Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is seeing both sides or “shades of grey” in a situation rather than from an all-or-nothing perspective. One of the bases of DBT is using positive distraction strategies. The following are some ideas to manage anxiety with positive distraction to get your mind focused on something other than what is bothering you:
Engage in activities that focus on your mind. You can spend time with people who support you and make this intentional by making it a committed appointment, planning a weekend trip and making sure you do the planning with support from any persons you are going with, picking up a hobby that requires intention and attention and sticking to it like a weekly appointment.
Volunteer and find ways to give to others. This can be by helping individuals, a group of people, organizations, animals, or in the form of advocacy for an issue you care about. A fun project you can take on is making it a goal to do a favor for someone or animals daily. For example, leaving nuts for squirrels in your backyard, offering to pet sit for a neighbor to go on a mini-vacation, or cooking a meal for a friend or neighbor going through a stressful time.
Some more concrete ways to manage anxiety is by using distracting grounding exercises such as 5 4 3 2 1- name 5 things you can see around you (observe the shapes and colors), 4 things you can feel right now physically, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and the taste in your mouth. Count backward by 7 starting at 1000, do a crossword puzzle, or get a book of mini-mysteries and solve mysteries based on clues from the short stories- check out www.mag.com/mysteries2.
Get out of the rut! Probably one of the biggest complaints a therapist hears in session is "I feel like my life is in a rut". You can feel like you are in less of a rut by bringing some novelty into your life. You can treat one weekend a month like a vacation and let go of any to-dos or errand running. Life will not fall apart because you took 2 and half days off monthly-guaranteed. Instead, you will feel more energized, hopeful, and refreshed. You can plan a staycation at home and order in healthy meals, watch a couple of fun movies, go for a local hike or long walks, take a bubble bath, have a house cleaning service come in, or send out your laundry for the week, and ordering groceries instead of picking them up. If possible at all, a weekend getaway to another state or road trip is best to really take a break monthly.
Need some other ideas of ways to manage anxiety? Seeking additional support to get out of that rut? Click here.