Hey Pandas, What's An Anxiety Coping Mechanism That Works For You? (Closed)

I find that walking alone really helps.

Backstory: in middle school, I had a teacher who I really hated, and I would always get super anxious in that class (most of the anxiety was caused by the teacher). I had gym the next period, and would always go in very anxious. My gym teacher pulled me aside one day after realizing the issue and decided to let me walk up and down the hallway (the gym was in its own wing) instead of playing with the rest of the kids. So instead of my anxiety getting worse by being in a crowd of people, it would calm down. I felt the need to write this out because this teacher’s actions were amazing. Thank you, Mr. Gym Teacher.

I carry really tiny plush animals in my pockets and squish them, i have autism and it really helps my anxiety. I wish id had them when i was younger the plastic fidget toys i got never really helped

Painting. I love coloring all my emotions out on a white page. It may look gibberish sometimes, but it is what I'm feeling on the inside.

Silence and alone time. Dimmed lights.

Time alone, no one asking what’s wrong, or why am I being b*tchy, or why I am being this way. Just time locked away in my room with some snacks, water, and remotes to the tv, and I’ll be just fine.. until I’m out of there and have to do it all over again.

I’m socially anxious and I find that listening to music helps when I’m in crowds- might not be possible for everyone so here’s another that I like to use: fidgeting with my hands. It can be anything from just my fingers to a crumpled piece of paper to a fidget cube, but it also helps with my adhd hyperactivity :D

Crochet. It lets me channel the anxious energy into something creative. It's also helping me quit smoking.

Medication and therapy. Lots of therapy.

My bun (bunny), i love my bunny, everytime i get anxious or shy, her name is snowy.

If I'm at home, I'll organize my bookshelves. I've arranged them by color, genre, size, author, title, and whether or not I have read them. It's really calming and I can focus on that instead of everything else in my life.

I have two big stuffed animals. A unicorn and a dolphin on my bed that my son slept on before he died. I cuddle them and they still smell like him be washed 4 times since October. I love them and when I'm breaking apart at the seems I can stuff my face in them and remind myself to be stronger for the other children. It's almost an oxymoron in my life at this point. Brings happiness and sadness then comfort

Therapy, more so talking. Writing about anything. Designing new things, like how I could redo a room, rearrange it to make it different. I craft, paint, diamond art, jewelry making and really anything I could possibly want to craft with. I have slowly built up a base level craft store in my room. I can pretty much do any craft. I love to listen to music. And sometimes I take nighttime pm and go to bed.

Silence and alone time

Hugging my Dog Shilo.

I try to think of the good things I have going on. It's so easy with anxiety to focus only on the negative so I think, what am I grateful for? If that doesn't work I smoke some great legal weed and watch something like Rick & Morty to remind myself not to take life so seriously.

(Doesn’t always work for obvious reasons-) but when I’m with my sister particularly, it’s a good coping mechanism. She’s the same level of “oh god everything is bad this is very very bad time to leave time to-“ as I am, but she’s younger. I think it helps me to help *her*, if that makes sense. She’s nervous about a situation? Well, I am too, but dang it if I’m not gonna fight god over her. In taking on this mindset, I end up being less anxious because I’m already prepared to handle things. I hope that made any semblance of sense-

When I suffer from anxiety and especially the racing thoughts that fuel it, I consciously fill my mind with lists of positive words such as harmony, peace, joy, heaven, love, serenity, angel, light, hope etc and I just keep going, finding as many words as I can and make it a sort of mantra. This calms me.

I sing the song I learned in elementary school called "50 nifty united states" lol it gets my mind off of it alphabetically singing the states

If I have time: crafting and audio books. If I don't: concentrating on my feet on the floor.

My favorites are cuddling/training my chickens (Hens: Li, Goldie, Breda, Lynn and Roosters: Raven, Vanilla) I love them very much, and the absolute peace is amazing. I also LOVE reading. Getting into a good book (usually by Brandon Sanderson, specifically Stormlight Archive) also helps. So many times have I avoided or diffused a panic or anxiety attack because of these books!