What are peoples coping mechanisms when it comes to anxiety/ panic attacks and depression?

[Kylesw78]

Today has been a bad day and need some other peoples thoughts and advice.... 😞

[White_Rose]

Hello Kyles (is that correct?)

I am so sorry to hear you are not feeling too good.  This is not a good place to be.  I am sending you lots of hugs to help manage the pain.  Are you on your own? This is when you need someone who cares to be with you. Please try and contact someone if you are alone.  Just having another person in the room or even on the phone really helps.  You don't have to talk about your feelings necessarily.  Talk about something that interests you etc.

Failing that, how about contacting the BB phone line to have a chat?  I haven't got the number handy but it will be on the web site.  I'm just not sufficiently familiar with navigating the site.

I often use what I call distraction therapy.  That is doing something to take my mind off whatever is worrying me.  It needs to be physical as well as engaging your brain I find otherwise there is too much space left for the unwanted thoughts.

Do you like walking? Put on your ipod 'ears' (I hope these are the right technical terms) and go and watch the sea if you are on the coast, walk, go somewhere that is peaceful and lovely.

I find regular meditation is good but when you are wound up it can be difficult to get in that space.  It is a useful practice when you are less distressed as it has a flow over benefit, so to speak.  Meditation helps to centre you and if you can continue on a regular basis it helps to deal with the emotions that come up. 

I am sure many of the other great people who use this site will talk to you soon. In the meantime, get back to writing here as much as you want to.  Ask your questions.  There will always be people here to answer.

White Rose 

[Kylesw78]

Hello White Rose

Thankyou for you're response and for you're hugs, at the moment I am feeling ok, tired from the days emotions though.

I have thought about ringing the BB phone line, but it is something that I have never done before, maybe I'm a little nervous.

Today was little triggers that turned into big ones and caused uncontrollable emotion and was hard to get out of for most of the day.

In the past music has been my saviour and it can drown out the voices in my head but even now that isn't working. 

I will definately take you're advice and also my friends advice and go walking different scenery would be good.

Hopefully other people like you can give me advice, I very much appreciate it.

Thankyou again 

Kyles xx

[geoff]

dear Kylie, it doesn't matter how small the problems are, because depression just magnifies them, so we feel as though they are too big to even contemplate sorting them out, and that's what this illness has the ability to do.

It's like trying to push an enormous boulder out of our way, but we can't even budge it, let alone move it, so we have to learn how to go around it, but which way, because one way would mean we fall off the cliff, so there's only one way to go around it, but we have to be careful, because we don't know what might spring out at us.

This is no different than having depression, so we have to find any way to would help us, and literally go around that boulder.

It maybe something new we could try, go somewhere like going to the aquarium, museum, or just a place to take our mind away from our thoughts, but there is a catch here, when you get home just remind yourself of where you have been, and not get clogged down in bringing back any awful thoughts that you had previously. L Geoff. x

[Neil_1]

Hey Kyles

I think this is my first ever post to you, so I’d like to Welcome you to Beyond Blue, although you’ve probably been on here for a little while now.  🙂

When you’re in a dark horrible place, it IS these little triggers that flare up and become seemingly monumental issues that we have blown up to be large and terrifying to deal with.  I’m in that exact space now and while it might appear that I’m posting a fair bit on here of late, I feel that I’m falling off the ‘pace’ a little as my mind isn’t letting me get to more people and help them.

Walking can be a really wonderful thing to do … and if you are able to, take a camera with you … cause you never know what you might see on your walk that may just be photo-worthy.  Brilliant shades of orange and red within trees that are doing their autumn change … a lovely flower somewhere, a pretty bird, etc etc.  I could go on.

Do you cycle at all or are you a member of a gym?  These can be excellent tension/stress relievers. What about books and favourite authors?  Are you into books at all?   I try to read a little bit each day … even if it’s just a few pages of the latest novel that I’m reading.

What about old photo albums to sit and have a squiz at perhaps holidays that you’ve been on in the past?

Another trick that I was actually just shown yesterday – depending on your age, let’s say you’re 39 for ease of me doing the math’s equation … nah, bugger that, I’ll do the example of me.  I’m 48, so I was told to draw up three columns and each heading was 1/3 breakdown of my entire age.  So it was something like:  0-15;    16-32  &  33-48 … it doesn’t have to be exact.  

So now you’ve got your three columns, so either on a ‘large’ piece of paper but preferably say in a Word document, perhaps in dot point format, type (or write) down any achievements that you’ve accomplished within each of those age/date ranges.  Eg:  for the 2nd column, I obtained my driver’s licence, but in the first column, I also had ‘learnt to drive’ as I grew up on a farm.

And the achievements can be anything that you consider to be note-worthy.  I’m still working through mine, but I was told that the key number of dot points to reach is 101 !!!!

I hope something above has spiked an interest for you and that you are feeling better today.

Kind regards

Neil

[Kylesw78]

Hi Neil, 

Thankyou for you're response, I have only just joined Beyond Blue in the last 4 days as everything has come crashing down around me, although I have been dealing with depression and anxiety for a while, the medication I have been on isn't working any more and I've hit a brick wall. I can't be stubborn anymore and think that this will go away.

I've never before got to the point were I'm having crying episodes that last for ages, having anxiety attacks when leaving the house, when going to the shops, going to the drs, who is amazing, And helpful. 

I am 4 days into a new medication, my feelings now consume me, the only tiime that calms me is when I spend time with my husband and daughters, though my husband doesn't fully understand what I'm going through, but he is coming around, another thing that calms me going to a close friends house, who totally understands me, and has been in exactly the same place that I have been, it is just saying to myself that I am going to go, and it will bring out positive thoughts.

I definately agree with you that it is the little triggers that turn into massive ones.

In the last few days I have started a journal, I have never had a journal, ..... It's kinda like where do I start, and I put it away, but now I am finding it easy and I want to it to my personal thing, my way of venting. Maybe the journal is something I can take with me when I see a Psychologist.

I am definately going to add you're suggestion to my journal and add age brackets and to start writing my accomplisments rather than the negatives. I have been able to pick up books in the past, but at the moment, I find it very hard to concentrate and take the story in, but I will work at it.

Also going for walks and taking photos is a great idea, and especially taking photos of my surroundings.

I've also ordered resources from here as well, hopefully that helps as well.

Neil you're advice has definately spiked a new line of interests  for me, and I am determined to try anything. You have been very helpful and I thankyou for that. 

Kind Regards 

Kyles x

[Kylesw78]

Hi geoff,

Thankyou  for you're advice, Small things do get magnified 100%. I do need to remember that when I go to a friends house, who totally understands me, and has gone through exactly the same as me, my focus Is totally shifted and it he experience is all positive is that when I get home, I do need to keep remembering  those positive things, rather than going straight back to all the negative thoughts, which does normally happen.

Kyles xx

[Suzbj]

Hi Kyliesw, 

A week ago I probably would have answered you differently. With all these strategies etc. And yes!! Fully stand by meditation! But today I’m still recovering from my last serous bout of depression/anxiety. This is what happened to me. It actually started some weeks ago and I tried to push my feelings away. I’m fine. I’m all good. But core beliefs had raised their ugly heads. Bit by bit a depressive episode hit. I’m fine. I’m good. I can handle this. Shrugging off all those ugly voices, thoughts and feelings. Then I fell big time. I was gutted and lost in the ugly core beliefs of the past and depression became physical. I slept two days straight, night and day and was still exhausted when I forced myself out of bed. I felt completely and utterly drained of all energy, lost, hopeless and no fight left. Gone. Then things got worse on a real level yesterday re stuff that is real like financial hardship. So add stress to that equation. I came home and took something to sleep that should have worked. It didn’t. So I took another pill. I was awake until 4am. This afternoon I lost it completely. Full blown panic attack like I haven’t had in years. I thought I had gone mad, almost wanted to have someone come and commit me, ended up hyperventilating to the max with a friend holding my hand and just saying, “It will be all right, it will be all right.” And I was all right. Now I realise what I did. I blocked off the triggers and stuff and pretended that everything was all right because I wanted it to be. It wasn’t. Pretending something is all right when it isn’t, isn’t helpful. What is important is as soon as the trigger, the thing that deflates you happens, recognise it. Face it head on and don’t give it a license to be powerful. Because it isn’t unless you let it be. That is where I am at. I hope that may help you. Face it head on, don’t pretend it’s not there is my advice. Cheers Suz xx