I’ve been trying to be proactive about my anxiety. I have a bad habit of ignoring the elephant in the next room. If it’s in the room, I can’t ignore it, but if it’s next door I certainly can. Basically, if I’m in a panic cycle, I’m repeatedly reminded that I need to work on my mental health. If I’m not, it seems far away. I guess it’s a form of denial. But, over the past year or so I’ve been trying hard to build my tool belt and learn more about anxiety/panic. That means working, at least some, while not in a freak out phase.

In an attempt at transparency, I will say that I’ve had a few flares of anxiety over the past week. Luckily, no full panic attacks and they receded within a short time. But, that does mean my anxiety issues have been more present in my mind. So, here are the tools I’ve been investigating lately.

1. I finally signed up with an online counseling website & have been trying it out over the past week and a half. I feel like this deserves its own blog post, so I won’t write much about it here. I will say I’m unsure about it’s helpfulness and I’m undecided about how much of the issue is the therapists I’ve tried or counseling in general. More to come at a later time.
2. The phone app HeadSpace. I downloaded it a few  years ago and didn’t use it much, eventually deleting it from my phone. I’ve never really sync’d with meditation. However, one of the online therapists recommended I download it and use it, so I got it again. The one thing I’ll say is I do much better with guided meditation. My mind wanders so badly, having a voice directing me definitely helps. It’s still not my favorite thing, but I’m going to try to stick with it for awhile to see if it grows on me. *Ironically, I didn’t realize you only get a 10 day free trial until I researched reviews to add the above link. I guess I didn’t use it long enough to reach the end of the trial period the first time. I highly doubt I’ll pay for an app that guides me through meditation since I’m not a big fan of meditation in the first place. We shall see.
3. I started reading a new anxiety book. Anxiety Relief: A Thorough Self-Care Manual for Anxiety, Stress, and Panic by John Crawford. I’m only 6% in (thanks Kindle for providing exact progress markers, ha). What I really appreciate is that it is written by a therapist that actually suffered from anxiety and panic attacks. I feel like some things you can’t truly understand unless you have experienced them, and panic attacks are definitely one of those things. He had over a decade of severe anxiety, with panic attacks, in his 20s. I’ll report more thoughts as I get further in the book.
4. I ordered a new journal. I’ve always been obsessed with journals. With looking for the perfect one. With finding them and buying them on impulse. Collecting them. And with writing in them for awhile. And leaving them more then half blank before  eventually buying yet another one. I keep thinking some day I’ll get consistent with journaling. I would like to. Really, I would. But they always seem to dissolve into a daily recounting of what happened that day, which bores me. *sigh*. Anyway, I searched for days on the web and found a new journal and ordered it: Best Self Journal.  Anyone have a suggestion for how to keep up the journaling habit? 🙂

So, there you have it… my current spread of anxiety and panic tools that I’m investigating. As another blogger, James Edgar Skye, says… always keep fighting.