Hey Daniel,

I find that I personally have two different situations to deal with when it comes to my anxiety. The first is over thinking or catastrophizing, which happens when I am alone and lost in my thoughts. Now that I am able to recognise when I am doing this, I have been able to find a few methods that help to calm me down. Normal meditation doesnt work for me in this situation because I cant focus. However, yoga is amazing. Mixing body movements with controlled breathing really helps me calm down. Also doing something with my hands like drawing (just doodling, not thinking about what im drawing), colouring or journaling works well too. Using my brain for something purely logical such as crossword or number puzzles also helps to ground me.

The other situation is when I am in the midst of a social interaction and I lose my words. This one I am still working on. The only thing I have found so far that helps a bit is identifying an “escape plan” before attending a social event (Of course this doesnt apply if it is just a casual conversation where my anxiety kicks in). My escape plan usually involves getting to the event on my own, so not carpooling, and maybe even coming with a prepared excuse for me to leave early incase I need to use it.

It really depends on how you experience your anxiety, but learning to identify when you are in the middle of anxious thoughts as opposed to “normal” thoughts is a good first step.

Hope this helps,

Jamie