Category: Articles from Outside No Panic

It’s hard not to have heard about what is going on in the world at the moment with regards to the corona virus (Covid 19). Whilst news of this outbreak has been understandably concerning for many it has had a more severe impact on the mental health of others, especially those with existing mental health issues.

There are a lot of uncertainties at the moment – if and how the virus will effect us and our families, whether we will have to self-isolate, whether we will have enough food, the impact this will have on our livelihoods and so much more. When we are faced with a lot of uncertainties it can create anxiety for many people.

Whilst it is important to stay informed about what is happening in the UK we also need to manage our mental health so that we can get through these next few challenging months with strength and resilience. The following tips can help to stay calm and find balance despite what is going on around us:

1) Distinguish between what you can and can’t control

When we are going through any challenging situation, distinguishing between what we can and can’t control can help us to manage how anxious we feel. Things that we can control include preparing for potential future isolation, limiting how much attention we pay to the media, focusing on the facts of the situation and not assuming the worst case scenario and these can all help us to feel more in control and less anxious.

Trying to control the things that we can’t can strengthen beliefs about not being in control and lead to further anxiety. Things we can’t control include the decisions that are made by the government and whether we, our family members pr those in our communities will contract the virus. These are worrying times for many so focusing on the things that we can do something about will help us to feel more in control and less anxious.

2) Check-in With How You Are Feeling

Many people are reporting that one of their main worries is how they will cope with the anxiety around the Corona outbreak. Regularly check in with how you are feeling and coping and if you are feeling anxious do something to help yourself to relax. Read a book, watch a feel-good movie, take a walk, do some yoga, breathing exercises or any other relaxation exercise that you find helpful.

3) Stay Connected With Others

Some people are already in self-isolation and this figure may grow over the coming weeks. Make sure you have the contact details of your friends and family and that you check-in regularly with those that are potentially more vulnerable within your community. If you are worried about being alone then try and prepare in advance by reaching out to your community, friends or family or see details below of organisations you can contact for support.

If there is a chance that you have come into contact with the virus or you are self-isolating for other reasons make sure to plan how you will spend your time. This may be a daunting prospect but making a daily plan that includes activities that give you a sense of pleasure or achievement can help keep your spirits up.

We can chose to make the most of this challenging time and look after our mental health by getting creative with how we spend our time. Examples include finding exercise programs to do from home, making sure that friends and family can stay connected with you online and looking up activities you can do with your children if housebound. If you have a weekly bridge game, book club, zumba class or playgroup you enjoy, explore what opportunities exist for moving these online for a while.

4) Manage how much time you spend listening to the news and on social media

If we focus too much attention on Corona news and it becomes our sole focus it can become overwhelming. There is a lot of speculation at the moment which can also further fuel anxiety. Limit the time you spend listening to the news and reading social media posts and chose your sources wisely. Whilst it’s important to stay abreast of the facts from good quality sources any more than this can blow the issue out of proportion and raise anxiety levels unecessarily. If you notice that you are feeling anxious, take time away from the news and focus on looking after yourself or those around you.

5) Manage Your Choices

There have been many news stories about people panic-buying from supermarkets and anti-bacterial handgel having been sold out. It is important to make sure that our behaviours reflect the reality of the situation. If we fall down a rabbit-hole of unhelpful behaviours like excessive hand washing and excessive panic-buying it can make the situation feel even further out of our control, leading to even more anxiety. It is important to follow the advice we have been given and trust that this is sufficient to ensure we are as safe as possible. Not giving in to urges based on fear, rather than reality, can help keep the risks we are facing in perspective.

Focusing on keeping as healthy as possible through healthy lifestyle choices such as eating well, limiting smoking and reducing alcohol consumption can all help give ourselves the best chance of remaining well over the coming months.

6) Beliefs about coping

Ultimately the difference in how we get through these uncertain times will come down to how we think about the situation and how we think about our ability to deal with it. We can’t predict the future and if we focus on our fears and uncertainty and doubt our ability to cope with what will happen we will feel very anxious. If we focus instead on the present and what we can control as well as our strengths, resilience and ability to cope with challenges then together we will get through this difficult time with more calm and ease. By Navit

More about the author; Navit is a qualified and experienced Cognitive Behaviour Therapist and mental health author. She previously worked as a manager and CBT supervisor in a London NHS service but since moving to Cornwall with her family now sees clients privately and online. Navit also writes extensively about mental health, in particular the biological and cultural factors that lead to feelings of anxiety and what we can do to overcome these. In response to the Coronavirus outbreak and the inevitable impact this has on people’s mental health, Navit has written an ebook to give insight and tools to help people manage their feelings of anxiety during the pandemic.

The response to the ebook has been overwhelmingly positive for people in all walks of life. Here are some testimonials:

“It’s made my mind relax and composed and from now on I know how to deal with my anxiety”“I learnt that there are ways I can do more to control my anxious thoughts”
“I’m finding it very useful for everyday worries and (the exercises) have also invaluable for my daughter who is 14”.“It involves real-time exercises. As I found out those exercises work wonders”

Navit’s ebook is normally priced at £9.99 but by using the exclusive code ‘nopanic’ you can buy it today for just £3.50 with a huge discount of 65%!! https://gumroad.com/l/howtostaycalmthroughcorona

I am ready to share my story about my journey with anxiety, how it hits me and how I manage my anxiety. 

It all started during morning assembly one day last year, when suddenly I started to feel sweaty and hot, this was followed by a blasting in my eardrum, every small detail seemed to magnify, I didn’t know what was going on and my heart started to beat as if I was in extreme danger but it was just assembly like any other day.

It was a super scary experience for me and from that day on I started to have the same symptoms every day during assembly. I searched for help online (before I reached out to this wonderful platform) and found out about the flight or fight response. I realised that I fell under the fight response, I would resist and try to control my anxiety only to have it come back worse than before.

Fast forward to my exam day (D-day), it was all seemed to be going fairly smoothly as by this point I sort of figured out that I was suffering from anxiety but I didn’t really understand the full meaning behind it. I went into the exam and came out as if I was a turtle pushed back into my shell, I had experienced my first full blown panic attack. I can remember every detail of what happened fresh in my mind like it was just yesterday.

It’s fair to say, I did not do too well in the exam, so I retook the exam this year.

A lot has changed and all I can say is during my exam this year, I experienced peace but of course also slight (normal) anxiety. I have never been so calm during an exam. Even before and throughout the year things have been so different. Nowadays I enjoy assembly instead of focusing on myself panicking.

For this I definitely have to thank meditation as well as having a counsellor that listens well to me, she taught me how to relax my body and explained how much meditation and mindfulness would help.

When I first tried out meditation, I was hesitant because each time I took a deep breath it would feel so forced and a bit strange . I often associate deep breathing with anger, so it was something I had to work hard on. It was only after practise and when I eventually did it right that it worked wonders for me.

And of course I have to thank the No Panic organisation for always sharing these amazing quotes and words of encouragement to me. Knowing there are people on hand that understand me and are there to support and advise at all times is so comforting… S

By Curtis Dean

Stress and anxiety have become rampant these days. Apparently, 70 percent of the population today experience deep stress and anxiousness on a regular basis. And if you are one of these people, here are some quick stress relief tips that you may want to know and apply:

Exercise

Exercising and doing workout routines are found to be beneficial in relieving stress. According to studies, regular exercise can decrease the production of cortisol in the body. It is worth noting that cortisol plays a huge role in the body’s stress levels. So, when this hormone is reduced, significant results in stress and anxiety can be seen and felt.

On another note, exercising daily is found to increase the production of dopamine and endorphins. And you will want this as these hormones are essential factors to making you much lighter and happier.

Play Musical Instruments

Playing musical instruments is another best way to relieve stress. You don’t need to attend guitar or piano lessons to inherit the benefit. As it happens, just by simply singing along with your chosen musical instrument, it can already produce significant changes in your mood and focus.

Studies found that people who resort more to music are much happier despite having a stressful environment or situation. For some reason, music allows the brain to be much very picky when it comes to “digesting” information and data inside the brain. So, depressing and saddening thoughts can be easily flushed away.

Play A Mental Game

Mental games like brain teasers are great tools for reducing stress and even eliminating it totally. This is because they allow your brain to focus on challenging things, which then shifts the signal waves in its course going to the areas where logic and reasoning aspects of the brain are situated.

As a result, the feelings of being stressed, tired, and down will not be very apparent and evident. Also, mental games are found to sharpen further your brain’s cognitive functions. And you will want this to happen as it will help you with your daily lifestyle.

Spend Time With Friends and Family

Spending quality time with your significant and loved ones are very helpful in relieving stress. As it happens, this will give you a sense of belongingness and self-worth, which are apparently beneficial during tough and stressful times.

Recent studies and research found out that people who have fewer social ties and connections are more prone to experiencing stress, anxiety, and depression. So, the more you engage within your social circle, the better as this will dramatically decrease the risks of anxiety and depression.

Listen to Soothing Music

There is a reason why people resort to music when they feel stress, sad, or down. Based on testaments and assertions made by specialists, music is therapeutic. And any mental condition can be largely alleviated with the proper utilization of music.

Just by listening to certain types of music, stress can already be resolved and relieved. This is why music therapy is now a popular form of therapy as it has been found to produce promising results.

Laugh Out Loud

For sure, you are already familiar with the saying – laughter is the best medicine. The phrase has been coined due to the fact that laughing regularly can resolve a lot of things even physical and mental conditions.

Many studies have already tested and proven the effectiveness and efficiency of laughter. So, the next time that you feel that your stress is already rising way above the line, just laugh it all out and see for yourself what will happen next.

Final Thoughts

Stress is the number one cause of many mental health issues and various health concerns. Needless to say, it should be relieved and even prevented at all costs. Although there are times that stress is inevitable, these quick tips are found and proven to be very effective in “flushing” the stress out of your system. Accordingly, you may want to try these things out the next time you catch yourself in a stressful situation.

Walking on Custard: How Physics Helps Anxious Humans

Comedian, author, and physicist Neil Hughes lived with anxiety for years before he had a strange realisation: anxiety is just like custard! This surprising pudding-based insight led to a new approach to his mental health.

In this talk, he uses physics, humour, and poorly-drawn doodles to share this new way of thinking about mind management, including practical suggestions for improving mental habits.

Neil Hughes at TEDx LeamingtonSpa:

He also explains the hidden links between fluid dynamics, custard, and emotions, and how these links might help to build a more peaceful life. This amusing and enlightening talk will help you identify the ‘custard traps’ in your mind and start plotting your escape.

Neil Hughes is a comedian, anxiety sufferer and the author of ‘Walking on Custard & the Meaning of Life’, a unique combination of autobiographical confessions, humorous fantasy fiction, and a ‘how-to’ for living less anxiously and more happily.

You can find Neil Hughes at https://www.enhughesiasm.com/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/enhughesiasm. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

This video was embedded here with the kind permission of Neil Hughes.

Do you ever wonder why things happen, how things keep happening and how life, however short, is never enough? Do you leave in your wake a stream on unfinished projects, friendships broken and enthusiasms disappearing?

Hopefully this book and these words may help you move forward, or stand still depending on your plans for the rest of your life. Even by standing still you are moving forward, just the recognition that you don’t want to do something is a forward step. Staying the same takes more effort than changing in some cases. Doing what people expect takes less effort than doing what you want to do – they are rarely the same.

I am never going to suggest that anyone follows the paths I have taken, no, there’s much better ways of dealing with everyday everything, or maybe there isn’t – have I done everything I’ve ever done right? Of course not…have I learnt more from doing things wrong more often than when I’ve done them right? Yep, that’s the answer! So it’s a question of looking, learning and listening to every success and every failure you may have, at the same time it might be worth thinking about how we measure success, what do we see as being an achievement.

Using a small steps approach to things means you can often pat yourself on the back, encourage yourself and feel good about what you have done, lots of people won’t have done the same as you, lots of people for example struggle to get up in the morning, getting up, showered, ready for work etc is a success in itself, whereas others don’t see that as an achievement as that is something they find easy. Only us as individuals can know what we’ve struggled to do, and while it may be hard to accept it, our peer group have different difficulties…

You can buy the full book here for £1.99. All proceeds go to No Panic.

You can also follow and subscribe to the author on YouTube, where he shares more about his life experiences.

How can No Panic help?
No Panic specialises in self-help recovery and our services include:
Providing people with the skills they need to manage their condition and work towards recovery.
Our aim is to give you all of the necessary advice, tools and support that you will need to recover and carry out this journey. No Panic Recovery Programs

“At the age of 17 I was registered blind due to a degenerative genetic disorder. Though this made life a little more difficult I completed my A-levels and went on to university. However age 20 I withdrew from my course due to ill health. Following this I was diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder and psychosis. Over the past nine years I have , used self harm as a coping mechanism  and attempted suicide approximately 30 times with a similar number of admissions to psychiatric wards.. 

Currently living in a rehabilitation facility, I have been accepted to return to college in September to study access to HE nursing to then complete mental health nursing degree, as well as being accepted to volunteer on a mental health ward in Manchester with one of my roles being facilitation of a creative writing group. There are many points of inspiration across my journey so far including people I met in Words they  shared along the way.

I began writing poetry as a way to manage my extreme emotions and communicate when verbalisation was difficult.I would like to share with you some of my poetry in the hope that maybe someone you know could relate to any small part of it. I found great strength in knowing that I am not alone and I have  discovered  many reasons for which life is worth living.”

Hide and seek

As if my lung  is punctured by a knife like fear

Cried so many tears the impending drought is near

My mind feels as if it is infected

So expose it cannot be protected

Overwhelmed by the crowds cannot  bear  to be alone

No direction to  freedom from this chaos to my home

Judged misunderstood 

unloved shed blood

Somebody please help me to believe

I’ll be granted a reprieve given me the strength to breve

I’ll find that missing piece to make my puzzle  complete

Find the human race I believed was obsolete

Seeking to prove it’s the truth that you speak

The words that sail  through my head as I attempt to fall asleep

My stomach somersaults with just one word

Dissecting  every sentence I have heard

Few actions I would not do to be liked

To be cared for or valued  I’d pay any price 

Never honest await the next broken promise

Turn my life into a comic as you jovially frolic 

From the clouds to the tectonic plates

Feel every bone of my skeleton break 

Life  a nightmare once a dream like state

 The lamp that  lit my life now ceased to illuminate

Question  if my  pulse has met its expiration date

Whether concealed or revealed  

Can’t control the way I feel

I’m in the driving seat whose hands on the steering wheel

Portrayal

Controlled by mental infirmity, lunacy,  absurdity,

Lack of social equality subjects of in humanity

Take away the pain with the use of a blade

Momentarily the anxiety will fade

Entangled emotions many with no name

Sabotaging my life a process I can’t explain 

The world never witness to the second form of me

Exuberance jubilance a lust for life is what they see

Relentless self harm jewel with  feeling suicidal

Love the tiny ray of hope  preventing an act so final

Sunk in the duvet crushed by the falling ceiling

In my mind the last rites I can hear the priest reading

My life is not 29 years of agony

Lifelong recipient of love and empathy

But now I’ve smiled for the final time

Clinging onto the tears telling you I am fine

Heartfelt

Evident you cared from the day that we first met

Catching every tear I cried when overcome with upset

 your motive to care rather than to earn a wage

 acts of genuine compassion o performance for a stage

Showed me a reason to live that I struggle to locate

Able to melt a sheet of glass with the warmth you radiate

You made me smile, made my life worth while

Showed me the way to return from exile

Smart suit stethoscope empty words leave their  mouth

Arrogance ignorance excessively sized house

No thoughts nor feelings ever  condemned never judged

The ligatures I made this self-inflicted stream of blood 

even if just for a moment you made me want to live

My contribution to society valued and respected

Misconvictions

Why must I prove I am no threat rather than the reverse dismissing the intense hurt  often  a product of your words 

Brutally attacking it announces its arrival

Steals the air from the room I question my survival

You tell me not to worry  my symptoms will pass

A common panic attack no need to write your Epitath

A wall of silence is deafeningly loud

Even in an empty room I feel lost in the crowd

Every word passing  my lips subject to your contest 

Scrutinised  like one under arrest

Inferring  my diagnosis suggests

And inanimate objects beats inside my chest

The media hype and stereotypes

Contribute to concluding that my heart is unripe

Not defined by the label to which I am assigned

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I started sneaking alcohol from my parent’s liquor cabinet when I was 14 years old. I did it out of plain curiosity the first time. I have a sister who is 10 years older than me and she always looked like she was having so much fun when she was drinking with her friends. I wanted to know what that felt like.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that alcohol enhanced my mood and calmed me down. I had suffered from anxiety for a long time, but I was too young to even know what anxiety was. I had moments where I would find myself hiding in the school bathroom having a panic attack while I felt like the world was spinning faster than I could keep up. I was extremely insecure. I would second guess everything I said to others because I was afraid of what they would think of me. These incessant thoughts consumed my everyday life.

Alcohol took away these feelings. It allowed me to feel peace. I took what worked for me and I ran with it. Years later, I found myself dependent on alcohol to get through the day and cope with my emotions. When I made the decision to put the drink down for good, my anxiety and insecurities were still there. Without another way to manage my emotions, I had to find ways to cope with my anxiety without alcohol.

Meditation

Mindful meditation is one of the first things I tried, and it has always proven successful in alleviating my anxiety. I usually rely on a guided meditation because it is easier for me to focus on another voice or other noises if the thoughts in my head are spinning. I begin by taking several deep breaths, allowing my body and mind to relax, then go wherever the meditation takes me. When it is over, I always feel alert, calm, and at peace.

Writing

I had always heard about people journaling, but I thought of it as cliche. However, when I tried it, I was surprised at how much I wrote in so little time. Journaling has been found to effectively minimize stress and anxiety. While there are various methods of journaling, I usually just write about my day or whatever is on my mind at the moment. It only takes 5 minutes each night and it helps me organize and work through my anxious thoughts.

At the end of my journaling, I write down a short gratitude list. Recognizing the things I am grateful for helps put the stressful things in my life into perspective. Gratitude is a key to happiness and a better emotional view of myself.

Exercise

Psychologists suggest that as little as 10 minutes of physical exercise can help alleviate anxiety. By the time I chose to stop drinking, I wasn’t in the best physical shape. I started with low impact exercises, like walking and yoga. Eventually, I started going to the gym and starting my day off by taking a jog early in the morning. Regardless of the type of exercise, the physical release I experienced help relieve my anxiety immensely. Exercise began as something I dreaded doing, but it has become an important part of my life. In addition, it’s a lot easier to exercise when you don’t have a hangover!

To my surprise, after I had abstained from alcohol for a year, anxious feelings come to me much less often than they did before or during drinking. On the rare occasion that it does, I have healthy coping techniques to use rather than taking a drink.

Cassidy Webb is an avid writer. She writes for JourneyPure and advocates spreading awareness on the disease of addiction. Her passion in life is to help others by sharing her experience, strength, and hope.