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How to Beat Stress and Anxiety

prashants.in

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Re: How to Beat Stress and Anxiety

#51

Post by now__what »

prashantsengar wrote: post #36
denvaar wrote: post #20

> Talking to people is an underrated technique to stop worrying For me this is really true. I'm more of an introvert, and I don't usually reach out to others very often. It can be in the form of talk therapy in a formal setting with an actual psychologist. It can also just be catching up with a friend, or chatting with a neighbor about something totally unrelated. Anything that can get me outside of my own mind helps…

I am an introvert myself and practiced a new habit of calling one person each day in the lockdown. Has helped me in forming deep friendships, make new friends, and overcoming my shyness. Recommend 10/10 Here is a short essay I wrote recently. Will probably write a blog post soon too. https://twitter.com/prashanttgs/status/1616815440667480071

As a fellow introvert, this sounds insurmountably painful. How did you have something to talk about every night? How did you even find that many people to fit into a rotation like that without feeling like you were annoying them? I have so many questions. If you do write that blog post, I'd love to read it. Especially the "how."

Re: How to Beat Stress and Anxiety

#52

Post by now__what »

conqrr wrote: post #9

Breathing is key. It's one of the easiest ways to facing your current situation and also distracting yourself every moment or so while you breathe. Exhaling along with mental visualization of purging the mind has the effect of releasing stress. Ofcourse, this needs practice, but that's not too hard with the amount of stressful situations we face everyday.

> Exhaling along with mental visualization of purging the mind

This one amazes me; taking deep breaths to calm myself just makes me feel weird and sometimes even more anxious, but taking deep breaths and imagining releasing a cloud of (deep purple) smoke on the exhale noticeably relaxes me. I wonder if it's the imagination component that makes it better, i.e. giving the mind something to focus on? Or maybe the timing of the exhale changes with the visualization. Either way, a great hack imo.

Re: How to Beat Stress and Anxiety

#53

Post by watwut »

digitalsushi wrote: post #44
mgolawala wrote: post #31

I am surprised no one has mentioned chronic caffeine consumption and its role in promoting anxiety and stress.

I'm reading this book, "Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker, and it says the half-life of caffeine is like up to 8 hours ... so having a 3pm coffee means going to bed at midnight with half of it still active. I've cut coffee out of my diet after noon lunchtime, and I think it's helping ... tough to be sure but as long as I believe it, it's pretty good

I don't think that book is generally considered scientific. It contains a bunch of opinions, but it is not peer reviewed article and not everything in it is backed by good studies.

Re: How to Beat Stress and Anxiety

#54

Post by kenmorechalfant »

pokler wrote: post #10
robg wrote: post #4

1. Establish good sleep habits. Sleep is how the body recovers from stress. 2. Exercise daily. Movement is how the body puts the stress hormones to work. 3. Eat well. The gut-brain connection drives how we feel as we digest.

To point 1, this almost feels like catch-22. While sleep may be a way to recover from stress, stress is probably the single thing that impacts my sleep the most (aside from alcohol consumption, which is much easier to control). Does anyone have any help or tips here?

What has helped me a lot: get plenty of sunlight; especially in the morning (very important to our biological clock), started taking probiotics once a day before a meal, I try to eat complex carbohydrates in the morning (fruits, vegetables, beans, seeds); which promotes good gut bacteria and more stable blood glucose levels, exercise every day, no caffeine 8 hours before bed, nothing but water 2-3 hours before bed and I take 10mg of Melatonin most nights before bed (sometimes 20mg).

Re: How to Beat Stress and Anxiety

#55

Post by cmurdock »

pitsnatch wrote: post #23
pokler wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To point 1, this almost feels like catch-22. While sleep may be a way to recover from stress, stress is probably the single thing that impacts my sleep the most (aside from alcohol consumption, which is much easier to control). Does anyone have any help or tips here?

You need to make a conscious effort to become better at managing your stress. When you notice your stress is peaking, try different techniques to relax yourself. Find out what works then you can make that a daily habit to reduce overall stress. Also need to train your mind to flip off the stress switch when it’s time to go to sleep.

> Also need to train your mind to flip off the stress switch when it’s time to go to sleep

Hoo boy that's easeir said than done.

Re: How to Beat Stress and Anxiety

#56

Post by jklinger410 »

robg wrote: post #4

1. Establish good sleep habits. Sleep is how the body recovers from stress. 2. Exercise daily. Movement is how the body puts the stress hormones to work. 3. Eat well. The gut-brain connection drives how we feel as we digest.

This advice is too vague to be useful.

Re: How to Beat Stress and Anxiety

#57

Post by mgolawala »

digitalsushi wrote: post #44
mgolawala wrote: post #31

I am surprised no one has mentioned chronic caffeine consumption and its role in promoting anxiety and stress.

I'm reading this book, "Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker, and it says the half-life of caffeine is like up to 8 hours ... so having a 3pm coffee means going to bed at midnight with half of it still active. I've cut coffee out of my diet after noon lunchtime, and I think it's helping ... tough to be sure but as long as I believe it, it's pretty good

I have noticed the same effect as well. There is a noticeable difference to the quality of my sleep on the days I have consumed caffeine and the days that I have skipped it. The quality of your sleep likely has effects on your mood, energy levels and over all stress levels.

However, I was referring to the direct effects of caffeine on your stress and anxiety levels. I would go so far as to say that if you are taking steps to reduce your stress and anxiety levels, quitting caffiene should be on the list of some of the first things you try. (Alongside the usual advice of good sleep, exercise, meditation and diet)

Some reading for those who are interested:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4668773/

"After adjusting for additional dietary, demographic, and lifestyle covariates, positive associations between total weekly caffeine intake and anxiety and depression remained significant"

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34871964/

"Caffeine also increases anxiety in PD patients as well as among healthy adults at these doses although the exact relationship between caffeine-induced anxiety and panic attacks remains uncertain. The results suggest that caffeine targets important mechanisms related to the pathophysiology of PD."

https://web.archive.org/web/20200130090750/https://www.psych...

"Regular consumption of high levels of caffeine can lead to a condition known as 'caffeinitis'" which is characterized by chronic subjective anxiety"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine-induced_anxiety_disor...

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/anxiety-and-caffei...

Re: How to Beat Stress and Anxiety

#58

Post by ANumberlessMan »

now__what wrote: post #51
prashantsengar wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am an introvert myself and practiced a new habit of calling one person each day in the lockdown. Has helped me in forming deep friendships, make new friends, and overcoming my shyness. Recommend 10/10 Here is a short essay I wrote recently. Will probably write a blog post soon too. https://twitter.com/prashanttgs/status/1616815440667480071

As a fellow introvert, this sounds insurmountably painful. How did you have something to talk about every night? How did you even find that many people to fit into a rotation like that without feeling like you were annoying them? I have so many questions. If you do write that blog post, I'd love to read it. Especially the "how."

I think it's common to go through life thinking that the absolute worse thing you can be is annoying.

You can fear being annoying to the point of becoming mute.

If life looks very small, consider becoming slightly more annoying.

Re: How to Beat Stress and Anxiety

#59

Post by marginalia_nu »

ryeights wrote: post #33
pitsnatch wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to make a conscious effort to become better at managing your stress. When you notice your stress is peaking, try different techniques to relax yourself. Find out what works then you can make that a daily habit to reduce overall stress. Also need to train your mind to flip off the stress switch when it’s time to go to sleep.

How to beat stress and anxiety, step 1: >become better at managing your stress […] train your mind to flip off the stress switch Well yes, I suppose…

It is actually something you can teach yourself to do.

It requires some practice, but the gist of it is to train awareness around your thoughts, and then to dispassionately label your thoughts when you find yourself stuck in a loop about something. Don't engage with them or try to fight them, just say "that's worrying" or or maybe if your source of stress is you're constantly try to solve all the world's problems, you say "I'm problem-solving".

It's important not to make it a struggle. Just label them over and over again. Two hundred times in an hour if that's what it takes.

If you do that over and over again, not only will it become easier each time to the point where it's almost like flipping a switch and your mind flushes all that crap like an airplane toilet and in the absence impressions of the world come rushing in, it becomes very clear how stuck in a bubble you were. Not only that, which is arguably a benefit in itself, you'll also find yourself stuck in those thought patterns less over time.

It really is an amazingly powerful technique.

Re: How to Beat Stress and Anxiety

#60

Post by sharadov »

pokler wrote: post #10
robg wrote: post #4

1. Establish good sleep habits. Sleep is how the body recovers from stress. 2. Exercise daily. Movement is how the body puts the stress hormones to work. 3. Eat well. The gut-brain connection drives how we feel as we digest.

To point 1, this almost feels like catch-22. While sleep may be a way to recover from stress, stress is probably the single thing that impacts my sleep the most (aside from alcohol consumption, which is much easier to control). Does anyone have any help or tips here?

Working out a few hrs before bed time, followed by a shower and dinner has always helped me get a great night's sleep.

Even during the most stressful of times, that evening workout helped reset my mood.

Reading in bed helps immensely as well.

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