| I'm 41. Things that consistently reduce my anxiety: - Slow breathing. Count to four for each step: inhale, pause, exhale, pause. - Cardio exercise - Talking with my partner about anything. - Physical intimacy - Five full cycles of sleep every night. You have to measure this with a device. - Being in nature - Spending time with friends - Acetylcysteine (NAC) 14mg/kg per day. I started taking this a week ago. It feels like somebody turned down my emotions from 11 to 3. I still feel the same emotions, but their intensity is reduced. - Vipassana meditation. I took the free 10-day "Goenka" course and learned the skill. Then I worked through some things, which was a lot of work. The payoff is in reducing the time and energy I spend ruminating. The meditation skill is also useful for dealing with stress. - Therapy - Having money in the bank Things that increase my anxiety: - Caffeine. Caffeine's effect is cumulative for me, building up to a maximum over about a week. If you suffer from anxiety and you use caffeine, stop immediately and completely forever. Quitting caffeine and feeling better takes about a month. - Alcohol - Noise. Vehicles with fake mufflers. - Sudden loud noises. Vehicle horns and revving engines with fake mufflers. Sudden loud ring tones when using headphones. Sudden alarms. Set your phone's alarm to start quietly and slowly increase in volume. - Dark-themed tv - Staying up late - Ruminating - Sugar Good luck to you! |