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1. Dr. Google doesn't always have the right answers, be careful what you read, check sources
Google is not the place to ask for medical or psychological advice, it's not always reliable for looking up symptoms, certainly not for self-diagnosing, and going onto health/mental health message boards can be problematic if they are not run and mediatef by professinals in the field. Do, however, use the NHS (or your local health authority in other countries) website for reliable advice.
In the UK go to https://111.nhs.uk for initial advice for both mental health and physical health related questions.
Call 999 in a serious medical or psychiatric emergency (or your local emergency services in other countries).
2.Take your thoughts to court!
Confront and rationalise your thoughts. As an example, during the pandemic lots of people were anxious. One young person we worked with thought "everyone I love is going to die of Coronavirus" and we asked them to take it to court! To get the rational “lawyer” part of her brain to counter the thought with some "evidence" such as “actually most people who get this virus are likely to recover and some will not get any symptoms at all.” Just thinking about something does not make it happen or make it true!
3.Do some exercise
Any kind of safe exercise is good subject to usual advice from your doctor if you have a medical condition
4.Breathing and grounding exercise
Breathe in a few times and see how many counts it takes to fill up your lungs and then close your mouth and form a tiny hole with your lips as if you were going to gently blow out a candle and blow all the air out of your lungs. Make it last at least two counts more than your inbreath.
Also, get something you like the smell of, for example a cut lemon, some herbs, nice handcream and breath in and out whilst using the smell to focus on. Just think about the smell - what colour is it? What good things does it remind you of?
5.If you really feel you must worry - schedule it!
This may sound very silly but try it and see how it works - you can choose 30 minutes of worry per day. You can worry as much as you like (but still no Googling or news!!) and then you have to do something else. You may find that this is one of the most helpful techniques of all.
6.Treat yourself
If you can, find something that feels as if it is a treat, for example if you can have a nice bath, listen to some music, cook something healthy and delicious or even just go for a walk
7.It will probably pass
When we are stuck in anxiety, it really feel like it will be here for ever, but think about a time when you felt less anxious. That means you can feel like that again. Please try and remember this as it’s one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your kids.
THE WORST CASE SCENARIO IS RARELY HOW THINGS TURN OUT IN REALITY
8. Distractions!
One young woman that we work with who has brilliantly overcome anxixety tells me that it's good to see the difference between healthy and not-so-healthy disctractions. TV is good, but not all day long and certainly not at night when you should be sleeping. Also TV with the news is not a good distraction of course but watching something that makes you laugh, makes you think, teaches you something or is just plain entertaining is! She suggests reading, walking, listening to music, doing some art and maybe even mastering a new skill that might be good once normal life resumes. What about learning a new language, cooking skills, yoga...you get the idea?!
(Thank you to S for this suggestion)
Parents!! Try to model all of the above to your kids and you may find your own anxiety reducing!
Google is not the place to ask for medical or psychological advice, it's not always reliable for looking up symptoms, certainly not for self-diagnosing, and going onto health/mental health message boards can be problematic if they are not run and mediatef by professinals in the field. Do, however, use the NHS (or your local health authority in other countries) website for reliable advice.
In the UK go to https://111.nhs.uk for initial advice for both mental health and physical health related questions.
Call 999 in a serious medical or psychiatric emergency (or your local emergency services in other countries).
2.Take your thoughts to court!
Confront and rationalise your thoughts. As an example, during the pandemic lots of people were anxious. One young person we worked with thought "everyone I love is going to die of Coronavirus" and we asked them to take it to court! To get the rational “lawyer” part of her brain to counter the thought with some "evidence" such as “actually most people who get this virus are likely to recover and some will not get any symptoms at all.” Just thinking about something does not make it happen or make it true!
3.Do some exercise
Any kind of safe exercise is good subject to usual advice from your doctor if you have a medical condition
4.Breathing and grounding exercise
Breathe in a few times and see how many counts it takes to fill up your lungs and then close your mouth and form a tiny hole with your lips as if you were going to gently blow out a candle and blow all the air out of your lungs. Make it last at least two counts more than your inbreath.
Also, get something you like the smell of, for example a cut lemon, some herbs, nice handcream and breath in and out whilst using the smell to focus on. Just think about the smell - what colour is it? What good things does it remind you of?
5.If you really feel you must worry - schedule it!
This may sound very silly but try it and see how it works - you can choose 30 minutes of worry per day. You can worry as much as you like (but still no Googling or news!!) and then you have to do something else. You may find that this is one of the most helpful techniques of all.
6.Treat yourself
If you can, find something that feels as if it is a treat, for example if you can have a nice bath, listen to some music, cook something healthy and delicious or even just go for a walk
7.It will probably pass
When we are stuck in anxiety, it really feel like it will be here for ever, but think about a time when you felt less anxious. That means you can feel like that again. Please try and remember this as it’s one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your kids.
THE WORST CASE SCENARIO IS RARELY HOW THINGS TURN OUT IN REALITY
8. Distractions!
One young woman that we work with who has brilliantly overcome anxixety tells me that it's good to see the difference between healthy and not-so-healthy disctractions. TV is good, but not all day long and certainly not at night when you should be sleeping. Also TV with the news is not a good distraction of course but watching something that makes you laugh, makes you think, teaches you something or is just plain entertaining is! She suggests reading, walking, listening to music, doing some art and maybe even mastering a new skill that might be good once normal life resumes. What about learning a new language, cooking skills, yoga...you get the idea?!
(Thank you to S for this suggestion)
Parents!! Try to model all of the above to your kids and you may find your own anxiety reducing!