Skip to main content
Forums Home
Illustration of people sitting and standing

New here?

Chat with other people who 'Get it'

with health professionals in the background to make sure everything is safe and supportive.

Register

Have an account?
Login

cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Our stories

Learninggrowing
Senior Contributor

Hello! Here for some advice & support

I'm here on this forum to hopefully find some suggestions on how to deal with anxiety and withdrawal symptoms from reducing my antidepressant. 

I feel being distracted by things, activities etc will help take my mind off my mind 🤯 

I like arts and crafts, gardening, listening to music. 

At the moment, the last few days have been difficult to even get out of bed

 Yet alone do any distracting activities, yet I thought if I pushed myself a bit harder and found that strength deep within I can at least do one distracting yet enjoyable activity a day. 

So any suggestions would help with the list Im making. 

3 random facts about me... 

I had to Google this for ideas. Cos I felt so boring

But then realised I'm not as boring as I thought I was.....   well I think so anyway! 

#1  been skydiving & bungee jumping 

#2  I'd love to take salsa dancing lessons 

#3  I like my maccas fries cold and old. Not fresh and hot... strange hey.. 

That's me. 😊

3 REPLIES 3

Re: Hello! Here for some advice & support

Hi there,

 

Great that you're taking charge of things and trying to be proactive.

 

Dealing with anxiety with any enjoyable activity is always to be recommended and is a form of taking care of ourselves so well done!

 

With any anxiety whether it be generalised or specific to a situation you encounter or are going through it can also help to experiment with things like meditation and mindfulness. 

 

This takes a while and I'm still working through it but I can see how it can help us to look at our anxieties from an almost objective point of view. Kind of take a step back and create some space.

 

Just a thought 🙂 

 

 

Re: Hello! Here for some advice & support

hi @Learninggrowing

what stops you from doing the activities you want to? (salsa dancing, craft & art, gardening)

You've got great ideas but something must be stopping you from putting them into action.

 

I feel better after I've exercised but it is hard to get motivated in the first place. so one trick I use is to have a reward system. For example, instead of going on facebook in the morning in my pj's for 2 hours with my coffee, I force myself to get in to my workout gear and do a workout. Then my reward is that I get to log on to facebook.

 

I really like my medication which is the only thing that helps with my anxiety so I am different to your situation.

 

Do you have a counsellor? Have they helped you to identify what is stopping you from doing what you enjoy & suggested some strategies to get them started?

Re: Hello! Here for some advice & support

Hey learninggrowing,

 

I am on medications that take a lot out of me, so I find I am somewhat less functional than the average. I also suffer anxiety everyday which makes me retreat to under my covers with some good music,

 

what I have found works best for me is to have a fourfold list as my daily routine, which includes four 20 min sessions that I can spread out over the day, and in between I can do what I like, which may look like spending the rest of the day in bed or on better days indulging my hobbies.

 

The list is simply this.

 

1. 20 minutes of personal hygiene

2. 20 minutes of home hygiene

3. 20 minutes of walking (or exercise)

4. 20 minutes of spiritual time

 

I find if I am accomplishing these small goals everyday my anxiety is much better.

 

I usually spread them out over the day, so get dressed and ready, then do whatever I want for a couple of hours, then go for a walk, then do what I want etc.

 

Illustration of people sitting and standing

New here?

Chat with other people who 'Get it'

with health professionals in the background to make sure everything is safe and supportive.

Register

Have an account?
Login

For urgent assistance