12 Anxious Humans Explain How They Cope When Everything Is Too Much

Although therapy is the best way to learn how to cope with your anxiety, it never hurts to learn more coping mechanisms. Here are a few ways that humans with anxiety deal with the experience:

“Confined spaces. It’s easier for me to calm down when my universe is very small. Even just sitting under a blanket can help.” — Shes_dead_Jim

“My friend got me out of a panic attack pretty quickly by just having me focus on my hands. Placing them on the table, raising above my head. It re-centers your brain almost like a reboot because for me at least a panic attack is when my anxiety gets so high my brain short circuits and everything is in overdrive.” — pearljune1

“Going in a bathroom and putting my hands under running water.” — Thecookieisalie

“Focusing on tightening and relaxing every muscle in my body one at a time.” — thestiine

“Grounding exercises are what I have to do when I get panicky. Count 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. Then close your eyes and breathe slowly, rinse and repeat. Also this will sound stupid but draw a circle on a pad of paper then place your writing tool in the middle of the circle. For whatever weird reason when I’m not too far gone that actually helps a lot. It’s something my therapist told me a while back and I brushed it off but it helps calm me down.” — Aurum555

“Trying to distract myself by doing basic stuff like counting things around me.” — K84BES

“My worst anxiety occurs during inaction, so I look to do something marginally productive like sweep the floor or make a snack. Obviously this is useful if the anxiety is due to being overwhelmed, but it works for me when feeling anxious about less tangible things as well. Even the most insignificant or minute task is better than sitting in anxiety, but the more lengthy and involved, the better relief (and sense of accomplishment)” — username_offline

“Meditation and deep breathing. It sounds cliche, I know, but trust me it works. Learn it.” — bawzzz

“Taking a lap. When I feel like the walls are closing in, I excuse myself from wherever I am and go for a walk around the block to get fresh air and a little exercise. If this isn’t an option, I discreetly take a benzo and do some breathing exercises (there are some apps that help if you aren’t familiar!).” — vagsquad

“Focusing on my breathing and then if that doesn’t work, physically stepping away/leaving the situation. Also carrying around a water and taking a sip when I need to ground myself.” — cmccx

“My big, 72-pound, rescue dog. It’s like he just knows when I’m having a hard time and will come lay with me… literally just came down the stairs to check on me as I typed this.” — hermi0ninny

“I know a lot of times when I’m feeling super anxious about something my brain just flips the ‘everything is terrible and going wrong and nothing is right’ switch, and it’s just a downward spiral. Learning to just let myself feel every emotion, even if I know it’s just the anxiety talking has helped me work through the attacks. Validate yourself and your feeling, let yourself feel whatever your brain is throwing at you, and then when you’re calmer you can sort through the emotions. It’s helped me a lot.” — godoftitsandsangria