Hello,
I am suffering with anxiety and panic attacks and just wondered what people may have tried that has helped them.
Thanks in advance
Butterfly
Hi, I am on Sertraline 100mg. It helps a bit and i am also, seeing a therapist. Hope this helps.
I have dealt with anxiety off and on for a long time now. I found a number of different things that helped me, and things that didn't work for me but did work for other people.
Have you been prescribed abtidepressants? Depression usually comes with anxiety. I have taken a variety of antidepressants over the years; some worked and some didn't. Unfortunately they all had side effects but some were less of a problem than others. Good idea to look the different meds up online, if you can cope with that (maybe you could get a prescription first and get calmed down before doing that -- then see what you can find out and talk to your GP about what is the best option for you longer term). It's important to realise they don't work right away -- you have to take then for a few weeks before you feel better.
A lot of people benefit from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). It is about recognising the difference between the scary thoughts you are having and what is really happening, which is usually a lot less scary than you think. It teaches you ways of interrupting negative thoughts, and reminding yourself that nothing terrible has actually gone wrong, and you can cope. Doesn't work for everyone but worth a try.
Mindfulness practice is very popular in the NHS now. It teaches you how to focus on the here and now, and how to let go of your negative thoughts about past and future. Again, not for everybody but I found it more helpful than CBT. I now do guided mindfulness meditation walks every Friday with a group, and some walks by myself in between. Most cities have these walks going on somewhere.
You can also learn breathing techniques that help you calm down -- check online.
I don't know if you have also been diagnosed with depression, but I was, and for years I used to put myself down and tell myself everything would all go wrong because I was useless and couln't do things right. I still do it when I get ill. But I found the best way to resist this was "affirmations" -- repeating over and over "I am always good enough" or something like that, There are books about this, and probably websites and YouTube videos etc.
Hope this helps.
I have dealt with anxiety off and on for a long time now. I found a number of different things that helped me, and things that didn't work for me but did work for other people.
Have you been prescribed abtidepressants? Depression usually comes with anxiety. I have taken a variety of antidepressants over the years; some worked and some didn't. Unfortunately they all had side effects but some were less of a problem than others. Good idea to look the different meds up online, if you can cope with that (maybe you could get a prescription first and get calmed down before doing that -- then see what you can find out and talk to your GP about what is the best option for you longer term). It's important to realise they don't work right away -- you have to take then for a few weeks before you feel better.
A lot of people benefit from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). It is about recognising the difference between the scary thoughts you are having and what is really happening, which is usually a lot less scary than you think. It teaches you ways of interrupting negative thoughts, and reminding yourself that nothing terrible has actually gone wrong, and you can cope. Doesn't work for everyone but worth a try.
Mindfulness practice is very popular in the NHS now. It teaches you how to focus on the here and now, and how to let go of your negative thoughts about past and future. Again, not for everybody but I found it more helpful than CBT. I now do guided mindfulness meditation walks every Friday with a group, and some walks by myself in between. Most cities have these walks going on somewhere.
You can also learn breathing techniques that help you calm down -- check online.
I don't know if you have also been diagnosed with depression, but I was, and for years I used to put myself down and tell myself everything would all go wrong because I was useless and couln't do things right. I still do it when I get ill. But I found the best way to resist this was "affirmations" -- repeating over and over "I am always good enough" or something like that, Feels a bit silly at first but I found it did work. There are books about this, and probably websites and YouTube videos etc.
Hope this helps.
What an inspiring answer. Thank you norabab. Will look into walking mindfulness. Have tried meditation and it's very good. Good luck to you Butterfly1 :-)
Thank you everyone for all your replies & help.
I have been diagnosed with depression & take venlafaxine. I also have had 2 lots of cbt & have done lots of mindfulness practices. I've suffered for a number of years and nothing seems to be helping me calm down and relax even my neurologist said we need to get to the bottom of this anxiety and treat it before my tension headaches go too.
It's just destroying my life and just don't know what to do or turn anymore x