Stop the world, I want to get off

When things are spinning out of control, and you can feel yourself starting to spiral toward an anxious state or worry that you are heading toward a panic attack, there are a couple of things you can try to de-escalate things for yourself.

Have you tried closing or resting your eyes for a few minutes?

Taking a break to rest your eyes can help to calm your mind. In fact, if there’s a lot of stuff going on within your visual field that is ramping or winding you up, closing your eyes to shut out that stimulus can be extremely helpful.

When I mention “resting your eyes,” I’m not talking about a nap. Instead, I’m talking about either closing your eyes for a few minutes to shut out visual stimuli, or engaging in something like yoga nidra, a sort of in-between state where your eyes are closed, but your mind is engaged.

As it turns out, resting your eyes allows your body and mind to relax. This is true whether you lie down, or whether you just sit calmly.

Or try this “focal point” exercise

Find an object within your range of vision to focus on. Choose something that is not in any way threatening. So: a dresser, a table, a chair, a wooden box, a book, or a painting would be good; a knife or other weapon, or a piece of medical equipment that upsets you would be bad for this purpose.

Describe this object in great detail. Preferably out loud. Doing this exercise aloud helps you to focus on the object to the exclusion of other things, and you not only say the words, but hear yourself saying them, and it can help to calm you down.

Describe its size, shape, color, texture, features, and characteristics. Really look at it, and keep describing it until you run out of all possible things to say.

You can include questions or other observations, such as “that’s a dovetail joint, I wonder how dovetail joints are made?” or “that painting has red next to hot pink and orange, and I think I see neon green; how did the artist decide which colors to use?”

This works because if you focus on that object and are spending your time and energy describing it, out loud, then the alarm center in your brain turns itself off, and you end up calming down. You are literally distracting yourself from your rising anxiety with something non-threatening. And guess what? It works.

I have compiled 17 practices, exercises, and tips to help control or reduce anxiousness in an e-book that is available for purchase here.