A is for Anxiety and here are my tips for making it do one!

Anxiety. Bah I bloody hate this word because it consumes pretty much every day! There aren’t many days that I don’t feel or get anxious about something. Emet or no emet, I reckon we have all experienced our fair share of this little blighter. And I guess it’s a good start for the A to Z challenge! I could go on about how crap anxiety is and how it impacts my life. Or I could share with you my tips for trying to tell it to do one! How do you cope with anxiety? What are your tricks for nipping it in the bud? I don’t know about you but for me it often starts with a thought about something (often) ridiculous. For example here are some (in my opinion ridiculous Emma anxiety thoughts)

“Did I wash my hands thoroughly enough to prevent any bugs from infecting me when I ate my lunch today?”

“This chicken says use by today. It is today, will it really be ok. Is it worth the risk?”

“Why is J getting up at 3am?” (waits and listens) “ok sounds like he needs the loo” (he coughs) “oh ffs! He’s sick, he is definitely sick, ohhhhhhhhhhh”

And so it goes on and on. The spiral of thoughts that get so out of control, before I know it, I’m having a full blown panic attack. So how do you stop it? How do you say, “Oi, anxiety, STOP!” Well for me it is a mixture of things, sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. It depends really. But here goes:

  • Mobile games like Candy Crush and Bejewelled. I dunno but the quick movement involved with these games seem to keep my mind occupied and focused on the jewels and candies. It doesn’t always work but I often try if I feel anxiety rearing its ugly head. Many a time I scored my highest Bejewelled score thanks to an emet flap! And J has never beaten it either haha.
  • I try to breathe. Not always easy but trying to focus on your breathe in, out, very slowly can certainly help. If my breathing gets out of synch and I start hyperventilating then I’m in shit creek. Sigh.
  • Yep, it’s amazing how fast one can crochet when feeling anxious! All that pent up tension just goes crazy with those hooks. Hence we are swimming in bloody blankets.
  • A glass of wine. Alcohol is a mixed bag for emets and a separate post that I will blog about another day. But for me I find a glass or two of wine chills me out. If I DO feel anxious about being sick, I often take the “could I drink a glass of wine” test. If I answer yes, then I know I probably WONT be sick ;-)
  • Keeping busy. Since having my boy, working full time and maintaining two blogs, I’ve been so busy that I don’t have time to overthink the things I don’t need to. Another post for another day but keeping my mind busy has massively helped me.

And there, some of the ways I try and deal with anxiety! What are your anxiety crushing tips?! Feel free to share below or on twitter with me @emetomum1 :-)

My Random Musings