Anxiety

laura Sun, 30/07/2017 - 21:08

Hi guys!

We have a very unpopulated topic area: anxiety!! We haven't dealt with it at all, which is silly given that it's one of the big challenges of survivorship.

Has anyone got any tips on dealing with anxiety? Whether that be the dreaded anxiety of scans, dealing with the fear of recurrence, or more generalised anxiety? xx

lauratheexplorer Mon, 31/07/2017 - 11:52

Hi Laura, Jen here - love this site! I don't really have anything positive to say about anxiety really. Sorry! I could moan about it a lot but not got any positive tips on ways to deal with it. I like to walk my dog every day and think that helps getting out and about outside. It's usually worse around my scans, so I try to organise something nice to do to distract me xxx

laura Mon, 31/07/2017 - 16:35

People always think that they don't having coping strategies to deal with anxiety, when actually if you dig deep, we all have our own ways of dealing with it!

I am really bad at buying myself presents when I have a scan - my poor bank balance always groans whenever it's scan-time!!

Last year when I was quite ill (and on lots of drugs!) I bought one of those subscription boxes. That was really nice as it's like receiving a monthly present. And they're not too expensive in the grand scheme of things either. xx

JackieP Mon, 31/07/2017 - 21:02

How about something on meditation and fatigue? Or yoga? Lots of research on both meditation and yoga and how they help with fatigue.

laura Wed, 02/08/2017 - 10:36

Good idea! Have you tried yoga or meditation personally? Would be good to hear of your experience? x

SnoozyMcNapping Thu, 03/08/2017 - 23:37

I find that breathing exercises help with the heart racing crushing anxiety. Taking a few minutes to concentrate purely on breathing helps to reset my mind and proves that I have something I can control. Apart from the breathing exercises I am now on meds that help with the anxiety, I am less likely to get distressed now.x

laura Fri, 04/08/2017 - 16:38

It's that feeling of not being in control that often causes my anxiety - you're right breathing definitely helps, though I am pretty rubbish at remembering and just sit there rocking with the racing of my heart! x

Nikki Thu, 10/08/2017 - 15:51

Hi guys, I don't know about you but I like to write things down. It gets things out of my head and on to paper where I can just leave it. I have scraps of paper everywhere, (in bags, pockets, around the flat) that need, periodically, to be collected up and put somewhere safe. Sometimes I read over them and realsie that I'm slowly but surely moving on from anxieties.

Nikki Thu, 10/08/2017 - 15:52

Hi guys, I don't know about you but I like to write things down. It gets things out of my head and on to paper where I can just leave it. I have scraps of paper everywhere, (in bags, pockets, around the flat) that need, periodically, to be collected up and put somewhere safe. Sometimes I read over them and realise that I'm slowly but surely moving on from anxieties.