[Espy]

I'd be lying if I said this wasn't relevant at the time of writing (aka right now, 12:02 AM, December 14, 2015, less than 17.5 hours before my first and potentially toughest and most critical final).

I realized today (or more precise, about twenty minutes ago), that even though the breathing trick does next to nothing for me, grounding, on the other hand, helps quite a bit.

The breathing technique I use is inhale for three seconds, hold for five, and exhale for seven, rinse and repeat, but that only lasts maybe two minutes for me, and then everything comes rushing back.

The grounding method that I've decided will probably be my first go-to attempt at relieving anxiety is: Find and think about five things you can see, four you can hear, three you can touch (and touch them -- I personally prefer things with very different textures), two you can smell or like the smell of, and one long, deep breath.

I usually also like having hot chamomile tea.

...Which reminds me, maybe caffeinated green tea was not the best idea...I'll finish this cup and switch to chamomile.

So, what anxiety-relieving techniques do you guys have and don't mind sharing?

[Coda]

When my therapist told me about breathing exercises, it was 4-7-5 instead of 3-5-7. (She also mentioned that the specific times don't particularly matter and that the important part is focusing on the process.) They... don't do particularly much for me, either. (EDIT: If it gets you a couple minutes, then that's good enough -- that's the point. It's not supposed to make it go away. It's supposed to help center you so that you can start on some other method.)

For me, tea is nice for helping manage the stress BEFORE it turns into an anxiety attack. After that point, it doesn't do terribly much.

I'm definitely the type to put on headphones and blast music loud enough to drown out everything else (but no louder; headaches don't help). It helps me focus, because when I have an anxiety attack, every little outside stimulus hurts -- but music is predictable in its regularity so I can use it to block out the rest of the world.

And that, really, is the best thing I can do: Isolate myself. Make myself as comfortable as possible. No excessive lights. No noise, not even environmental noise; if I can't have utter silence, then I need music. No strong smells; nothing but comfortable touch. Sometimes fresh, cold water, or warm, soothing tea, but that's less important; they don't do anything on their own but if it helps contribute to being comfortable and not overstimulated, then it helps. The only other person I want around is my wife, if anyone, but even then I don't want to talk, I just want her comforting presence.

It can take up to a couple hours for the attack to go away, but this at least lets me ride through it without dwelling on it and making it worse.

[Ireland]

I had the realization just now that I've been diagnosed with anxiety for 18 years now. D:

For me, a large component of dealing with anxiety when it pops up is changing my environment. I usually need to get up and move away from where I am or what I am doing. It helps derail the thought process that my mind gets stuck in. :/ That and I find a warm drink or one with caffeine helps a great deal.
All of that only helps if I'm not in the middle of a full blown panic attack. If I'm in the middle of one, I usually take a small amount of prescribed Xanax and caffeinate myself.
If you don't have Xanax, there is a over the counter supplement that my therapist recommended a long time ago known as GABA. You can get it at most stores that sell supplements and vitamins.

[Quiet Man Cometh]

I'm thinking but I honestly don't think I can really answer this. I've tried all the above tricks and a few more things like taking a shower, sometimes in the dark, raging, wallowing in self-pity, trying something other than what I'm doing at the time... Nothing really seems to work as a fix that doesn't involve either ignoring the getting rid of whatever the problem is. If I can't then usually I only feel better after some manner of breakdown, and I just let it happen.

[Espy]

Eugh, I keep having cold/hot flashes.

Would love to actually make a coherent reply to above posts but brain is currently unable to handle that sort of processing.

[Coda]

Ignoring it or fixing it is actually an appropriate response. Anxiety attacks are, by definition, irrational. The concerns that led to the attack may or may not be irrational themselves, but the self-reinforcing spiral of anxiety is entirely psychological. The goal of the management techniques is to clear the unwanted thoughts from your head; if you're able to make yourself ignore the problem and do something else, then you have SUCCEEDED in combating the attack.

In fact, trying to push through the attack to fix the problem that triggered it is usually counterproductive. Unless there's some critical time pressure that says you CAN'T let it wait, it's almost always better to set the anxiety-causing issue aside for an hour or two in order to let yourself recover. Schedule a time for you to return to the task so you don't put it off forever, but having your schedule in mind before you get started will help to alleviate some of the anxiety, because you can tell yourself that you have it under control.

[littl3chocobo]

i read. anything, everything, multiple times if i have to XD i have gotten quite savvy in understanding the complex and archaic scriptures dotting the roads and byways XD i know what is on the back of a lot of semi-trucks, what is on the back of cereal boxes, the compilation lists of hundreds of things both consumable and not, hahahaha but i cannot be upset if i am reading out loud. it is a last-ditch effort to ward off seizing chest spasms and tears

[Espy]

reading doesn't work for me. usually when anxiety attacks happen, adhd kicks in harder than usual (also causes a certain distinctive lack of regard for punctuation and capital letters, ahem) and reading/focusing is basically impossible. forcing myself to read (or study, which is the case right now) generally exacerbates it.

[Poggio]

Do you have something you can do with your hands? When I am feeling at my worse that is when I knit. Or admittedly I find a cheesy button masher to repetitively take my mind off what ever it is that is bothering me.

[littl3chocobo]

you dont have to take any of it in or even read it correctly, really XD it is just making your eye and your mouth match up and forcing your breathing to match that as well and keeping your head still and removing yourself from the problem

[Espy]

Originally Posted by littl3chocobo

you dont have to take any of it in or even read it correctly, really XD it is just making your eye and your mouth match up and forcing your breathing to match that as well and keeping your head still and removing yourself from the problem

No, like, my problem with this is if I /can't/ absorb what I'm reading, it's distressing. It'd be more helpful to just stare at a single point somewhere without words or anything that requires actual processing normally.

[Lawtan]

I don't really have a set method...usually I just build and build until I crash and essentially pass out.

However, some of these...maybe...

Meditation used to help, and music. The former, my therapist advised against. The latter, I forget in the "I have to do everything"-a-thon.

Drawing and writing helps. Not so much about the subject itself, but about things I like.
That, or making the anxiety/thoughts an abstract entity that I can then mess around with (distracting me from what it is). Tend to wind up something like "Cthulhu and Roadrunner"

[Lawtan]

I don't really have a set method...usually I just build and build until I crash and essentially pass out.

However, some of these...maybe...

Meditation used to help, and music. The former, my therapist advised against. The latter, I forget in the "I have to do everything"-a-thon.

Drawing and writing helps. Not so much about the subject itself, but about things I like.
That, or making the anxiety/thoughts an abstract entity that I can then mess around with (distracting me from what it is). Tend to wind up something like "Cthulhu and Roadrunner"

[littl3chocobo]

ah, ok that is fair

[Den]

I... rant, and ramble, and rave. and listen to music I enjoy because it distracts me (Steam Powered Giraffe ftw!), and I try to do breathing techniques... but sometimes, what really helps is removing the thing that's causing the anxiety.

case in point: the other night, I was getting twitchy and anxious, but couldn't pinpoint the source until I remembered that I really dislike certain textures... I was wearing a sweater that had triggered an episode, and so I took the sweater off and kind of chucked it to the side. It's still laying on the floor where I chucked it, so I don't have to touch it.

[Quiet Man Cometh]

Originally Posted by Espy

No, like, my problem with this is if I /can't/ absorb what I'm reading, it's distressing. It'd be more helpful to just stare at a single point somewhere without words or anything that requires actual processing normally.

That's where I just say "&%#* it" and watch TV or something. That I had to learn to do though, because avoiding it could also increase my stress. I was able to remove some of the anxiety surrounding papers and such in school with the knowledge that, if I had to, I could successfully pull an all-nighter.

Working with my hands helps a little, too. I one brought some cross stitch into my Social Geography class and found it actually helped me concentrate a little better, even though I looked to the prof like I wasn't listening to a thing he said.