What do you do for intense stress? [Archive]

rodeosweetheart

9-4-15, 2:13pm

I am having a very stressful day, due to a real estate deal I am doing, my first of this kind. I could not sleep last night, I feel sick to my stomach, angry, tense, and generally panicky.

The circumstances are such that this is the big day for the big stress, and it is really getting to me.

What do you all do when you are faced with a panic attack from stress? I could use some helpful in-the-moment pointers for panic attack relief.

Ultralight

9-4-15, 2:15pm

I would do some mindfulness meditation, probably a "body check" style if I was in a situation like your own.

bae

9-4-15, 2:20pm

- I make lists of the Things That Need Doing, so they aren't whirling around in my brain
- Lots of heavy exercise

Float On

9-4-15, 2:21pm

I close myself in the dark bathroom, sit on the floor, put my hands over my face and concentrate on breathing and counting.
inhale/1
exhale/1
inhale 1,2
exhale 1,2
inhale 1,2,3
exhale 1,2,3
building up till I can inhale 10 and exhale 10.
Then I take it outside and inhale in count with my steps building up to 6 or 8 steps per inhale/exhale.

sometimes tapping helps...jump ahead to 2:45 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeYkItpMkoQ
I also use tapping when my BP spikes.

rodeosweetheart

9-4-15, 2:27pm

Thanks, guys, I am trying these

JaneV2.0

9-4-15, 2:28pm

I've never had a panic attack, but during arguably the most stressful period of my life I was even more careful than usual to eat lots of protein and fat. Turkey pepperoni, nuts, and cheese (I had little access to real food) got me through a tough time.

ApatheticNoMore

9-4-15, 2:31pm

would it be bad to say I might think of scheduling a massage at least to have it to look forward if I couldn't today then the next day or the day after? I might. Works better after the stress is done than before. I get those less than you'd think though (well expensive - especially as the massages at the cheap places are awful, so super cheap isn't worth it IMO - and it takes some time etc.) but I have used that as a coping mechanism.

Yes if it's a panic attack remember to breathe and nothing wrong with progressive relaxation. It's just that it's not enough to really calm entirely. But to be able to use serious meditation well you have to have done it for a long time ahead of time. I might write people emails at 3am at night full of worry (ha make sure whoever you are writing too can even stand that), but then I'm able to sleep. I might use unhealthy coping mechanisms like bingeing on junk food, but I can't say I recommend it at all. Some times I have just had to avoid the situation for awhile at least until I recovered some, avoidance was all that was left as the stress became chronic (it wasn't a one time thing). No avoidance isn't particularly recommended either.

rodeosweetheart

9-4-15, 2:54pm

Thank you for these ideas. I had forgotten about turkey--we did have it the last two nights for dinner, but I guess I had not reached the therapeutic level as of today, haha. APN, I am more inclined to write 3 am emails than get a massage, which is probably why I get into these states. I need to be a LOT more proactive during times of stress, I guess.

I was doing really well until today, and I guess the build up was worse than I thought!

CathyA

9-4-15, 3:45pm

xanax

awakenedsoul

9-4-15, 5:24pm

I've never had a panic attack, but here are some of the things that help me deal with stress and/or fear. Writing in a journal. I write all about the problem and how I'm feeling. Yoga: The deep breathing, poses, and relaxation help me to calm down and unwind. Spending time in nature: Even just sitting out on my porch looking at all that I have planted connects me to Mother Nature. Talking with a close friend or family member: I like to have an intimate conversation with someone I trust. Knitting or crocheting: Crafting gets me into my creative side and I enjoy having something to show for the time and energy. Sleeping: Napping or getting a good night's sleep always leaves me feeling refreshed.

p.s. When my cottage was in escrow, I was a wreck. For the first time in my life I forgot that I had booked a private lesson with a student, and didn't show up! I was mortified. I think it's pretty normal. Good luck rodeosweetheart. Hope it all works out...

KayLR

9-4-15, 5:49pm

All the above are good ideas, although not all work work for everyone. If I tried to journal under that much stress I'm afraid that would be one more pressure.
I've noticed getting into water really relaxes me: bath, swim. Just going to the Y and walking in the water.
Massage sounds like a great idea.
Sometimes just a good cry.

rosarugosa

9-4-15, 7:30pm

I agree with Bae on writing the List of Things. Productive activity is also good, and so is a bit of wine.

Selah

9-4-15, 7:47pm

I plop myself down in front of The Idiot Box and watch something engaging but lightweight, like old episodes of "Seinfeld" or "The Big Bang Theory." Ice cream helps, too!

catherine

9-4-15, 7:51pm

freshstart

9-4-15, 10:01pm

I ask myself: "What's the worst that can happen?"

"All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well." I love the singsongy lilt of that phrase and it always makes me feel better.

Then I just focus on the next task at hand.

I use that same phrase! Only now I have it written down all over the house, in my purse because I can no longer remember it but I absolutely need it

The worst part of something causing panic or severe anxiety, is getting to sleep the night before, I will stay up all night ruminating. If it's that bad, I take a sleeping pill.

I make a list as well, make plans for how I will respond to x,y,z situations. Usually during the stressful event I do ok, it's the before part that is the most painful.

good luck and let us know how it goes!

Tradd

9-4-15, 10:14pm

I go shooting.

Ultralight

9-4-15, 10:50pm

I ask myself: "What's the worst that can happen?"

And I tell myself one of my favorite Julian of Norwich phrases: "All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well." I love the singsongy lilt of that phrase and it always makes me feel better.

Then I just focus on the next task at hand.

I ask myself that too! "What is the worst that can happen?" Then I think it through. Often, it is not as bad as my emotional reaction of stress.

Personally, and perhaps obviously, I go fishing when I am stressed. I also just try to get some solitude in somewhere.

freshstart

9-4-15, 11:07pm

I just remembered, there is a free app called Pzizz that is supposed to help you fall asleep through scientific mumbo jumbo. I did it for a while, for some reason I did not find it as annoying as much new age stuff, it did help. And he says that quote in the calmest, serenest way possible.

Rosemary

9-5-15, 6:24am

Exercise! For really intense stress and immediate relief, run from the "tiger." Break into a sprint and go faster and faster. Doesn't have to be for a long distance. Repeat as needed.

ToomuchStuff

9-5-15, 8:55am

This too shall pass.....
On a serious note, realize once you have done a few of these, there will be a lot less stress.
On the not so serious side.
I had to laugh at this, between some life stuff going on, and my computer dieing and waiting on the part to fix it, someone sent me this in an email......
Picture yourself near a stream.

Birds are singing in the crisp, cool mountain air.

Nothing can bother you here.

No one knows this secret place.

You are in total seclusion from that place called the world.

The soothing sound of a gentle waterfall fills the air with a cascade of serenity.

The water is clear.

You can easily make out the face of the person whose head you're holding under the water.

There now, feeling better?

catherine

9-5-15, 9:03am

All the above are good ideas, although not all work work for everyone. If I tried to journal under that much stress I'm afraid that would be one more pressure.

Interesting.. I agree with awakenedsoul on that one. Journaling is a HUGELY useful tool, especially for emotional stressors. It's great tool for self-awareness and self-observation, and usually, when I come to the end of a journal passage, have worked out a lot of stuff that normally would have been stuck festering in my brain or heart.

rodeosweetheart

9-5-15, 12:39pm

Thank you so much, everyone. The crisis passed; the deal happened, and I've had time to reconstruct why I got into such a panicked state, after I had been doing so well with the deal for 8 months now. I am so glad to be done with the deal that it is almost like going to a new country--that feeling you get when you have finished something huge that you were scared of.

Of the suggestions, the funny thing is that I normally can think of many of these things myself, but I was in such a state yesterday that it was as though I had never thought of them or used them. Weird to become to out of options, so "up against the wall."

What helped me most yesterday was walking, going out into the garden, getting into the fresh air--thanks, Bae.

Before that, I think I was overbreathing and hyperventilating, which I did not figure out til later.

I am going to write all of these down in my journal, to pull out if I get this way again. I do journal, but there was no way that would have happened yesterday.

And I completely forgot watching old television shows--Newhart is my valium; I love that show. But I wasn't in a place I could think of anything.

And deal is done, thank you, Lord. 8 and a half months of work and lots of "I'll never, ever do THAT again""-- stress level just too high.

kib

9-5-15, 5:23pm

"_____ from now, this will be over." Or if I don't have an end moment, "this too shall pass". Fifteen minutes in the dentist chair, a presentation in the morning, moving into a new house, whatever it is, I find that I can be more stoic and less overwhelmed, and if necessary push harder, if I focus on the finite aspect of the stress. So much of what freaks me out is basically forgetting that it's temporary.

freshstart

9-5-15, 8:12pm

there are some pluses to losing memory, many times I forget that a stressful or negative event happened at all or I just remember parts of it thus making looking back on some not so great times much less stressful.

We've been here just about 2 yrs. Moving was extremely stressful for my mom, the hoarder. I do remember that they rented and filled the biggest sized dumpster twice. I remember some of the stress of trying to get her to get rid of stuff, from past history I know there had to be tears and arguing, me getting frustrated because that is how it always has been in the past. I remember it a little, I remember my terminally ill mom getting caught on a ladder trying to climb into the dumpster to get things out. But the actual week upon week of dumping stuff, I have no memory and that is NICE, lol.

So now when in a very stressful situation, like getting bad news, I am upset in the moment but do not experience the feelings of that stress later, if I remember it at all. Or I remember it all like normal. So freaking weird.

Rachel

9-6-15, 12:12pm

This is a chronic problem for me! A few things that I find helpful:
1--If it's windy outside, go outside and feel the wind on my face. If not windy, turn on desk fan.
2--If at work, go in bathroom, turn off lights, run cold water on hands and feet, and breathe deep. Do sun salutations breathing deeply.
3--If I'm at home, go outside and walk barefoot on grass for 10 minutes.
4--Gabatrol. Over the counter and legal, available to purchase online--available in many brands, but I find Gabatrol is the best. Take on empty stomach. Doesn't work if used too often.
5--Exercise.
6--Hydrate. Avoid sugar and caffeine.

Good luck--you aren't alone--anxiety is such a big part of the world we live in. Let us know how you are doing.

larknm

9-12-15, 2:30pm

I've only had one panic attack--about 50 years ago. I changed the scene, I'd been alone and I went to where there were lots of people. Another version of Rachel's approaches.

freshstart

9-12-15, 10:07pm

Interesting.. I agree with awakenedsoul on that one. Journaling is a HUGELY useful tool, especially for emotional stressors. It's great tool for self-awareness and self-observation, and usually, when I come to the end of a journal passage, have worked out a lot of stuff that normally would have been stuck festering in my brain or heart.

it's funny, I've always liked to write but since childhood hated journaling, still do. So I trick myself, I write a long, very detailed email to a friend, family member, whatever, about everything I am upset or worried about. it takes forever but there it is in black and white for me to look back on if I forget stuff or just need to read it again. BUT I never send it, I save it. So I am totally journaling but in a weird way of going about it. If I had to hand write stuff in a journal, I just wouldn't do it. And it works. I sometimes start out thinking it's a regular email and I will be sending it but more and more intensely detailed stuff comes out, so it gets saved, not sent

TVRodriguez

9-13-15, 10:19pm

freshstart

9-13-15, 10:41pm

This too shall pass.....
l......
Picture yourself near a stream.

Birds are singing in the crisp, cool mountain air.

Nothing can bother you here.

No one knows this secret place.

You are in total seclusion from that place called the world.

The soothing sound of a gentle waterfall fills the air with a cascade of serenity.

The water is clear.

You can easily make out the face of the person whose head you're holding under the water.

There now, feeling better?

totally stealing this!

tonysoprano

10-28-15, 8:14am

intense stress is leads to anxiety in my case. anxiety is my personal hell.heavy breathing ,suffocation are my symptoms.i always try to relax, mediation and exercise really works out for me.concentrate on hobbies which relaxes you.

creaker

10-28-15, 10:19am

I ask myself that too! "What is the worst that can happen?" Then I think it through. Often, it is not as bad as my emotional reaction of stress.

Personally, and perhaps obviously, I go fishing when I am stressed. I also just try to get some solitude in somewhere.

I find going back to other moments I felt like that and asking "what was the worst thing that happened?" helpful. Reviewing when I got stressed out for what turned out to be no good reason at all or for something it turned out I handled ok helps calm me down.