Lived Experience Forum

[janedoe2]

I've experienced active PTSD in my life and had intesive therapy to recover from it. I learnt how to manage extreme anxiety. Now I am not actively experiencing PTSD anymore, I am experiencing 'normal ' anxiety now and only recently acknowledged it.
Does anyone have any practical suggestions on how to manage anxiety? I am generally in a good place but have recently started study and increased my activity.
I want to be realistic about my health and manage my current anxiety. I can't respond to my anxiety as though I have PTSD when I don't.
Please advise.

[Former-Member]

@janedoe2, I've found a couple of things, practiced daily will help anxiety
- self awareness (mindfulness meditations such as 'body scan' and 'confronting feelings' 'breathing'...)
- self compassion (not being so hard on yourself, not beating yourself up in thoughts, not criticising yourself, not putting yourself in harms way, avoiding negative talk or conversation...)
- stress management (breathing meditations and exercise are good for this, not taking on too much, taking time out just for you,
- therapy (adjusting the way you see things, and respond to life within CBT..)
- nutrition (gotta get enough vegies and protein and filtered water every day)

[janedoe2]

@Former-Member Thank you for your suggestions.

[Former-Member]

hey @janedoe2

 i also suffer from very active ptsd among other things but im glad youve gotten the help you need to get through this. these are some of the self care/ coping strategies that maybe you might find useful

-- do exercise whether it be intense exercise to use up some negative energy or just a gentle stroll

-- positive self talk

-- count backwards from 100

-- go for a drive and listen to your favourite music

-- listen to calming music

-- journalling

-- mindfullness

-- thought challanging

[Former-Member]

Hi @janedoe2 

I'm not sure that we've met before but welcome to the forums! 

I think this is really interesting. I have (active) ptsd... but from what i've read, learnt is that it is basically severe anxiety from a specific source and relating to that source/s. I do think that a lot of strategies for anxiety would work well for both ptsd and anxiety, without it needing to be anywhere near as severe? So some of what you have learnt might still be really useful?

I think its great that you're exercising more, I know that it helps me a lot to exercise regulalry and be more active to use up the extra adrenalin etc. I also use a lot of self talk when im hving symptoms of anxiety/panic attacks like chest pain, racing heart, etc like, this is just anxiety, it'll pass, it wont actually hurt me etc. Also try to do grounding if it goes further for me, i.e. look at where i am, what i see, hear, feel etc. I try to keep something with me for me to hold (i have a 'figit cube' in my bag). 

Also, I'm so glad to hear that you have gotten through the ptsd side of things, it's really helpful to hear that for me,

thank you

LJ

[Gumtree]

Hi . I have bad PTSD.
I am not sure I will ever get over it.
I am glad you are well enough for study.
I would recommend fitting some time into each day to do something that you enjoy. Something that fills your mind and exercises the body. Think of it like medicine. Your time to relax.
It's important for your wellbeing.
Good luck.

[Koko]

Re recent study. Is it that making you anxious?? I try and find out what's under my anxiety. When I was studying I had anxiety come back. Boiled down to the past of receiving the message I was stupid and would never succeed! But I graduated anxiety free once I blew that lie out of my head 😊

[patrickT]

@janedoe2 Personally I've found adhering to some key activities to be key in managing anxiety. 

The first is socialising even when you don't want to. Humans are meant to be around eachother and as the world becomes more individualised, tech based, office setting etc. there is less room for natural human interaction but rather a required dedication to social interaction. I know I need to be around other people frequently to get outside my head lest I get trapped in there all day.

Second is exercise in any form. Walking, sprinting, dancing, punching, whatever you enjoy. 

Thirdly, hobbies. I feel like anxiety is potentiated by boredom. They might seem at different ends of the spectrum but personally I believe they're highly interconnected. If you don't have active interests then you're bound to ruminate on anything and everything.

Fourth, all that stuff regarding mindfulness that take practice and patience but have such massive payouts when you begin to understand and practice them. E.g. yoga, meditation, active breathing, spending more time in nature, away from the city.

Fifth, substances. Caffeine, nicotine, booze, drugs, they're all bound to have an obvious impact on your mental state but by eliminating them as much as possible your adrenal gland will thank you.

Hope this helped some,

Pat.