How to deal with short-term anxiety?

[Floyd13]

Recently I've been having the most debilitation anxiety of my life. I could never have imagined that it could get this intense, thus I have now developed a huge respect for all people that not only live with it, but can also beat it.

I'm doing everything in my power to take it on. I have a new therapist whom I'm seeing on a weekly basis, and my doctor has prescribed me medication which I've been taking for a little over a week now. I'm also on another drug, which seems to do very little.

I am trying to maintain a positive outlook, and I do have things in future that I am focusing on as a long-term goal.

My problem is, how do I fix the anxiety that's absolutely flooring me in the meantime? I've tried breathing exercises, meditation, calming music, and talking to friends about my thoughts. These are all very effective in the moment but lose their effectiveness almost instantly afterwards.

I need ideas on what else I can do whilst I wait for the medications to kick in. I'm sick of feeling anxious and constantly on edge and nauseated and wanting to scream out loud over something that's nothing more than mere thoughts in my head. Help?

[Sophie_M]

Hi Floyd13, 

Thank you for your post today, it is wonderful that you have had the strength to reach our for support here. We hope that you can feel proud of the courage it must have taken to write this and ask for help - well done. 

We are really sorry to hear that you have been feeling so anxious recently and that it is becoming overwhelming for you. This must be incredibly difficult. It is really positive that you have been to see a doctor and that they are helping you with the symptoms. 

If you feel that the strategies you have are not working as well as they could, we think it could be a good time to give out phoneline a call on 1300 22 4636. The team can offer advice on what we can do in the moments we feel anxious, as well as longer term ideas for reducing these feelings. 

We also have some information on anxiety which you can find here if you prefer to read rather than talk to someone, it is tottaly up to you. 

Please feel free to check out some other conversations on the forums and jump in where you are comfortable, we would love to hear an update from you here as well if you want to. Thanks again for contributing to this vibrant, caring and understanding community. 

Kind regards, 
Sophie M

[Katyonthehamsterwheel]

Hi there

Welcome to the forums. Sorry to hear you’re struggling - me too. But good on your for being proactive in your efforts to get well. Those strategies you’ve mentioned are great. I wonder if you’ve tried redirecting your focus away from anxious thoughts? Sometimes I try thinking about something that feels better. Sometimes I just repeat some words (apple, yoghurt, seaweed - while I visualise each one individually).

You’ve mentioned that sometimes you want to just scream - have you tried it? Not always appropriate to location, but at times could be. At home I have a sound I make. It feels like a tension release and it’s just a weird sound that feels right. Or you could scream into a pillow. We hold our tension in the body, so sometimes it can help to release it. I’ve also tried running up and down stairs or star jumps 🙂

I’m not sure what will work for you, but any strategy’s worth a go, right?

Really hope you get some relief soon! Katy

[Floyd13]

Thanks for your ideas guys. I’m going to try everything I can. Even just writing it out on here has seemed to help me out a little.
Hopefully I feel better soon.

Thanks again 🙂

[Guest9337]

Evening Floyd13,

To help your current problem, I suggest you:

google search for "54321 technique" and "grounding techniques for anxiety".

Practice those both when you are feeling good, for associative reasons.

And Practice those when you are feeling anxiety/stress/emotionally out of control.

Over time resilience will build.

Good luck.

[Gabs_]

Hi Floyd13,

Anxiety sucks. And what you are describing, I have definitely felt!!! I was hospitalised earlier this year because the anxiety was so debilitating - it felt like I couldn't breathe, I was drowning, and the walls were caving in all at the same time. I couldn't leave the house, read, write, watch tv. So trust me, I hear you.

You are already doing all the right things, that's a start.

Do you know what the anxiety is about? Or is just relentless and about everything?

My team made me write thoughts down - 1) because it gets them out of your head, but 2) because then you can challenge the thoughts once they are on paper (and also take them to your therapist to discuss and unpick). At first I hated it - Mainly because when I first started seeing my thoughts on paper, I realised that there were a lot of falsehoods and inner critic rubbish (that when they are in your head you can justify). But then I woke one day and went to my laptop and just wrote and wrote and wrote. It was so therapeutic and it allowed me to get to the root cause of the anxiety. Turns out when your psychologist bangs on about something a lot, it's because they are usually right (insert eyeroll).

When I start to spiral, I stop and go "why am I panicking about this? what is the evidence currently showing me?" But like everything, I have good days then sometimes I have bad days, but the more I push myself to take baby steps, it gets easier. In Feb, I couldn't even walk into a restaurant, now I can (I still need quiet ones for now though).

The Centre for Clinical Interventions has some great workbooks (including anxiety), which I think are brilliant. I print the entire workbook out and then slowly make my way through it and take notes and do the exercises. If I get worked up on a particular bit, I flag it and mention it to my psych so we can unpick it in a bit more detail. My psych has currently tasked me with the Self Compassion module.... can't say it is easy or enjoyable, but I'm getting more comfortable with reading it. I also started using an app called Bloom CBT. I found/still find it helpful because you can work through specific modules (like anxiety) and then they are broken down into activities like breathwork, coursework etc.

Katy is right too - screaming into a pillow/crying/releasing emotion is also a great relief. Baths help too. Soothe the soul.

But remember, baby steps. Every little step forward helps. And the BB team and the guys on the forums are here for you.

[Amanda2000]

Hi Floyd13,

I've been struggling too. This week has been very bad and I haven't been able to sleep properly. I had a cry last night before sleeping only 4-hours or so. My condition was already fragile when I woke up this morning. And then today a co-worker made a very rude and aggressive comment to me over the phone. I was totally shocked and didn't know how to respond - so I just carried on the discussion as normal .... at the end this co-worker kind of hung up on me. Afterwards I was very upset and kept replaying the incident over and over again, which built up the anxiety further and further. Distraction is the only way for me to feel better. Hours later I finally got over the incident. But then I felt like telling my husband about it, so it got me thinking again and now the negative feelings are back.

[Floyd13]

Thanks David, I'll definitely look those up. Cheers.

Gabs, I'm so sorry you needed to be hospitalised over your anxiety, how cruel is that? The fact that it went that far for you and now you're back giving great advice just goes to show everyone that anxiety is absolutely controllable. That totally bolsters my confidence.

The root cause was basically a health scare and then it evolved to be work-related. Too many changes going on and me feeling like I'm not getting anywhere in life. I feel trapped and powerless to control my destiny. This is after working so hard for years to try to get ahead, only to be kicked back down right to the very bottom again. I guess that just broke me and all the other stress I've suppressed up over the years has emerged at once. My therapist suggests that I may be having an existential crisis. I have made the decision that it's time to move on. I'm looking to move to the other side of the country to be near family and start fresh. This is quite liberating but I'm starting to worry that this will introduce a lot of new anxiety when it nears. Hopefully by then though, my medication should be in full effect.

Regarding the suggestions you made, these seem like great ideas to try. I actually have tried writing down all my feelings before, and even though I ended up writing so many negative words to describe how I felt, it did seem to make me feel better when I threw the piece of paper out - almost like discarding the bad energy. I'll definitely be having a look at the workbooks and the bloom app after this too. Thank you for that.

Amanda, I feel horrible that this incident happened to you. It's so unfair to be already on edge and then having something like that cut you under your armour. I wish people understood how bad anxiety can be. It sucks that some people still don't regard it as a real illness. I hope you get better soon, and don't forget you're not alone. One of my issues was feeling like there was no one willing to help me, but there are so many people who will and want to help you.

Thanks again to all you guys. I really appreciate you. We will all beat our anxiety!

[Guest9337]

Floyd13 said:

Thanks David, I'll definitely look those up. Cheers. ...snip...

Regarding the suggestions you made, these seem like great ideas to try. I actually have tried writing down all my feelings before, and even though I ended up writing so many negative words to describe how I felt, it did seem to make me feel better when I threw the piece of paper out - almost like discarding the bad energy. I'll definitely be having a look at the workbooks and the bloom app after this too. Thank you for that.

Thanks again to all you guys. I really appreciate you. We will all beat our anxiety!

Morning Floyd13. I hope your day starts well.

I too used to aim at discarding bad energy... eventually I have come to hang onto every bit of energy I can muster!

So to develop that along similar lines to what you post above. You could rewrite all those "negative" words down one at a time and then right the opposite to the word. Hate, love. Like, dislike. Scared, brave. And so on.

I see your second last line above already does that kind of thing, Great job!