Anxiety and prayer

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Does anyone have any personal stories / particular tips or advice about dealing with generalized anxiety and if there are any particular prayers or prayer regimens that helped? I am going to be asking my parish priest for guidance. I know this may be a vague question/subject, and I know everyone is different…but you never know. Thanks in advance.
 
Hi, welcome to the forums. You might want to check with your doctor about that anxiety if you haven’t already.

I’ve had anxiety my whole adult life. My go-to prayer for it is the Rosary, because I said the Rosary from a very young age and when my mother was anxious about something, like a bad storm outside or the Cuban Missile Crisis, she’d say the Rosary. Apart from all the great help one gets from Jesus through Mary, the repetition of chaplet prayers can be very calming. If you aren’t into the Rosary, then the Divine Mercy chaplet, the Holy Face chaplet, saying the Jesus Prayer on a prayer rope, etc could also be used.

If you prefer Scripture, there are many stories of people in bad circumstances trusting in God, and psalms addressing this, so you could read them.

I also find it helpful to have some go-to saints for help with my anxiety. My favorites for this are St Padre Pio who said “Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.” And St Teresa of Avila who wrote “Nada te turbe” (“Let nothing disturb you”) and was herself an anxiety sufferer. Sometimes I also think of St Frances Cabrini who had a lifelong phobia of water and drowning, but still crossed the Atlantic Ocean 30 times in the course of her life and ministry, and did not die by drowning.

Finally, Adoration also really helps me - just getting to sit with Jesus in his Real Presence.
 
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Hello Richie. Welcome. I 2nd Tis_Bearselfs advice.

I’ve struggled with anxiety before myself. My honest advice is truth, and counseling if you find it helpful. Perhaps I could elaborate on that. By truth I mean that as I got to know people more I often found difficulties were with something they might be struggling with. I learned to take things differently, not personally and forgive more readily. Also to process my emotions better overall. I wouldn’t hesitate to counselor if you feel you might need it (just make sure they respect your faith).

From a faith perspective I learned (really relearned as an adult) to recognize we are all sinners, make mistakes, and hopefully we will all work together.

Physiologically speaking, deep breathing can help (it stimulates the vagus nerve, turning off the body’s sympathetic (fight or flight) response, and activating the parasympathetic (the rest and digest response) nervous system. Additionally I like herbal teas, they do actually seem to help. I use “sleepy time” sometimes to help get to sleep.

I also like the rosary. There is obviously the spiritual benefit. But also the rhythmicity that, if you follow calmly, can break a lot of negative thought cycles.

Those are what’s worked for me. I’ve got a ton more if you want some. Hopefully something in that helps. Best regards.
 
I have struggled with anxiety and depression in the past and took medicine for it as well as went to therapy which was helpful for me. Speaking about it openly helped me as well as realizing I can’t use others as a crutch but rather I have to identify what are my triggers and do the personal work needed to overcome these triggers and false feelings of worthlessness about myself. Some of my triggers I can’t control (such as life threatening food allergies) but I can control how I process and react to this.

I found daily rosary, divine mercy chaplet, and reading a chapter of the Bible to be really helpful. One of the biggest helpful tips in therapy I got was to challenge my doubts, speak truth to the lies I told myself. If I felt worthless, ask myself why and realize that I had no valid reason for this feeling and therefore, I could speak truth to this lie. Ultimately, God speaks truth to all lies which makes reliance of God extremely important.

My prayers are with you!

🐬
 
After speaking with Father, consider that you may be one of the one-in-five who suffer from some form of anxiety. It is the “silent epidemic” of our age. The gold standard in anxiety therapy is drug free and can be done over the phone in this anxious year. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the name and even Catholic counselors such as Dr. Gregory Popcak offer it. As well there are certain anti-anxiety drugs which are not habit forming.

Daily prayers ascending for all who suffer from anxiety and depression.
 
Dolphin said:
Some of my triggers I can’t control (such as life threatening food allergies) but I can control how I process and react to this.
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I had the same thoughts when I was diagnosed with non Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2011, a cancer that can kill. I prayed for the wisdom, strength and the peace to do God’s will, whether the cancer was a death sentence or just an inconvenience. I just felt total peace with the cancer.

I like this prayer -

Lord grant me the peace and serenity to live with the things I cannot change.
The courage to change the things I can;
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Often anxieties are caused by wanting things to change; that are not in our power to change.
 
Thanks for all the replies!!
I should have added that i have suffered with anxiety since i was a child, seen many doctors, been on many medications and even residential treatment centers. Not to say that none of them helped, but as an adult I am looking for additional help and advice although i am in a generally good place with my anxiety. We can always improve 🙂
 
I agree with others who have said the rosary or Divine Mercy chaplet. If I miss a day I notice a significant spike in my anxiety.
 
Have you tried Cognitive Behavioral Therapy? Just wondering, as anxiety might be thought of an internal noise - noise which blocks out tiny but powerful and life-changing messages from God. God is heard most often in silence, but if the noise is internal, the focus must also be.

But, you’ve heard all of this.
 
I agree with Tis.

I could add, reading the Bible aloud. Try the Book of Job, for instance.
 
Have you worked with any of your doctors to try a food trial? Or an elimination diet? I struggled badly with anxiety over even the tiniest things for many years starting in probably 7 or 8th grade. After tryinn a lot of things I have personally found the most success after restricting gluten and most dairy from my diet. This is just what helped me, but it might be helpful to keep a food diary and maybe take note of any particular types of food which create a worsening of your symptoms. Of course prayer is always helpful too!!
 
Thanks again!
I have seen a few practitioners about diet and food, they werent of much help. I was also much younger then…I’m open to looking into it!
 
I did the carnivore diet which calmed me way down and made me feel very relaxed.
 
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