People tell: ‘This is how I cope best with my anxiety’

Lately I have been hearing it more and more: people who suffer a lot from anxiety. Unfortunately, I myself suffer from it at times, and often find it difficult to cope. One thing that always calms me down is reading a lot. That can be a book, but I prefer shorter and more light-hearted things, and so I often end up on Reddit. And that's where I came across these tips, those anonymous Redditors shared about their own anxiety. So if you also suffer from it: who knows, you might benefit from these tips.

1. ‘I have suffered from anxiety all my life. I have since learned that it is totally okay to walk away from a situation and withdraw myself when I feel uncomfortable about something.’

2. ‘I had a stressful job in a country I was not from and I had a terrible boss. I was drinking and blowing a lot and constantly having panic attacks. Eventually I quit that job, left that country and stopped drinking and blowing. The panic attacks completely disappeared; I haven't had one for over a decade now. So for me it was really down to the circumstances; by removing those, my anxiety disappeared.’

3. ‘A lot of things happen in my life that make me angry or sad and these are really triggers for me. I keep trying to focus on what really matters, but that is not easy and every day I have to consciously remind myself of that.’

4. ‘Getting my bearings. Observing that the sky is blue. That tree is green. That car is red. And I keep doing that until it passes; I literally tell myself what I observe and what is real and don't let my brain think of anything else.’

5. ‘I always follow the same steps: acknowledge the feeling, label the feeling, breathe in deeply, breathe out deeply and remind yourself of what you are doing. And then repeat that again.’

6. ‘Meditate every night, at least an hour before I go to sleep.’