TW: Mentions of self harm and Trichotillomania. 

So the theme set by the Mental Health Foundation for Mental Health Awareness Week this year was anxiety. They pushed the hashtag #ToHelpMyAnxiety to raise awareness but I didn’t see it once on social media so I decided to write a whole blog post on the topic, on what helps my anxiety as well as what I’ve heard from others about what helps them. I ranted recently about how people engage with Mental Health Awareness Week, and awareness days in general, but I do think that sharing coping mechanisms for anxiety is a useful thing to do and a good use of those days.

I live with very severe anxiety, so bad that nothing I do actually banishes it, but I have found certain things that help to manage or reduce it. And I’ve spent a lot of time talking with friends and acquaintances about anxiety, discussing how we all try to cope with it. So I have a lot of tried and tested methods that have all worked for at least one person and therefore will hopefully be useful to at least one of you. If any of these ideas help just one person, then it’s worth the work to compile them. (Some of these have been pulled from my experience as an autistic person but many of them are useful for anxiety so I figured it was worth including them.)

I do think it’s worth mentioning that not all of my coping mechanisms are good, healthy ones. I’m focussing on the healthy ones because those are the ones we should all be aspiring to practice but I felt it would be remiss to not even mention them.

General Tips:

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle – Getting enough sleep, eating healthily, moving your body, and, in some cases, taking additional supplements (I am not knowledgeable about this, nor qualified, to give advice but I do personally take supplements on the advice of a nutritionist, one who has experience with my health problems) are all important in managing anxiety. Not getting enough sleep or not eating enough can drastically increase anxiety, as you’ll know if you’ve struggled with anxiety in the past (and present).

Make sure I’m breathing properly – I know people who swear by deep breathing exercises but I don’t usually need to go that far; I often find myself breathing very shallowly and need to reset, take a deep breath and remind myself what normal breathing is. At home, singing is really useful for this, I think because it forces me to control my breathing, plus it’s something I love to do.

Consciously relax my body – When I’m really anxious, I’ll suddenly find my body so tense that I’m like a coiled spring. I have to focus and physically relax my muscles – drop my shoulders, unclench my fists, uncurl my toes, etc – sometimes multiple times a day. I usually find the tension creeping in again but making the effort to relax over and over does seem to help.

Avoid loud noises – Loud noises are a serious trigger for my anxiety so I try to avoid them as much as possible, although some environments seem to be exceptions, like concerts for example. Most of the time noise cancelling headphones do the trick so I’m very grateful to have such a great pair.

Avoid certain fabrics – This is probably more Autism anxiety than general anxiety but I thought it might be useful to someone. The sensory irritation of some fabrics (I particularly struggle with acrylic and polyester) slowly overload my brain until my anxiety makes it impossible to concentrate. So sticking to safe textures, like cotton, is a good strategy, even if it does mean I miss out on cool clothes occasionally.

Fidget toys or fidget jewellery – We all stim (shortened from self-stimulatory behaviour) to some degree, both neurodivergent and neurotypical people, and one of the most common reasons for stimming is anxiety. Many stimming behaviours aren’t harmful (and many autistic individuals enjoy their stims) but sometimes they are and sometimes they can draw unwanted attention. This is where fidget toys and fidget jewellery can be really helpful because it fulfils the same need as stimming but allows that behaviour to stay under the radar, if that’s what you want. I’m not ashamed of being autistic or of my stimming behaviours but some of them are harmful and need redirecting and some of them are such that I don’t always want them to be people’s first impression of me; I prefer to choose when I reveal that sort of information but still need to stim in the meantime.

Creating something with your hands – I’m not very artistic, not in the making of physical art anyway, but I do find it soothing to make things with my hands, whether that’s doing origami or making friendship bracelets. This is apparently a very common thing, as it allows our brains to essentially switch off and take a break from the relentless noise pouring in.

Bullet journalling – Organising and updating my bullet journal (or my version of it that’s accidentally evolved over the years) and to-do list help me to keep track of what’s happening so I don’t have to worry that I’m forgetting something.

Learning a language – This is something I’ve learned over the last year. I started using Duolingo and found it to be a really good way to distract myself when I was anxious, plus I was learning something new at the same time. I would like to use the language and, in theory, I will but even if I don’t, I did manage to reduce my anxiety, learn a new language, and feel better about myself.

Socialising (to the best of my ability) – Depending on what’s best for you, a certain level of socialising can be really good for managing anxiety (especially if you have someone to talk to who understands what you’re going through). It’s a bit of a balancing act because it can help up to a point and then become overwhelming, but if you can walk that line, you can find relief from anxiety in both socialising and alone time (as many of us know from experience, too much of either can just make the anxiety worse).

Therapy – If your anxiety is ongoing or seriously impacting your life, therapy might be something to consider. I talk about my anxiety in therapy a lot: what I’m anxious about, what I can do to mitigate it, short term and long term strategies, what else it might be connected to. I’ve learned a lot about myself and my anxiety and although some anxieties are impossible to avoid, I have learned how to manage some of them.

At Home:

Blanket – Unless it’s absolutely sweltering, I usually have a blanket draped over my legs and lap. It’s not a weighted blanket because those are just too much for me but a light blanket provides just enough weight to be calming, to be grounding.

Controlling the temperature – I’m more able to handle my anxiety when I’m comfortable, regulating my temperature included. So that I don’t have to adjust the whole house, I have a little electric blanket that I can sit on if I’m cold (also great for my chronic pain) and an amazing fan (noiseless because the noisy ones can trigger my anxiety) and that way I can adjust the temperature really easily as I need to.

Burning my favourite candle – When I’m feeling anxious, burning my favourite candle (my personal choice is the pink pepper grapefruit candle from The Candle Bar, but really any pink grapefruit candle will do) helps to relax me; I feel safer and calmer and like I can breathe more easily.

Stroking my cats – It’s been scientifically proven that spending time with animals lowers our stress levels and I absolutely know it to be true from my personal experience. Being around my cats relaxes me and it’s only when I’m away from them – even for only a few days – that I realise just how much they reduce my anxiety. So being with animals, if possible, is definitely a good tactic and fortunately, these days, there are many ways to do that if it’s not possible to own a pet yourself.

Favourite movies and TV shows – When I’m having a bad day, returning to my favourite movies and TV shows (even if I have to work on stuff while I watch them) is very calming. The familiarity and nostalgia of those stories and characters makes me feel safe, pushing the outside world and all its stresses away for a while. As psychologist Pamela Rutledge says, “It can become really therapeutic, especially if you are feeling anxious. Watching the same piece multiple times reaffirms that there’s order in the world and that it can create a sense of safety and comfort on a primal level.”

Diary writing – I feel like, with every day that passes, I’m carrying around more and more memories and the longer I go without writing them down and putting them somewhere safe, the more anxious I get. This is where my OCD chimes in. Complying with that need to write everything down may feed my OCD but it also brings me huge relief, both in that it relieves the weight that I feel like I’m carrying – and the anxiety that I could forget those memories and that they’d therefore be lost forever – but also in that it helps me process what I’ve been going through; the act of writing out my thoughts and feelings helps me untangle and make sense of them. I couldn’t cope without it.

Out and About:

Have a well packed bag – It often ends up being a little over excessive (and heavy) but by making sure I have everything I know I’ll need (or might need), I can avoid a lot of anxiety and uncertainty; it’s my safety net. The contents depend a little on where I’m going but I usually have my phone (and portable charger so that I’m always able to reach someone if I need to), my noise cancelling headphones, my ID, my wallet (and travelcard), my keys, my sunflower lanyard, a bottle of water, a face mask (and a spare), hand sanitiser, medication (for anxiety and pain), my bullet journal, a fidget toy, and something to distract myself with if necessary, like a book. I think that’s everything. But if I’m prepared for everything, I’m less likely to end up in a situation that triggers my anxiety because I already have a solution.

Exercise – I think there’s a bit more nuance to this one than is often made clear. Because of my mobility and chronic pain problems, exercise is hard for me and swimming is the only thing I can reasonably do at this point, which isn’t something I can just get up and do. But I do love it and I do find that it makes me feel better. I do agree that moving your body is helpful but I think that you get more out of it when it’s a form of exercise you enjoy, rather than exercise for the sake of exercise. Some of my friends love running and find that really centering and yoga is often recommended as a good choice of exercises, particularly because of the relationship you develop with your breathing, another well known coping mechanism for anxiety.

Other People’s Tips:

A change of scenery – Sometimes we can just get stuck in the spiral of anxious thoughts and one way to break that spiral is to literally move to a different place. Our brains are super sensitive to changes in our surroundings and new experiences are closely linked to reward and positive feelings.

Gardening – While gardening is not something that helps me, it’s something that many people find really helpful, whether that’s tending a full garden or looking after plants and window boxes. My Mum loves to garden and when I asked her why she finds it relaxing, she said that part of it is that she’s outside and away from work, but also that it requires all of her attention and that there’s always progress to be made. I can definitely understand that even if plants specifically aren’t my thing.

Reduce caffeine – I don’t understand the science, it has been scientifically proven that reducing caffeine reduces stress. As far as I can tell, caffeine has no effect on me at all – energy-wise, at least – so I have no idea if it affects my stress levels. But if you’re ingesting a lot of caffeine, it might be worth cutting down your intake and seeing how you feel.

Listening to music – Some people find listening to music deeply relaxing and it’s true that, as an activity, it lowers your heart rate and cortisol levels. Personally, it might physically relax me but since music is my job, it’s not very relaxing for my brain. I think they call it ‘a busman’s holiday.’

Reading – Reading is also proven to lower your heart rate and ease tension in your muscles so it’s a technique worth trying but, of course, reading isn’t everybody’s cup of tea.

Puzzles – My friend loves doing puzzles and, as it turns out, puzzles actually help release dopamine in your brain, which is why we feel good when we do puzzles. I prefer doing puzzles with people rather than doing them alone and I’m sure that that has its own benefits too.

Self care – The idea of doing something that helps you feel good, mentally and physically, seems obvious but it’s so easy for all of us to get caught up in everything we need to do and everything we’re worried about, that we often forget. For some people, this is taking a long bath, for others it’s painting their nails, or catching up with a friend, sleeping in, or keeping a gratitude journal. The list of potential options is probably longer than The Lord of the Rings books so I’m sure there’s something useful there for all of us; it just might take a while to find the right thing.

Meditation – I don’t know a whole lot about meditation (and all of the different types) but I know that some people swear by it. Not only does it reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and PTSD, it can also improve your sleep, blood pressure, and heart rate. Regular meditation can also physically change the structure of your brain, improving your senses, your concentration, and ability to process emotions. Knowing it can do all of that, it definitely seems worth..