what are some good and healthy distractions from my anxiety when it gets really bad?

Listening to music, watching videos, listening to suggestions in YouTube to listen anxiety, talk to people or friends regarding feeling of anxiety, exercise or any physical activity to distract focus of anxiety. Guided meditation can help ease the feeling of anxiety by calming yourself. Find help available by identifying the root cause of the problem, it might be a trigger from previous experiences or traumatic experiences in life that triggers current experience of anxiety. A professional support could help. A family support system is a great factor in reducing feelings anxiety. Deep breathing exercises or yoga exercises are also factors that can help reduce the feeling of anxiety

I believe a “good” distraction is one that doesn’t become a bad habit in itself, but also is easy enough to engage and disengage in order to allow us to keep going on with our daily tasks once the anxiety peak has passed. So, with that in mind, I keep mildly boring/repetitive casual games, that are short in duration and don’t keep dragging me in for longer than 10 min, like patience or sudoku, in my phone or Ipad, and I play them when I feel overwhelmed and need to think. I have also experimented with mindfulness games and short meditation, but they are not as effective. Talking to someone on 7cups helps a lot, be it as a member or listener, but I feel I also need to be careful with other people’s feelings, and therefore I use this tool only when I have more time in my hands.

Music is a great distraction. I like to put my head phones in, plug in my iPad and listen when I get stressed out or anxious. Anxiety can make my thoughts go at a million miles a minute and make it hard to focus but for some reason I can focus on music and it slows my mind down. Reading can help too. I found manga a good escape from the anxiety as well. Another thing is writing. I write off and on and I have noticed it's a good hobby to have. I do a story off and on and it's helped me as it gave me something to do instead if being alone with my thoughts. Hope this helps.

Try things you like, like drawing or playing music or something else you really like. Look for distraction, keep breathing, nose in, mouth out. Put on some music you like, talk to people you like. Try to look why you get anxiety and in which moments, so you can look at what causes your anxiety.

Personally I find it helpful to do breathing exercises or meditation. It helps your body to slow down and allows your mind to process things more comfortably. Aside from talking to someone for support doing activities I find fun such as reading,playing with my dog or listening to music helps me stabilise myself. It all depends on where I am when I feel anxious and what's around me that will help me to stay calm. If it's stress over my school sometimes I just need help to stay realistic. I have a planner which I've written reminders and "note to self" quotes on which I read when anxious. It reminds me of my more calm and realistic self.

Do something that relaxes you, that gets you down. Maybe some breathing exercises. And concentrate on the good things, things you look forward too. I like to sometimes just listen to relaxing music while I lay on my couch and think. I wouldn't think about what upsets me, but about other things like life or just concentrate on the music. I also love taking a bath or take a nap, because it takes my mind off of things. If I'm motivated I will do sports, but that rarely happens. If you're not motivated enough a walk should do too. I just love walking around the streets with calming music. You just have to do things that relax you, not upset you even more.

Here are distractions I use for my anxiety: cooking, baking, reading, exercise, calling a friend, going on a walk, meditation with the Headspace app, and cuddling my dog. They are essentially activities that can keep you something else to focus on, but are productive hobbies or could help improve relationships! But sometimes it is best to feel the anxiety, acknowledge it, let it pass, and then move on to something different. Sometimes, if I try to ignore my anxiety, it gets bigger and makes me feel worse. Everyone is going to have different strategies that work best for them!

touch all of your fingers but one to your thumb. i find it distracts me from my anxiety. also, deep breathing. make sure to practice your strategies when you aren’t anxious, because it’s harder to do them when you are. if your anxiety gets too bad, make sure to see a therapist and a psychiatrist. they can help more than anyone. and therapy provides great strategies. i get most of mine from there. just know you aren’t alone, your parents are great for this stuff. and, you can talk to a counselor too, especially on here would work. hope this helps a bit.

The music, try to leave the environment where the anxiety attack began, or try to count different objects around you. Breathing deeply may be helpful, but it all depends on the person; Similarly, practicing breathing exercises has been very helpful for my anxiety. The important thing is to distract the mind from what causes that anxiety so much, and as difficult as it may be, to be aware that you have the power to handle it, you are strong and valuable. If you have pets, it is the perfect opportunity to play with them, or just give them affections that will surely be returned, they are excellent therapy.

Jigsaw puzzles! I could stand on the rooftops and yell about how much I love jigsaw puzzles for my anxiety. They're mindless enough that I can just kind of drift and work on it without thinking too much about life, and then at the end I have a pretty picture so I don't get anxious about being completely unproductive. For similar reasons, I really enjoy adult coloring books for my anxiety. Set me up with one of those and a box of markers any day and I'm a happy camper. There are many techniques to help distract, but these have been the two most effective for me.