Coping/Managing Stress and Anxiety

BUT if you are having trouble sleeping, sleep deprivation can exacerbate whatever else is going on. Have it checked out and consider medication, take only as prescribed and don't drink.

My stress, during MY day? From morning until midnight?

Oh, let's talk about you.

I recommend a million things, right, from muscle relaxation, deep-breathing, real psychotherapy or family therapy, imaging techniques.

One of the best things to do with anxiety is to go directly to the catastrophic expectation, the very worst scenario, and work out how you'd handle that. Do it with another person listening, if possible. It can be fun. Think what you'd do if your greatest fears were realized.

Maybe you'd sell the house, buy an R.V., travel the country. Visit Mexico. Or lose the house, buy a mo-ped.

Learn a new language. Work at Blockbuster. (How bad could that be, let's talk) Bag groceries.

So I'll push you into a world of fantasy, have you step over the threshold.

I'll make you join this world. Let your imagination wander. Such a good thing. The fantasy is best, of course, if you can find something very different that's positive in having your worst nightmare come true.

The Chinese say, Crisis equal(s) opportunity.

Then, of course, you have to problem solve. Since you don't want to have to really GET to the catastrophic expectation (losing a job, a spouse, etc., your life) you work to resolve the problem. This is where you call in your favors.

You talk to friends, relative, docs. You get advice. You DON'T shoulder your burden alone. If at all possible, you DON'T rely on you and only you.

Then you get to work. Put the plan into motion.

Oh. And did I mention prayer? Television? Hobbies? EXERCISE? Any other distraction is good? If distraction's possible, it's none too shabby a coping strategy. It's usually IMPOSSIBLE, unfortunately, when you're really anxious.

The idea of distraction is very different than problem solving. The idea is to fool your body/brain (same thing, remember?) into paying attention to something other than your thoughts. The brain can't attend consciously to all that much at one time.

Now. On a very BASIC level? Me? After I've gone through those steps, determined a plan of action and carried through (oh yeah, you actually have to DO something to really solve problems), at the end of the day, which means about fourteen hours into being awake, I listen to music. I try to do it at work, too, but I crank it up too loud, I think, and other tenants get angry. (this is what goes on in my imagination, no one's ever complained)

I'm not Type-A, either, for whom it's actually prescribed, or at least don't think so. . . .

The brain needs a good stretch, peop. Make it work. Bring on the maturity, give it a shake. This really does rechannel stress if you allow that sensory data to detour your attention from the same old depressing, distressing garbage in life.

Or go back to the gym.

What goes up really must come down. As a cognitive therapist you'll hear this from me a lot. Be patient. You'll recalibrate eventually, no matter what you do. I prefer to speed it along just a tad.

Copyright 2006, TherapyDoc