9 ms·

How to Beat Stress and Anxiety

155 points by prashantsengar 4y ago

musicale 4y ago
I'm sure the current epidemic of stress and anxiety has nothing to do with wage deterioration, inflation, layoffs and looming recession, millions of deaths during a global pandemic, or regional conflicts that could lead to war between nuclear-armed adversaries. Or the general meaningless and despair of 21st century life. People who experience stress and anxiety from financial or health issues should probably just journal more, go for a run, and avoid social media.
TrainedMonkey 4y ago
Related anecdata + a study I found useful. After an auto accident I used to stress out when driving. I would recognize that I was stressing out and try to clamp down on it... which worked quite poorly and made me more stressed. Things got to a points I would hear a crash in my head every time I switched lanes causing even more panic and stress. Things changed after I watched https://www.ted.com/talks/heidi_hanna_the_cure_for_stress https://www.ted.com/talks/heidi_hanna_the_cure_for_stress . Instead of trying to clamp down I recognized that stressing out is making me more aware to keep me safe and leaned into it. That coupled with some structured breathing helped a lot in just a few weeks and a year later I got back into driving is fun mode. Recent Huberman study showed that structured breath work has measurable positive effects - https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-3791(22)00474-8 https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-37... . See more discussion on https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34480039 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34480039 While all four groups showed significant daily improvement in positive affect and reduction in state anxiety and negative affect, there were significant differences between mindfulness meditation and breathwork in positive affect Specifically, the cyclic sighing group showed more increase in positive affect toward the end of the study in a way that was significantly different than that for those randomized to mindfulness meditation, who had the least increase in positive affect Instructions for cyclic sighing: First step - inhale slowly until the lungs are expanded. Second step - inhale again once more to maximally fill the lungs. Third step - slowly and fully exhale until lungs are empty. Repeat this pattern of breathing for 5 min. Ideally, both inhales are performed via nose and the exhale would be performed via mouth, but, if preferred, the breathing activity can be performed entirely through the nose. It is normal for the second inhale to be briefer than the first. I am extremely excited that there is a follow up study being planned/worked on. One criticism I would give to the methodology is that instructions for cyclic sighing are by far the simplest compared to mindfulness meditation, box breathing, and cyclic hyperventilation with retention. As such it is possible that this method performed the best because it was simplest to follow.
- nkozyra 4y ago
  I've found that most of my stress lives in the pit of my stomach, which is a pretty common description of feeling dread or disappointment or anger, etc. By focusing on relaxing my stomach I've found it nearly as effective as cyclic breathing or other techniques. I'm sure the two are related but most people talk about the breathing (rightfully so), while I've found actual tension in the abs/stomach manifests a lot of this.
- prox 4y ago
  I also think there might be different kinds of stress responses that might be wired differently, for instance the leaning into stress had hardly helped me. Immersion and slow adaption to stressors seem to work better for long term decrease in my case. Breath is important, it does help! I have enjoyed the Lungy app recently launched by an HNer.
readingnews 4y ago
I love how foot note [5] is missing, the one on Cognitive restructuring. Nice.
- marmetio 4y ago
  You can ask the author for the missing footnote by leaving a comment on the page itself.
- prashantsengar 4y ago
  I have read the article many times myself, and a lot of friends have read it too. Nobody noticed that yet. Thanks for noticing. Now I have to go check my notes to find the link
robg 4y ago
1. Establish good sleep habits. Sleep is how the body recovers from stress. 2. Exercise daily. Movement is how the body puts the stress hormones to work. 3. Eat well. The gut-brain connection drives how we feel as we digest.
- Buttons840 4y ago
  Regarding number 3. I've developed some GI issues the last year and was diagnosed with celiac disease. My stress and anxiety are higher than ever. I've often reflected on whether the GI issues are causing my stress or just making me more aware of the stress that has always been there.
  - gadflyinyoureye 4y ago
    Thy could be. Try carnivore for three months. See I that resets your gut a bit.
- pokler 4y ago
  To point 1, this almost feels like catch-22. While sleep may be a way to recover from stress, stress is probably the single thing that impacts my sleep the most (aside from alcohol consumption, which is much easier to control). Does anyone have any help or tips here?
  - RankingMember 4y ago
    I've found with time that the easiest way to fall asleep is to try to meditate. Sit there or lay there in a quiet room and just watch your breath going in and out, not chastising yourself or getting frustrated when your mind inevitably wanders. Simply acknowledge that you've gone off track and come back to your breath. Normally in meditation, the goal isn't to fall asleep, but it is definitely something that you can let happen if you want to.
  - groestl 4y ago
    What helps me: write down a list of all the things going on, preferably pen on paper.. Allow yourself to do turn on the lights again and write additional stuff on it... Repeat until there's nothing more to write down.
RyanShook 4y ago
The most important thing I’ve learned about anxiety in the past year is that the conscious/cognitive part of your brain is not effective at calming down the stress response. I recommend this book to anyone who struggles with anxiety: https://amzn.to/3B3muZ9 https://amzn.to/3B3muZ9
- DenisM 4y ago
  FWIW the book summary is available on Blinkist
- johnsimer 4y ago
  It is if you meditate Mindfulness meditation can increase the connection between your prefrontal cortex and your amyglada
conqrr 4y ago
Breathing is key. It's one of the easiest ways to facing your current situation and also distracting yourself every moment or so while you breathe. Exhaling along with mental visualization of purging the mind has the effect of releasing stress. Ofcourse, this needs practice, but that's not too hard with the amount of stressful situations we face everyday.
- now__what 4y ago
  > Exhaling along with mental visualization of purging the mind This one amazes me; taking deep breaths to calm myself just makes me feel weird and sometimes even more anxious, but taking deep breaths and imagining releasing a cloud of (deep purple) smoke on the exhale noticeably relaxes me. I wonder if it's the imagination component that makes it better, i.e. giving the mind something to focus on? Or maybe the timing of the exhale changes with the visualization. Either way, a great hack imo.
  - kerpotgh 4y ago
    For me it’s medium breaths, not too deep while imagining a wiper moving across my forehead and completely clearing my thoughts. Works remarkably well.
stpedgwdgfhgdd 4y ago
Peanuts compared to; https://www.youtube.com/c/TherapyinaNutshell https://www.youtube.com/c/TherapyinaNutshell
bsenftner 4y ago
This is close, but misses a major issue: self honesty in one's self conversation. Address that, and the majority of one's stress and anxiety evaporate. The majority of one's stress and anxiety is in the form of negative forecasting unknown future events - essentially fantasizing failure. Address that, and a personal revolution takes place, with the simple but not easy task of self honesty.
- dexwiz 4y ago
  I don’t know why this is so down voted. Maybe it’s related to why I see this article almost every day. To successfully do all the recommended steps and have them be fulfilling and not just another task, you need to be honest with yourself. The fact that this is an unpopular option may be why so many people are stuck in their anxiety loops.
  - bsenftner 4y ago
    Thank you. In my experience, discussing self deception tends to get hard push back.
    - dexwiz 4y ago
      No one wants to hear that their narrative about themself is based on falsehoods.
denvaar 4y ago
> Talking to people is an underrated technique to stop worrying For me this is really true. I'm more of an introvert, and I don't usually reach out to others very often. It can be in the form of talk therapy in a formal setting with an actual psychologist. It can also just be catching up with a friend, or chatting with a neighbor about something totally unrelated. Anything that can get me outside of my own mind helps. Looking for opportunities to help or become involved in someone else's life is really helpful.
- prashantsengar 4y ago
  I am an introvert myself and practiced a new habit of calling one person each day in the lockdown. Has helped me in forming deep friendships, make new friends, and overcoming my shyness. Recommend 10/10 Here is a short essay I wrote recently. Will probably write a blog post soon too. https://twitter.com/prashanttgs/status/1616815440667480071 https://twitter.com/prashanttgs/status/1616815440667480071
  - now__what 4y ago
    As a fellow introvert, this sounds insurmountably painful. How did you have something to talk about every night? How did you even find that many people to fit into a rotation like that without feeling like you were annoying them? I have so many questions. If you do write that blog post, I'd love to read it. Especially the "how."
    - ANumberlessMan 4y ago
      I think it's common to go through life thinking that the absolute worse thing you can be is annoying. You can fear being annoying to the point of becoming mute. If life looks very small, consider becoming slightly more annoying.
    - watwut 4y ago
      Introversion and social anxiety are two different things. I securities about how people see you are third. The original person was introvert. People talk every day with their spouses and kids. They talk everyday with their collegues or schoolmates. They talk every day with peer group in hobby or sport if they have involved one. My point here is not that you have to do it or everyone have to do it. But the more you are with people who communicate, the easier it is to find topics. Because it is skill learned by observation and by practicing.
rrgok 4y ago
I think reducing working hour would put everything else in place. We spend most of hour waking time worrying about a job and how to get ready for that job.
lukem567 4y ago
I highly recommend the book 'Dare to Stop Anxiety and Panic Attacks' (https://www.amazon.com/Dare-Anxiety-Stop-Panic-Attacks/dp/0956596258 https://www.amazon.com/Dare-Anxiety-Stop-Panic-Attacks/dp/09...). It emphasizes accepting and allowing feelings of anxiety instead of actively resisting them, breaking the cycle in which worry about worsening anxiety only leads to its intensification.
- wruza 4y ago
  To add to that, if you have developed panic attacks, sometimes (e.g. at 7/10 anxiety) it’s easier to just escalate it so all the pressure explodes rather than hissing indefinitely.
ricardobayes 4y ago
There is something we don't yet understand about eye movement and stress/anxiety. Moving your eyes between two points or just sideways back and forth seems to work for many people. Based on what I hear this seems to be even incorporated in a clinical setting for treating PTSD etc.
- denvaar 4y ago
  Yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_a...
  - green_on_black 4y ago
    https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing#/Criticisms https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Eye_movement_desensitization_and...
glass3 4y ago
It's difficult to trust a source that fights fire with fire. If stress and anxiety is handled by beating it, where does the entropy leave the system?
- HPsquared 4y ago
  I'm picturing a serene but negligent person who leaves a trail of chaos in their wake, but remains blissfully unaware.
- dexwiz 4y ago
  My first thought also. If you are battling stress, you have already lost.
- kansface 4y ago
  I'd suggest you read though a book on Cognitive Behavior Therapy if you are actually interested. Evidence suggests working through a book to be around as effective as any other intervention. I just did the same[1] and found the solutions extraordinarily useful, highly practical, and totally obvious in retrospect. Additionally, the approach itself deeply appeals to me an intellectual level - like what you'd arrive at if you attempted to turn Stoicism into contemporary practice. 1. Doing CBT by David F Tolin
mgolawala 4y ago
I am surprised no one has mentioned chronic caffeine consumption and its role in promoting anxiety and stress.
- digitalsushi 4y ago
  I'm reading this book, "Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker, and it says the half-life of caffeine is like up to 8 hours ... so having a 3pm coffee means going to bed at midnight with half of it still active. I've cut coffee out of my diet after noon lunchtime, and I think it's helping ... tough to be sure but as long as I believe it, it's pretty good
  - watwut 4y ago
    I don't think that book is generally considered scientific. It contains a bunch of opinions, but it is not peer reviewed article and not everything in it is backed by good studies.
    - baal80spam 4y ago
      Correct, it's been blasted several times in the past even here on HN. I'm sure you can find the threads if it interests you.
  - mgolawala 4y ago
    I have noticed the same effect as well. There is a noticeable difference to the quality of my sleep on the days I have consumed caffeine and the days that I have skipped it. The quality of your sleep likely has effects on your mood, energy levels and over all stress levels. However, I was referring to the direct effects of caffeine on your stress and anxiety levels. I would go so far as to say that if you are taking steps to reduce your stress and anxiety levels, quitting caffiene should be on the list of some of the first things you try. (Alongside the usual advice of good sleep, exercise, meditation and diet) Some reading for those who are interested: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4668773/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4668773/ "After adjusting for additional dietary, demographic, and lifestyle covariates, positive associations between total weekly caffeine intake and anxiety and depression remained significant" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34871964/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34871964/ "Caffeine also increases anxiety in PD patients as well as among healthy adults at these doses although the exact relationship between caffeine-induced anxiety and panic attacks remains uncertain. The results suggest that caffeine targets important mechanisms related to the pathophysiology of PD." https://web.archive.org/web/20200130090750/https://www.psychology.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/NZJP-Vol251-1996-7-Hughes.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20200130090750/https://www.psych... "Regular consumption of high levels of caffeine can lead to a condition known as 'caffeinitis'" which is characterized by chronic subjective anxiety" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine-induced_anxiety_disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine-induced_anxiety_disor... https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/anxiety-and-caffeine https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/anxiety-and-caffei...
ssttoo 4y ago
Funny title. The fact that I have to beat something is already stressing me out.
- prashantsengar 4y ago
  I am not a native English speaker so the choice of words may not be the best. Saw another comment mentioning the same. Should have been "defeat" probably?
- altdataseller 4y ago
  Relevant: https://twitter.com/jowyang/status/1620128829661675520?s=46&t=2Rn71I7J51fSfemqpPi_4g https://twitter.com/jowyang/status/1620128829661675520?s=46&...
ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
> Action mode focuses on surviving a danger right now. This is the fight or flight mechanism that our brain when it is in an adverse situation. The response is driven by the sympathetic nervous system. It drives up your heart rate, raises blood pressure, dilates your pupil among other things. It also affects the way we think, and make decisions. When we are in "action mode," our thinking becomes fairly "binary," and extreme (eg. "Good|Bad", "Fight|Flight", "Hate|Love"). It also focuses on short-term results, and is biased towards assured results, as opposed to "possible" ones. That's why I find I need to back away from the computer, when I find myself in a stressball. I make bad decisions. Managers, politicians, and demagogues of all stripes, have used this for centuries, to get people to support their agendas.
- themodelplumber 4y ago
  > When we are in "action mode," our thinking becomes fairly "binary," and extreme (eg. "Good|Bad", "Fight|Flight", "Hate|Love"). > It also focuses on short-term results, and is biased towards assured results, as opposed to "possible" ones. What's interesting to me is that this type of thinking also overlaps with, or is found in, a variety of circumstances/ways of being, like: - Unskilled (despite experience level) - Beginner - Under-trained - Unsupported or under-supported role or assignment - Self-centered (egoic-hero model) - Little-picture Thinker - Fearful attitude ... It's helpful to be able to refer to these other lenses in turn, as a way of finding helpful solutions.
  - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
    I’d say that almost all of those scenarios (maybe all -not sure about the hero) lend themselves to the person being in “panic mode.” eg., “stressed.” Sort of like the classic “Lucy and the Chocolate Factory” routine[0]. I’d also suggest a management deficit, if those cases are too severe. [0] https://youtu.be/NkQ58I53mjk https://youtu.be/NkQ58I53mjk
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
mrMatie 4y ago
I would suggest add lateral eye movements. souce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z25f6qy361Y&ab_channel=MEDspiration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z25f6qy361Y&ab_channel=MEDsp...
tootie 4y ago
This article can be summed up as "try feeling better". I think this one is more accurate https://clickhole.com/might-as-well-give-it-a-shot-6-things-you-can-try-to-reduce-anxiety-that-wont-work/ https://clickhole.com/might-as-well-give-it-a-shot-6-things-...
bovermyer 4y ago
There are two parts to this. One is avoiding or preventing stress, which is the primary focus of this article. The other is getting rid of stress when you already have it. Personally, I find that leaning into the "fight or flight" response by going for a run or a workout as soon as possible and as intensely as possible works almost every time.
sirsinsalot 4y ago
I've found the single best measure of my stress and anxiety levels (as at their worst, my subjective perception can't be trusted) is HRV during sleep. My Garmin watch tracks it, and when I actively try to manage stress and anxiety during the day, it goes from red (for weeks) to immediately recovering into the green that night. I like a good dataset and the correlation with my stress (backed up by papers on causation) is at least a really strong thing for me. If I try something new, I can measure the impact on my HRV very clearly. When I feel I'm burning out, my HRV over the previous few weeks tells the tale.
- smn1234 4y ago
  HRV = heart rate variability
- denvaar 4y ago
  which garmin watch do you use?
  - sirsinsalot 4y ago
    Forerunner 255s
symlinkk 4y ago
Why all of this hippie garbage that doesn’t work? Take Propanalol or if that doesn’t work step up to Xanax.
catsforai 4y ago
[dead]
spirit557 4y ago
Another mental health quip blog post on HN. I hope this helps someone at least.
WhitneyLand 4y ago
I would rate this post highly. It’s clearly written, pragmatic, accessible, and seemed useful so I’d recommend reading it. Lately I find myself asking, is the article “better” than what AI could produce? In this case, the article intuitively seems a grade above similar GPT 3.5 output. But why so? Is it just my opinion it’s better? How should “better” be defined? Readability, persuasion, effectiveness as a call to action? Truthfulness seems like it’s own can of worms. Are there any objective measures of AI vs human output quality to date? Which human? Yikes a new can of worms… Subjectively, it sometimes seems like the more I read known AI content the more I get a feel for its style. Oops - forgot we’re dealing with a master style chameleon. I think it’s more likely this perception is wrong and it’s easy to overestimate one’s ability to discern generated content. Apologies for the tangent. I hope it doesn’t detract too much from the more important point that the post is good and I’ve found some of the techniques very helpful.
- leobg 4y ago
  I think pg tweeted something about this a few days ago. Essentially: if you intend to write about something, first let GPT write it. Then you know what is so obvious about your topic that you don’t need to mention it in your article. The idea being that GPT will rarely output anything surprising, unusual or counter-intuitive.
- prashantsengar 4y ago
  As someone who keeps feeling if his writing is "good enough", your comment makes me feel really good. Thanks a lot for writing this :) I was hesitating in posting it to HN but now I am glad I did.
Psyladine 4y ago
Surprised this wasn't posted, as it mirrors most of the findings (closed vs open mind; how to optimize creative/unstressed thought, methodologies for maximizing output), John Cleese's talk on Creativity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb5oIIPO62g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb5oIIPO62g
OokeyPookey 4y ago
Frankly exercise doensn't help, although Stress helps me exercise harder. I saw a comment about being honest with ones' self. The best thing for me? Gin. Lots of it. And then lots of dancing around the flat to whatever music I have on shuffle.

I'm sure the current epidemic of stress and anxiety has nothing to do with wage deterioration, inflation, layoffs and looming recession, millions of deaths during a global pandemic, or regional conflicts that could lead to war between nuclear-armed adversaries. Or the general meaningless and despair of 21st century life. People who experience stress and anxiety from financial or health issues should probably just journal more, go for a run, and avoid social media.

TrainedMonkey 4y ago

Related anecdata + a study I found useful. After an auto accident I used to stress out when driving. I would recognize that I was stressing out and try to clamp down on it... which worked quite poorly and made me more stressed. Things got to a points I would hear a crash in my head every time I switched lanes causing even more panic and stress. Things changed after I watched https://www.ted.com/talks/heidi_hanna_the_cure_for_stress https://www.ted.com/talks/heidi_hanna_the_cure_for_stress . Instead of trying to clamp down I recognized that stressing out is making me more aware to keep me safe and leaned into it. That coupled with some structured breathing helped a lot in just a few weeks and a year later I got back into driving is fun mode. Recent Huberman study showed that structured breath work has measurable positive effects - https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-3791(22)00474-8 https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-37... . See more discussion on https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34480039 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34480039 While all four groups showed significant daily improvement in positive affect and reduction in state anxiety and negative affect, there were significant differences between mindfulness meditation and breathwork in positive affect Specifically, the cyclic sighing group showed more increase in positive affect toward the end of the study in a way that was significantly different than that for those randomized to mindfulness meditation, who had the least increase in positive affect Instructions for cyclic sighing: First step - inhale slowly until the lungs are expanded. Second step - inhale again once more to maximally fill the lungs. Third step - slowly and fully exhale until lungs are empty. Repeat this pattern of breathing for 5 min. Ideally, both inhales are performed via nose and the exhale would be performed via mouth, but, if preferred, the breathing activity can be performed entirely through the nose. It is normal for the second inhale to be briefer than the first. I am extremely excited that there is a follow up study being planned/worked on. One criticism I would give to the methodology is that instructions for cyclic sighing are by far the simplest compared to mindfulness meditation, box breathing, and cyclic hyperventilation with retention. As such it is possible that this method performed the best because it was simplest to follow.

nkozyra 4y ago
I've found that most of my stress lives in the pit of my stomach, which is a pretty common description of feeling dread or disappointment or anger, etc. By focusing on relaxing my stomach I've found it nearly as effective as cyclic breathing or other techniques. I'm sure the two are related but most people talk about the breathing (rightfully so), while I've found actual tension in the abs/stomach manifests a lot of this.
prox 4y ago
I also think there might be different kinds of stress responses that might be wired differently, for instance the leaning into stress had hardly helped me. Immersion and slow adaption to stressors seem to work better for long term decrease in my case. Breath is important, it does help! I have enjoyed the Lungy app recently launched by an HNer.

readingnews 4y ago

I love how foot note [5] is missing, the one on Cognitive restructuring. Nice.

marmetio 4y ago
You can ask the author for the missing footnote by leaving a comment on the page itself.
prashantsengar 4y ago
I have read the article many times myself, and a lot of friends have read it too. Nobody noticed that yet. Thanks for noticing. Now I have to go check my notes to find the link

robg 4y ago

1. Establish good sleep habits. Sleep is how the body recovers from stress. 2. Exercise daily. Movement is how the body puts the stress hormones to work. 3. Eat well. The gut-brain connection drives how we feel as we digest.

Buttons840 4y ago
Regarding number 3. I've developed some GI issues the last year and was diagnosed with celiac disease. My stress and anxiety are higher than ever. I've often reflected on whether the GI issues are causing my stress or just making me more aware of the stress that has always been there.
- gadflyinyoureye 4y ago
  Thy could be. Try carnivore for three months. See I that resets your gut a bit.
pokler 4y ago
To point 1, this almost feels like catch-22. While sleep may be a way to recover from stress, stress is probably the single thing that impacts my sleep the most (aside from alcohol consumption, which is much easier to control). Does anyone have any help or tips here?
- RankingMember 4y ago
  I've found with time that the easiest way to fall asleep is to try to meditate. Sit there or lay there in a quiet room and just watch your breath going in and out, not chastising yourself or getting frustrated when your mind inevitably wanders. Simply acknowledge that you've gone off track and come back to your breath. Normally in meditation, the goal isn't to fall asleep, but it is definitely something that you can let happen if you want to.
- groestl 4y ago
  What helps me: write down a list of all the things going on, preferably pen on paper.. Allow yourself to do turn on the lights again and write additional stuff on it... Repeat until there's nothing more to write down.

RyanShook 4y ago

The most important thing I’ve learned about anxiety in the past year is that the conscious/cognitive part of your brain is not effective at calming down the stress response. I recommend this book to anyone who struggles with anxiety: https://amzn.to/3B3muZ9 https://amzn.to/3B3muZ9

DenisM 4y ago
FWIW the book summary is available on Blinkist
johnsimer 4y ago
It is if you meditate Mindfulness meditation can increase the connection between your prefrontal cortex and your amyglada

conqrr 4y ago

Breathing is key. It's one of the easiest ways to facing your current situation and also distracting yourself every moment or so while you breathe. Exhaling along with mental visualization of purging the mind has the effect of releasing stress. Ofcourse, this needs practice, but that's not too hard with the amount of stressful situations we face everyday.

now__what 4y ago
> Exhaling along with mental visualization of purging the mind This one amazes me; taking deep breaths to calm myself just makes me feel weird and sometimes even more anxious, but taking deep breaths and imagining releasing a cloud of (deep purple) smoke on the exhale noticeably relaxes me. I wonder if it's the imagination component that makes it better, i.e. giving the mind something to focus on? Or maybe the timing of the exhale changes with the visualization. Either way, a great hack imo.
- kerpotgh 4y ago
  For me it’s medium breaths, not too deep while imagining a wiper moving across my forehead and completely clearing my thoughts. Works remarkably well.

stpedgwdgfhgdd 4y ago

Peanuts compared to; https://www.youtube.com/c/TherapyinaNutshell https://www.youtube.com/c/TherapyinaNutshell

bsenftner 4y ago

This is close, but misses a major issue: self honesty in one's self conversation. Address that, and the majority of one's stress and anxiety evaporate. The majority of one's stress and anxiety is in the form of negative forecasting unknown future events - essentially fantasizing failure. Address that, and a personal revolution takes place, with the simple but not easy task of self honesty.

dexwiz 4y ago
I don’t know why this is so down voted. Maybe it’s related to why I see this article almost every day. To successfully do all the recommended steps and have them be fulfilling and not just another task, you need to be honest with yourself. The fact that this is an unpopular option may be why so many people are stuck in their anxiety loops.
- bsenftner 4y ago
  Thank you. In my experience, discussing self deception tends to get hard push back.
  - dexwiz 4y ago
    No one wants to hear that their narrative about themself is based on falsehoods.

denvaar 4y ago

> Talking to people is an underrated technique to stop worrying For me this is really true. I'm more of an introvert, and I don't usually reach out to others very often. It can be in the form of talk therapy in a formal setting with an actual psychologist. It can also just be catching up with a friend, or chatting with a neighbor about something totally unrelated. Anything that can get me outside of my own mind helps. Looking for opportunities to help or become involved in someone else's life is really helpful.

prashantsengar 4y ago
I am an introvert myself and practiced a new habit of calling one person each day in the lockdown. Has helped me in forming deep friendships, make new friends, and overcoming my shyness. Recommend 10/10 Here is a short essay I wrote recently. Will probably write a blog post soon too. https://twitter.com/prashanttgs/status/1616815440667480071 https://twitter.com/prashanttgs/status/1616815440667480071
- now__what 4y ago
  As a fellow introvert, this sounds insurmountably painful. How did you have something to talk about every night? How did you even find that many people to fit into a rotation like that without feeling like you were annoying them? I have so many questions. If you do write that blog post, I'd love to read it. Especially the "how."
  - ANumberlessMan 4y ago
    I think it's common to go through life thinking that the absolute worse thing you can be is annoying. You can fear being annoying to the point of becoming mute. If life looks very small, consider becoming slightly more annoying.
  - watwut 4y ago
    Introversion and social anxiety are two different things. I securities about how people see you are third. The original person was introvert. People talk every day with their spouses and kids. They talk everyday with their collegues or schoolmates. They talk every day with peer group in hobby or sport if they have involved one. My point here is not that you have to do it or everyone have to do it. But the more you are with people who communicate, the easier it is to find topics. Because it is skill learned by observation and by practicing.

rrgok 4y ago

I think reducing working hour would put everything else in place. We spend most of hour waking time worrying about a job and how to get ready for that job.

lukem567 4y ago

I highly recommend the book 'Dare to Stop Anxiety and Panic Attacks' (https://www.amazon.com/Dare-Anxiety-Stop-Panic-Attacks/dp/0956596258 https://www.amazon.com/Dare-Anxiety-Stop-Panic-Attacks/dp/09...). It emphasizes accepting and allowing feelings of anxiety instead of actively resisting them, breaking the cycle in which worry about worsening anxiety only leads to its intensification.

wruza 4y ago
To add to that, if you have developed panic attacks, sometimes (e.g. at 7/10 anxiety) it’s easier to just escalate it so all the pressure explodes rather than hissing indefinitely.

ricardobayes 4y ago

There is something we don't yet understand about eye movement and stress/anxiety. Moving your eyes between two points or just sideways back and forth seems to work for many people. Based on what I hear this seems to be even incorporated in a clinical setting for treating PTSD etc.

denvaar 4y ago
Yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_a...
- green_on_black 4y ago
  https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing#/Criticisms https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Eye_movement_desensitization_and...

glass3 4y ago

It's difficult to trust a source that fights fire with fire. If stress and anxiety is handled by beating it, where does the entropy leave the system?

HPsquared 4y ago
I'm picturing a serene but negligent person who leaves a trail of chaos in their wake, but remains blissfully unaware.
dexwiz 4y ago
My first thought also. If you are battling stress, you have already lost.
kansface 4y ago
I'd suggest you read though a book on Cognitive Behavior Therapy if you are actually interested. Evidence suggests working through a book to be around as effective as any other intervention. I just did the same[1] and found the solutions extraordinarily useful, highly practical, and totally obvious in retrospect. Additionally, the approach itself deeply appeals to me an intellectual level - like what you'd arrive at if you attempted to turn Stoicism into contemporary practice. 1. Doing CBT by David F Tolin

mgolawala 4y ago

I am surprised no one has mentioned chronic caffeine consumption and its role in promoting anxiety and stress.

digitalsushi 4y ago
I'm reading this book, "Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker, and it says the half-life of caffeine is like up to 8 hours ... so having a 3pm coffee means going to bed at midnight with half of it still active. I've cut coffee out of my diet after noon lunchtime, and I think it's helping ... tough to be sure but as long as I believe it, it's pretty good
- watwut 4y ago
  I don't think that book is generally considered scientific. It contains a bunch of opinions, but it is not peer reviewed article and not everything in it is backed by good studies.
  - baal80spam 4y ago
    Correct, it's been blasted several times in the past even here on HN. I'm sure you can find the threads if it interests you.
- mgolawala 4y ago
  I have noticed the same effect as well. There is a noticeable difference to the quality of my sleep on the days I have consumed caffeine and the days that I have skipped it. The quality of your sleep likely has effects on your mood, energy levels and over all stress levels. However, I was referring to the direct effects of caffeine on your stress and anxiety levels. I would go so far as to say that if you are taking steps to reduce your stress and anxiety levels, quitting caffiene should be on the list of some of the first things you try. (Alongside the usual advice of good sleep, exercise, meditation and diet) Some reading for those who are interested: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4668773/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4668773/ "After adjusting for additional dietary, demographic, and lifestyle covariates, positive associations between total weekly caffeine intake and anxiety and depression remained significant" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34871964/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34871964/ "Caffeine also increases anxiety in PD patients as well as among healthy adults at these doses although the exact relationship between caffeine-induced anxiety and panic attacks remains uncertain. The results suggest that caffeine targets important mechanisms related to the pathophysiology of PD." https://web.archive.org/web/20200130090750/https://www.psychology.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/NZJP-Vol251-1996-7-Hughes.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20200130090750/https://www.psych... "Regular consumption of high levels of caffeine can lead to a condition known as 'caffeinitis'" which is characterized by chronic subjective anxiety" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine-induced_anxiety_disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine-induced_anxiety_disor... https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/anxiety-and-caffeine https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/anxiety-and-caffei...

ssttoo 4y ago

Funny title. The fact that I have to beat something is already stressing me out.

prashantsengar 4y ago
I am not a native English speaker so the choice of words may not be the best. Saw another comment mentioning the same. Should have been "defeat" probably?
altdataseller 4y ago
Relevant: https://twitter.com/jowyang/status/1620128829661675520?s=46&t=2Rn71I7J51fSfemqpPi_4g https://twitter.com/jowyang/status/1620128829661675520?s=46&...

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago

> Action mode focuses on surviving a danger right now. This is the fight or flight mechanism that our brain when it is in an adverse situation. The response is driven by the sympathetic nervous system. It drives up your heart rate, raises blood pressure, dilates your pupil among other things. It also affects the way we think, and make decisions. When we are in "action mode," our thinking becomes fairly "binary," and extreme (eg. "Good|Bad", "Fight|Flight", "Hate|Love"). It also focuses on short-term results, and is biased towards assured results, as opposed to "possible" ones. That's why I find I need to back away from the computer, when I find myself in a stressball. I make bad decisions. Managers, politicians, and demagogues of all stripes, have used this for centuries, to get people to support their agendas.

themodelplumber 4y ago
> When we are in "action mode," our thinking becomes fairly "binary," and extreme (eg. "Good|Bad", "Fight|Flight", "Hate|Love"). > It also focuses on short-term results, and is biased towards assured results, as opposed to "possible" ones. What's interesting to me is that this type of thinking also overlaps with, or is found in, a variety of circumstances/ways of being, like: - Unskilled (despite experience level) - Beginner - Under-trained - Unsupported or under-supported role or assignment - Self-centered (egoic-hero model) - Little-picture Thinker - Fearful attitude ... It's helpful to be able to refer to these other lenses in turn, as a way of finding helpful solutions.
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
  I’d say that almost all of those scenarios (maybe all -not sure about the hero) lend themselves to the person being in “panic mode.” eg., “stressed.” Sort of like the classic “Lucy and the Chocolate Factory” routine[0]. I’d also suggest a management deficit, if those cases are too severe. [0] https://youtu.be/NkQ58I53mjk https://youtu.be/NkQ58I53mjk

deleted 4y ago

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mrMatie 4y ago

I would suggest add lateral eye movements. souce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z25f6qy361Y&ab_channel=MEDspiration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z25f6qy361Y&ab_channel=MEDsp...

tootie 4y ago

This article can be summed up as "try feeling better". I think this one is more accurate https://clickhole.com/might-as-well-give-it-a-shot-6-things-you-can-try-to-reduce-anxiety-that-wont-work/ https://clickhole.com/might-as-well-give-it-a-shot-6-things-...

bovermyer 4y ago

There are two parts to this. One is avoiding or preventing stress, which is the primary focus of this article. The other is getting rid of stress when you already have it. Personally, I find that leaning into the "fight or flight" response by going for a run or a workout as soon as possible and as intensely as possible works almost every time.

sirsinsalot 4y ago

I've found the single best measure of my stress and anxiety levels (as at their worst, my subjective perception can't be trusted) is HRV during sleep. My Garmin watch tracks it, and when I actively try to manage stress and anxiety during the day, it goes from red (for weeks) to immediately recovering into the green that night. I like a good dataset and the correlation with my stress (backed up by papers on causation) is at least a really strong thing for me. If I try something new, I can measure the impact on my HRV very clearly. When I feel I'm burning out, my HRV over the previous few weeks tells the tale.

smn1234 4y ago
HRV = heart rate variability
denvaar 4y ago
which garmin watch do you use?
- sirsinsalot 4y ago
  Forerunner 255s

symlinkk 4y ago

Why all of this hippie garbage that doesn’t work? Take Propanalol or if that doesn’t work step up to Xanax.

catsforai 4y ago

[dead]

spirit557 4y ago

Another mental health quip blog post on HN. I hope this helps someone at least.

WhitneyLand 4y ago

I would rate this post highly. It’s clearly written, pragmatic, accessible, and seemed useful so I’d recommend reading it. Lately I find myself asking, is the article “better” than what AI could produce? In this case, the article intuitively seems a grade above similar GPT 3.5 output. But why so? Is it just my opinion it’s better? How should “better” be defined? Readability, persuasion, effectiveness as a call to action? Truthfulness seems like it’s own can of worms. Are there any objective measures of AI vs human output quality to date? Which human? Yikes a new can of worms… Subjectively, it sometimes seems like the more I read known AI content the more I get a feel for its style. Oops - forgot we’re dealing with a master style chameleon. I think it’s more likely this perception is wrong and it’s easy to overestimate one’s ability to discern generated content. Apologies for the tangent. I hope it doesn’t detract too much from the more important point that the post is good and I’ve found some of the techniques very helpful.

leobg 4y ago
I think pg tweeted something about this a few days ago. Essentially: if you intend to write about something, first let GPT write it. Then you know what is so obvious about your topic that you don’t need to mention it in your article. The idea being that GPT will rarely output anything surprising, unusual or counter-intuitive.
prashantsengar 4y ago
As someone who keeps feeling if his writing is "good enough", your comment makes me feel really good. Thanks a lot for writing this :) I was hesitating in posting it to HN but now I am glad I did.

Psyladine 4y ago

Surprised this wasn't posted, as it mirrors most of the findings (closed vs open mind; how to optimize creative/unstressed thought, methodologies for maximizing output), John Cleese's talk on Creativity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb5oIIPO62g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb5oIIPO62g

OokeyPookey 4y ago

Frankly exercise doensn't help, although Stress helps me exercise harder. I saw a comment about being honest with ones' self. The best thing for me? Gin. Lots of it. And then lots of dancing around the flat to whatever music I have on shuffle.