Coping with Anxiety and Depression

I do this and I love this one a lot. I pair it with- 1 counting- 5 things I see, 4 things I hear, 3 things I feel, 2 things I smell and one thing I love about myself. The last one can be hard but sometimes it’s as simple as I love my nail color or I love that my eyelashes catch my sweat. 2 the focusing on breathing- I do that too! My friend taught me what she calls ‘panic breathing’ (really it’s anti panic) when we went to a city fair and the crowd gave me a panic attack. Breath in through the nose, then out through the mouth pursing your lips in a small stream, like you are blowing out of a straw. It’s been a game changer for me

I just bought a weighted blanket and it has helped a lot! Although I sweat a lot in my sleep with it. I also have 2 dogs that do help me sometimes but they definitely have minds of their own. They can tell when it’s really bad and snuggle up next to me or on my head.

I like this one a lot. Even or especially in social situations if I’m overwhelmed or anxious it helps to put something physically between me and other people, and doodling is a pretty socially acceptable thing to do.