What works for you in dealing with stress and anxiety?  I know exercise is
supposed to help but what are some other ideas and coping methods?

28 responses total.

other than doing things that are relaxing to me like watching a movie, 
surfing the net, playing computer games, the thing that works the best 
for me is exercise.  If I am pissed off about something, the best cure 
for it is a good strenuous workout.

Playing piano.  Taking a bath.  Sleep.  Reading something interesting.

I've been trying to sleep through some of the stress-but that's not always
a good thing as it then makes it difficult to sleep at night-which I have
problems with anyway.  Some of the stuff that I normally enjoy doing [reading,
watching tv, etc] I'm currently finding very annoying.  Oh well, such is life
right now.

Can you attack the cause of the stress somehow?  I find that it helps to talk
to other people who are dealing with bigger problems, which makes mine seem
relatively trivial.  Does it help to talk about the problem with friends? 
Even if they have no solution, you might feel better to know you have their
support.  Helping other people with their problems also takes your mind off
your own.  But maybe your stress is due to helping family members with
problems.

Consistent diet and exercise help me avoid stress the way I've known it when
I'm eating crappy food or letting my muscles atrophy from living on my butt.
Meditation and nature walks/bikerides also help me focus on the positive.
Oh yea..and a normal sex life, that's also key.

I'm on medication for my disorders, so that helps to some extent some of the
time. And I do  have a counselor that I see [though how much that's helping
right now, I'm not all that sure].  I'm in email contact with a couple people
that I can vent to [including one of my friends from NC]. I don't really know
anyone here in MI yet that I can really do much of this with. I'm trying to
be involved in some activities to some extent and do help out with my family
a couple times a week. The rest of my family isn't all that much involved [I'm
*trying* to stay involved with my brother and family here in AA but they're
so busy that its tough to do. And I do talk with my sister in Chicago from
time to time. My other brothers and families aren't so much involved.]  

As to healthier eating/cooking-as most of you know from the cooking
conference, I'm making progress in that area. But with this cold and snowy
winter, I haven't been o ut exercising so much [not like summertime when I
can swim or spring/fall when I enjoy being outdoors more].  And a normal sex
life? That's not a part of my life at this point [and that's fine with me at
this stage of life; I'll just leave it at that for now].

I had to go out and do a couple things this afternoon, that helped for a
little while...

Is the stress caused by some unresolved problem which will eventually resolve
itself, or just a lot of little things that you cannot do anything about? 
I find it stressful to be in a situation where I cannot predict what will
happen, or when I don't have enough info to make a good decision.

I have tinitus so I find myself easily stressed in the evening when it's at
its worst and there are multiple conversations I'm hearing.  In those
situations, I usually just have to shift my focus or the way I'm facing and
sometimes I just get up and leave the room for a bit.  

Sindi, some things will eventually resolve themselves, some day, perhaps.
Certain health issues will not go away; sometimes I can deal with this
somewhat better than other times.

A hobby is great for stress relief.  I stitch: cross-stitch, embroidery,
needlepoint, knit, crochet, tatting, beading.  If I find that the current
project isn't doing it, I switch to a different one.  I always have more than
one going and any one time and they are usually in different areas.  Sometimes
a project will go stright from start to finish, but most times I switch off
between 3-5.  I can get bored easily. 

Stress is not going to help your health.  My mother taught herself to meditate
and claimed it helped a lot.  She also ended up using the technique to fall
asleep in buses.   She was trying to get my father to learn it to help with
chronic pain.

I do need to get back to my hobby of scrapbooking when I can.  I have some
projects that have to be done first, though. All of my supplies are still
packed up in boxes in a closet so I'll have to sort through this stuff before
actually getting to the fun stuff.  I also plan on getting rid of a lot of
my art supplies--I have too much stuff, especially since I'm almost 100% sure
that I'll have to move at the end of March.  Some of the art supplies I'll
try and sell [like rubber stamps and ink pads, embellishments for various art
projects, some of my card stock and colored paper, and such]. What I don't
sell, I'll give it away or donate someplace.  [I have tons of other stuff to
sell or get rid of, too.]  Starting over in a new place, especially a smaller
one, will do that!  Maybe that'll be somewhat of a good thing.

Stress and health, definitely a vicious cycle: stress doesn't help one's
health, as Sindi has already said, but often, health affects one's stress
level.  

Moving is very stressful.  Do you have a place to move to?
Try freecycle for sharing things, even broken things.
I find it helps to think of the things that are going right and the wrong ones
don't see so important.  

I had freecycle in the back of my mind for some of my leftover stuff [I used
to check out the Durham-based one].  No, I haven't found a new place yet. I've
been hoping to find some kind of an inexpensive effeciancy or 1 br where I
wouldn't have to share as much space with others or someplace that's
unfurnished and has a bit of storage for some of my things that I'd want
access to from time to time but wouldn't need on a daily basis.   I do need
to play around with my budget a bit more and see what my upper-limit rent
would be [depending, of course, if utilities were included or not]. 

Maybe you should hold off on getting DSL to work until you move.
Do you want to stay in Ypsi?

Probably Ypsi since it tends to be cheaper than AA, though I'd consider the
AA area as  well.  I did come up with a list of apts to call this week to see
about renting. There's an apt list on the SOS website and though most of them
aren't cheap, there's a few that I might be able to afford-if they'll have
any available at the end of next month. I don't know the neighborhoods that
most of these are in, hopefully they're safe enough.  And I do know these apts
are somewhat small than where I am now.

There are some cheaper ones in Ann Arbor on Stadium Blvd near Pauline, and
also at the corner of Pauline and Stadium.  Are you at all interested in
sharing a house in that area with a friend of mine and his landlady?  The
other two tenants are short-term and one is leaving soon.  Nice newish big
house with friendly people, one of whom is trying to cook healthy.

I used to live over there (rented a house).  I love that area.

I may be interested if I can't find a place of my own.  I've shared houses
in the past [other than my own apt in a house where I spent about 8 years].
One time I had the upstairs of a house [2 big rooms and a bathroom plus access
to the kitchen and laundry]--that lasted for a couple years til the landlady
got married and sold the house. The other place was pretty short term [2 small
bedrooms and my own bathroom and shared rest of the house].

I de-stressed a bit this afternoon by spending several hours reading at the
bookstore [and people watching, too].  Now I'm having a good home-cooked
dinner instead of fast food that I sometimes do on Sundays.

Denise, one thing to consider in Ann Arbor:
The AATA service allows you to be 90% carless, especially during the week.
2)  Heat must be paid for by the owner, unless the rental unit meets certain
ecological/insulation standards.

I find that Ann Arbor is in some senses more affordable than Ypsi.  The
transportation allows me to attend a large variety of free and interesting
educational and entertainment activities.   

The heating requirement insures that I can compare apartment costs more easily
because heat is part of the out-front number.  

The insulation standard requires my landlord to have 3.5" ceiling insulation
and storm windows (they don't have to work and he does not have to put them
on).  There are apparently no rules against broken basement windows.  It is
best to check what heat has been costing for the past month (not last year
when it was warmer).  I am 100% carless.  Denise is already supporting a car.

Actually, the past two apartments I've lived in, heat was included in the
rent, which is what makes it easy to compare.

My current place includes heat--we have the option to have or not have heat
included. Of course, I pay a bit more to have it included but I still think
I save $$ in the long run since I definitely use the heat this time of year
so I won't have to 'suffer' with the colder temps.  My last place [in Durham]
did not include heat and since the place wasn't insulated well in the older
house, the heating costed a fortune!  I don't want to know what that place's
heating bill would've been if it were up here in MI.

As to car vs bus--I do like the conveniance of my car, especially for things
like grocery shopping, going to help with my parents in Dearborn, other
errands and such. I do live not tooo far from a bus stop on the ATAA line
which I've used when my car was being repaired awhile back. Depending on how
much walking involved would make a difference on how much I'd use the bus
[especially since I have back problems with almost any amount of walking or
exurtion].

I'm not suggesting giving up a car.  I find it cheaper to use the bus for
almost everything in town.  Between parking costs, gas costs, and general wear
and tear, and sheer convenience of not having to find a parking spot, I find
I use the bus almost exclusively for everything but weekly shopping, and out
of Ann Arbor activities.

Perhaps once I'm in better shape to do more walking [to/from bus stops], I'll
take the bus more. Years ago, I used to take the bus quite a bit [the ATAA
as well as walking over to NCampus and taking the campus bus downtown]. Oh,
and I had to go awhile without a car for a little while in Durham so I had
to rely on the bus going to and from work and such, and friends for going
grocery shopping.

Tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to check on a couple effeciency apartments in
a house a couple blocks from EMU; I hope one of them will work out! And
they'll hold it for me til the end of March if I'm willing to sign at least
a 6 month lease.

In the meantime, I need to find a way to think of sorting through and getting
rid of some of my household goods as a way of releiving stress. In the long
run, I know it'll be a lot easier to keep up with things with less clutter
and stuff in the way. I need to think of this purging as a positive thing.

I'm pretty happy because this month is "Renton Heart Month" so my
community/activity center is giving out pedometers with the stipulation that
you meet your goal by Feb 28th.  On Feb28th, if you meet your goal, then you
get a t-shirt.  I average about 1300 steps a day doing normal activity(thus
far according to the pedometer I've worn all day) so I'm planning to double
it in my morning activities.

Denise, it is FUN to give things away at freecycle.  You get to feel good
about helping other people as well as making space.  Just don't be tempted
to collect too much new stuff.  You don't even need to carry it away, just
arrange to have it picked up.

Sounds like you're making good progress Denise!.  

I've heard the suggestion that decluttering and reorganizing your living space
can actually improve depressive moods.  

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