Health Anxiety!

[TwitchyOne]

Hi ya'll 🙂

what are the top 5 distraction techniques do you find useful when experiencing a flare up of anxiety? Currently having a MEGA flare up (yikes forever).

[Guest_2287]

Hi

I can't think of five specifically but I do find that really concentrating on the task I'm doing helps. It is a form of mindfulness I guess which is called Mundane Task focusing or Attention training. Just whatever you are doing try to train your brain to really immerse in it 100%.

I also like to go to a grocery shop to get a few things. Just being among other people and the distraction of finding the things you need can give the brain a little rest.

Computer games are good too. Like just playing patience on-line.

I do cryptic crosswords too. They are really immersive because they take quite alot of attention to solve sometimes.

Hope this helps. I have health anxiety also so I know how you feel.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi TwitchyOne,

Thanks for your post! Sorry to hear that anxiety is having a bit of a flare up right now! Hopefully you can find some support from the forums.

1. The 54321 technique. 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste. This is a grounding technique used for trauma but I think it works really well for anxiety.

2. I practice a lot of mindfulness techniques. Really working to be in the here and now. Sometimes that's as simple as a breathing exercise just to try and slow my heart rate down.

3. Immerse myself in activities - pretty similar to Guest_2287 actually! I like computer games, word puzzles, jigsaw puzzles and reading.

4. I move. Sometimes it's going for a walk, or even doing some exercises in the house. Anything that really gets my heart racing a little bit.

5. I make lists! I read this technique somewhere and I really love it - maybe it's fruits and vegetables/girls names/boys names/things in the house using the alphabet (apple, banana, cucumber). Others like to do maths sums such as 100 - 7 - 7 - 7.

I hope this gives you some ideas.

rt

[TwitchyOne]

Hey guys! Thanks so much for the replies, you both had some new ideas for me to try out as my usual bag of tricks for distracting myself are just not cutting it. Hopefully I will calm down soon and not feel as obsessive as I do now.

All the best!