hypochondriac

Does anyone have any genius short term coping strategies for dealing with stressful situations?

I have plenty to stop me from picking up a drink but feel like my inability to respond immediately in an appropriate way is tending to make things mount up and send my emotional state back to where I was when I'd just quit drinking. I'd imagine that I'd get less AV activity if I could keep my emotional state on more of an even keel.

All my strategies are more long term...AA, mindfulness meditation, CBT etc...

Plus, I'm probably not going to be able to make any AA meetings or spend as much time as I'd like to on SR (ie, constantly!) for the next few weeks.

I'm counting to ten a lot, using the serenity prayer and using breathing techniques.... anything else?

Help x

2granddaughters

The Serenity Prayer works well for me.

And realizing that if I find myself in a stressful situation, maybe I don't belong there.
(If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen) Today I have options.

All the best.

Bob R

gnly

I try to do some form of meditation. Deep breaths. Also i try to have my life as stress free as possible. That doesn't mean you can't avoid certain things. Alsoletting go helps. 'oh well, it will sort itself out.'

mecanix

When i meditate i gently pinch my left ear lobe and sometimes hold my hands in eachother both palms up thumb tips touching .

Sometimes the ritual of doing this when under stress helps , or alternatively letting rip with a long tirade of expletives .

soberbrooke

I use Nature to help me deal with stress. You can too, it is laid out for all of us to use Nature in the book called MAP - Medical Assistance Program. I connect to my MAP team and tell them what is going on with me, and Nature knows how to heal me. I also use flower essences to fix the electrical impulses in my body so that my body can heal itself quicker. I use Nature for all of my levels, emotional, mental, physical and soul levels. It is amazing.

hypochondriac

Thanks guys.

Tbh this isn't always highly stressful situations I'm talking about. I just find I'm having a hard time coping with normal life stuff.

Soberbrooke...I used to use Bach flower remedies a lot, but aren't they all steeped in alcohol? I'd forgotten about them though so thanks...I'll see if I can get some child friendly versions!

soberbrooke

Through Perelandra you can get flower essences made with vinegar and the MAP book. I also use the book Perelandra Essences if you are interested. They have been life saving to me.

jennikate

When I feel particulary stressed out, I find journaling helpful. Often my stress revolves around other people. Sometimes writing what I can't say helps.
Also, I have trouble saying no and therefore put myself into stressful situations. Or I try to do too much. I am trying to pay attention to my level of tiredness/fatigue and allow myself to take a break. Ultimately, I think people care much more than they do. They really can do without my presence most of the time.

icanwin

What I have realised hypo :-) is that most of my stress comes from things that might happen in the future. What I have also found out that 99% of those things never happen.

Now I ask myself: "Is real and present or is it a possibility and future?". If it's the second I refuse to be stressed out for that one :-)

tomsteve

depends on what the stressful situation is. if its something i have no control over and its none of my business, i give it to God. if theres something i can do about it, i get into action and do it. trudge the road.
the longer i have been sober, the more i have seen just how good i was at making mountains outta mole hills.

how to deal with stress:
1) dont sweat the small stuff.
2) its all small stuff.

hypochondriac

I'm actually not bad at the big things and I usually thrive under pressure. It's those damn little day to day things. Mixed up with wild mood swings. Which, yep, do seem to snowball into mountains!

I'm not sure there are really any short term coping strategies I'll keep going down the mindfulness path, that seems to be key.

I've also booked some one on one counselling with a local alcohol dependency agency so hopefully that will help in the long term too.

Thanks for your suggestions... you are all ace x

jobei

Video games

Zee

Anything that makes me laugh is my distraction from real life stress.
I can't do meditation, my mind is always too busy
I also think the expletives would be a useful tool! x

Itchy

You are beating all around what works for me, but haven't quite hit it yet. Have you noticed that when your mind is tense so are your muscles. No matter what we try or do that tenseness always follows.

We know and accept that runners get a high or a feeling of euphoria at one point and it all becomes easy for a long bit. Relaxation response.

Those who truly learn meditation can induce the relaxation response without breaking a sweat, and many use Yoga for some of the same assistance in both health and achieving the relaxation response.

What many folks don't realize is that the reverse is also true. When the body relaxes the mind follows, just like when the mind is tense the body follows.

But it is impossible to use all those techniques for a quick jolt of relaxation response. The closest I have learned and taught is progressive muscle relaxation. (PMR) Google it and even better, if you know a therapist that teaches it, let them talk you through it the first few times. I did find an online audio on it that was good but can't find it right now. What you do is get in a quiet place and do mental visualizations while deep breathing and relaxing one muscle group at a time by tensing and relaxing. Then I like to top it off with a bit of self hypnosis which is all meditation is, and visualize myself descending in an elevator and relaxing progressively more at each level.

What those who meditate and PMR folks can eventually do is just the visualization and breathing and almost immediately they begin to relax. It is what competitive target shooters do when they go into pre-shot focus mode.

To get it takes practice and a lot of dedication but once you have it it does work anywhere. Almost immediately.

hypochondriac

I'm pretty good at the expletives already Zee One of my measures of how stressed I am is whether I can sit through a comedy show and concentrate enough to find it funny! Same with reading...busy head!

Does Tetris count Job? x

And thanks Itchy, that's really useful info. I have done something I got from a yoga book years ago to help me sleep which sounds similar...where you tense and release each muscle group. I can see how that would help with anxiety too. I'll look into that

I have found it interesting talking to an advisor today about 'relapse prevention'. She suggested maybe taking Campral (sp?) but really, cravings for alcohol aren't really the problem, rather what the hell to do without it? At some point this kind of stops being about booze...

DisplacedGRITS

I've been working on letting things go a lot. I'm usually a laid back person but i have an amazingly explosive temper. I can be resentful and hold grudges. Those things stress me out to no end. Lately, i've noticed that recognizing those emotions for what they are, negative, empty and harmful to me, and letting them pass through me has helped. I feel them for a few but you just can't hold on to them. I think they're like a scuff on your soul that stress can find and grow on. Recognizing what's happening when it happens seems to be the most important thing. Allowing yourself to let it pass through like water through a sieve...i'm still learning myself. I go through an internal dialogue with myself kind of like the devil and the angel on your shoulder. The difference now is that i let the angel win...mostly.

Sorry, i'm rambling. This bit is still terribly new to me. My temper is horrible. Exerting any kind of control over it is still quite new and foreign.

hypochondriac

Thanks DG, it really helps to know I'm not the only one

And I'm with ya on the nature too...since getting sober I frequently take refuge in a nearby nature reserve

Someguy23

Exercise always work for me, but it has to be something I enjoy doing.

I wish I would drag myself to the pool more often because of that. I've never come out of a reasonable long swim without a lot of inner peace. Low intensity strength training (pull-ups, push-ups) also works for me and is easier to find time for.

I've found drinking tea works rather well too.

OCDDan

i downloaded a demo program that plays these audio files at a speed that mimics the different speeds of brain waves, it sounds kind of like the sound a helicopter makes and ya use headphones with it, the one i listened to was an hour long but i fell asleep and had some pretty enjoyable dreams, and then the next day i had this really good sence of well being but it must have been coincidence??

reggiewayne

Praying, meditation, calling another alcoholic, reading the BB, going for a walk, going to the gym, ride a bike, write in a journal, clean your house, call a family member and ask how there day is going, play golf, and if all else fails - go to bed earlier.

What not to do is sit and think. Don't try and "figure it all out". The worst words I can say is "I've been thinking". We need to get out of ourselves and focus on others. That's the key...