because the more you are afraid of it, the more you will try to run away and then it will just keep getting at you.

Exercise is always good. I have been going on 1-2 hour walks every single day. If you can, and live near trees, it would be perfect and good to take in the wildlife but if you can't get out the house then you can do exercises inside. You can do some dancing or jogging. This will lift your  mood what ever you do.

Good sleep is key to, as is diet. Both these things increase anxiety if they are not done properly. You need about 7-8 hours sleep, too little is bad but too much is also bad. As for diet, you need to eat 3 times a day and healthy too. Sugary snacks are bad as these can make your heart race and can bring on panic. Caffeine is also not very good and hence, why I do not drink coffee or tea - only herbal tea.

Try to relax once a day. This is very important. I know it is hard, or you think it is hard to put aside a few minutes to do this, but it will really help. I try to go to yoga once a week and then try to do relaxation once a day too. It is better if you set a time for it, so then you know you have to do it. You can just lie there and concentrate on your breathing, or you can visualise each part of your body, sending relaxation messages to them. Alternatively, there are visualisations that you can do. I have recorded a few and if I work out how, will see if I can post some up here.

You need to challenge your thoughts!!! but I will go into this in more detail in another post.

Remember you are not alone :) There are many chat rooms where people with anxiety/depression/panic attacks can talk and share their stories.