Dealing with stress

I've always been an anxious person.  When I have things to stress about, I'm really stressed, and when I don't, I still get stressed.  Even when I try to relax, I feel guilty that I'm not being productive.  So, I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and I now take an anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) medication.  And while medication is helpful, cognitive-behavioral treatment is just as important!


1. Deep breathing - stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system and calms you down.  This is the kind of breathing you do while singing or playing a wind instrument; you should feel it below your chest, and in fact, your chest shouldn't move much.  If you have trouble with it, try it while lying down (it's very difficult to breathe shallowly in that position).

2. Progressive muscle relaxation - progressively tense, then relax each muscle group.  It can be done at any time, but I do this before I go to bed.

3. Purposefully incorporate sensory experiences that make you happy into your everyday life (air fresheners, posters, etc.).  I like to get things that have a good memory associated with them.  For example, the smell of cloves relaxes me because it reminds me of Christmas at home, so I have a cinnamon & clove-scented Wallflower (Bath and Body Works) in my room.  Playing with and petting my cats relaxes me, but I can't have pets at school, so I listen to the sound of a cat purring with the Relax Melodies app.