“Life didn’t prepare me for this.” 10 stories of how people cope with anxiety

The current situation shows how hard it is to direct the focus not outward, but on yourself, your life, your problems and priorities.

I definitely benefit from therapy – I go to individual sessions once a week and sometimes group sessions. I think group therapy is underrated. In it you can just get calm and close these moments with anxiety, understand how to proceed and develop strategies for your behavior.

Of course, infospace has a strong influence. At first, I read everything. I thought that way my anxiety would decrease. But it worked in the opposite direction. Then I saw how moods were changing, how people were becoming more and more aggressive. And I started unsubscribing from channels and bloggers or hiding their posts. This helps me not to disconnect from my own life and to channel my energies in the right direction, to focus on things that I can really control.

In general, the main resources for me now are people and communicating with them. Building relationships, mutual support. In the second place is psychotherapy, which allows me not to overload my loved ones with my emotions. On the third place – bodily practices: breathing, water procedures (for example, warm shower), dancing and any movement in general.

Naida Saidova

Editor of Motivation and Trends in Lifestyle, 29 years old

I sculpt every night.

I picked up this lifehack from my nephews: they sometimes do different such things in the evening, this time it was light plasticine. This is, let’s say, such a newfangled material that doesn’t stick to anything around and is very pleasant to the touch.

I ordered a big set and now I spend an hour or two in the evening doing it. It’s very relaxing. I turn on quiet music in the background, put the phone away and concentrate only on fine motor skills. At first, I sculpted characters from my favorite cartoons. And now, since I’m a fan of sneakers, I started to make my favorite model, let’s see what will come out of it. Maybe a whole shoe collection.

Artem Aleksanyan

e-commerce entrepreneur, 24 years old

In order not to panic, I work on three vectors.

The first is dopamine. You can organize yourself mini-challenges. I, for example, break down work tasks into smaller tasks and mark progress. You have to look for any way to produce dopamine, because it’s a lifesaver. It helps you feel better both when you feel good and when you feel bad. So we even look for artificial ways to produce this hormone. You can set yourself small achievable goals – clean your room, go to the stadium and run a lap – and close them out.

The second thing is focus. Let’s say we set ourselves a goal and we fulfill it. But then comes a notification with some bad news – and all the effort is for nothing. That’s why we should give ourselves tasks with a time limit – for example, to clean in 15 minutes. This requires more concentration – and there will be no time to get distracted.

Maria Eliseeva

editor, 28 years old

Usually, when people ask me what helps me the most to cope with anxiety, I joke: “Working 14 hours a day.

But it’s only partly a joke – really, when all day continuously busy, simply no time to monitor the sad news, respectively, reasons for anxiety does not add.

Otherwise I resort to breathing exercises (focusing on inhalations and exhalations and nothing else – it helps to relieve tension) and muscle relaxation (sharp clenching of arm and leg muscles on the inhalation, then the same sharp relaxation on the exhalation). Banal, but walks in nature help – that very meme “touch the leaves”.

Julia Volkova

fitness trainer, 41 years old

A common sense approach is needed first of all in our most dear state – in the family.

It is a whole, important and subject to us. Children have the right to a healthy psyche, so it is our duty to feed them and not to give a reason to worry. Otherwise, you get an unbreakable cycle of stress.

The moment of panic and powerlessness hit me hard. Plus it was all overlaid with general fatigue. And at that moment, when the strength was completely gone, my son had an epileptic attack, for the first time in a year and a half. In the end, I came to the conclusion that the only way out for the child is the calmness of his parents.

At the moment when you are obliged to put your family in order, anxiety is replaced by the instinct of motherhood (or fatherhood). Thoughts about what is happening in the world fade into the background, because we have no power to change anything, and it is senseless to sow panic and chaos.

Irina

student, 22 years old

It is important to separate what depends on me from what does not depend on me.

I know that if something does not depend on me, then anxiety about it does not bring me any productivity. Then I just switch to other areas.

If nothing helps me at all, I listen to Harry Potter audiobooks on repeat and watch shows I’ve already seen. Because I know what will happen there, and it gives me a sense of controllability of life.

Sports are also good for that. Especially if you’ve never done anything at all. It doesn’t necessarily have to be some wild workout, just more activity than you’ve had before. You can go for a walk or exercise at home. And if physical exercise is not for you at all – even beat a pillow. It’s also great for helping emotions get out of the body.

Anastasia

PR-manager, 23 years old

It seems that now it is especially important to feel support and attention from loved ones.

That’s why I try to meet with friends and family as often as possible: go to visit, go out together in my favorite park or coffee shop, share news and experiences.

Taking care of myself can help with anxiety. For example, I signed up for a massage and a master class in pottery – such activities are very relaxing, help to catch my breath and focus on positive emotions.

Margarita Ivannikova

Fitness and Impressions editor at Lifestyle, 26 years old

Times are really difficult now, and the most important thing is inner calmness and the ability to adequately assess the situation.

At the very least, apart from world events, there are still worldly matters that no one has canceled: family and work.

To distract myself from anxiety, I turn on meditation music and read “Bushido” – the code of the samurai. A set of rules for Japanese warriors, which among other things teaches spiritual enlightenment. Calmness and cold mind will be useful in the future, when all global events settle down.

Yulia Blinova

entrepreneur, 49 years old

If the outside world is unable to create stability, you need to ensure it within yourself.

I try to assess the situation objectively, analyze information and draw conclusions for myself. I realize that now I need my children and relatives more than ever to support them and help them understand the endless questions.

I am a manager, so I have to bear a certain responsibility for my employees, their psychological stability and have a sober view of the situation. That is why I do not allow myself to relax and give a reason to panic not only to myself, but also to my children, relatives and others.

Of course, sometimes anxious thoughts do catch up with me. Then hobbies help to distract myself. For example, I knit. For me it is a kind of meditation.

Valeria Barinova

Lifestyle editor, 24 years old

It helps me perfectly not to switch from routine affairs and continue to do what I always do: go to work, walk the dog, watch TV series in the evening. Enjoying a coffee with some cookies before work.

I also discovered two methods. The first is cartoons. Movies often have some depressive-aggressive moments, and you can not always switch your head. Cartoons do a great job with this both in the morning and in the evening. It’s a great recipe for a good mood, that kind of switching to something pleasant.

And the second thing I really enjoyed was modeling with clay. I recently tried it for the first time because I wanted to somehow relax and get the bad thoughts out of my head. When you have a potter’s wheel around, you don’t think about anything at all – only about how not to make a mistake. You’re trying to create something with your fingers. It’s very meditative and a great way to take your mind off things.

How do you deal with anxiety and bad thoughts? Share in the comments.