Cilly, SC, F27, larry and others

Hi CQ,

Thanks for that! :) I am glad to hear that you find comfort here...that is our goal!

As far as your concern goes...


...the symptoms you mentioned can be attributed to hyperventilation...something that we often do without even realizing it!

Here is my personal favorite breathing exercise. Practicing this could reduce/reverse the physical effects you are feeling.


The Divided Breath:

 

Imagine your lungs as having 3 parts. The bottom third, the middle, and top third. 

 

On the inhale fill the bottom third first, then the middle and finally the third. Make sure that this is one continuous breath, but divided, with a slight pause in between each third.

 

  Hold the breath in for 3-5 seconds if possible. Exhale in reverse. First blow out the top third, then the middle, and finally the bottom third of your lungs until all air is expelled.  (remember the pauses) 

 

Repeat several rounds for a total of about 10 minutes.

Hope this helps!

S.C.

Thanks for the shout-out, canadaquestions. Truthfully, the best way for me to deal with the depression and anxiety is to laugh it off. I love laughing; it's one of the best parts of being human, aside from those mini-doughnuts.

As far as dealing with attacks of anxiety, SC has a metric ton of coping skills she's shared over the years. Clonazepam works well enough, but sucks if you have to fly a plane or operate heavy machinery. What eventually cured me of imminent fight or flight was reminding myself that I've survived every anxiety attack I've ever had, so there's a good chance I'll survive all the attacks I have in the future.

Of course, there's always Martinis .....

Thank you guys and gals. I am trying to use the tools to reduce the anxiety. I don't know where it came from ... cq