What Is The 333 Rule For Anxiety? The Technique That Changed My Life!

Does the 333 rule with anxiety work? - Yes, here's how you can practice it too

This soothing technique consists of looking around when you sense a panic attack coming on. Once you've done that, you need to start focusing on naming three things you see. Then, identifying and naming three sounds you hear. Finally, the 333 rule involves moving three parts of your body and these parts include your ankle, arm and fingers. This method has proven to be very effective for me when coupled with deep breathing. I find it so calming on my stress and anxiety, that whenever my brain starts to panic and run away with itself, this process brings me back to the present moment and helps me center my mind.

Fact:

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health issue in the United States, and research shows they are thought to affect over 40 million adults.

Every day is a struggle, but different anxiety management techniques exist

Anyone with a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) knows that sufferers can never be totally free of this disorder, but having tips and techniques on managing its impact is undeniably very helpful. Panic disorders are very unpredictable, however they are always omnipresent below the surface of our chests and when the occasional worry kicks in, our minds are never truly at ease. In my case, things that seem irrelevant to most people, such as driving to a new place or meeting someone new, send my mind into overdrive and plunge me into a whirlwind of stress, where I feel nothing but anxious. Over the years, I’ve learned to deal with my condition, yet I still find myself being caught off guard from time to time, especially when I have something new to do.

Being forced out of my comfort zone is often what triggers my invasive thoughts and that tight feeling in my chest, for example, I was recently tasked with training a new coworker on a system, and I was unable to sleep for half the night beforehand. I know this doesn’t seem like much of an achievement, but when I look back at when I was fighting against myself in an attempt to refute the acceptance of this disorder, I wouldn’t have slept for a single minute the night before. If my battle, or as I now prefer to call it, my journey with GAD has taught me anything, it’s to be less harsh on myself. Before, at the start of my journey, whenever I felt an attack coming on, I was so unprepared and would always beat myself up for handling things so badly afterward, but that's no longer the case.

How the 3-3-3 rule has helped me along the way

Overtime, I’ve learned that GAD is something I have to live with on a daily basis and that isn’t going to go away anytime soon. Coming to this realization gave me the nudge I needed to understand that I wasn’t to blame and that I didn’t deserve to suffer, or feel like a prisoner in my own body or mind. If I wanted to have any semblance of a normal life, I would need to look at ways to handle my emotions and techniques to soothe the symptoms of anxiety. I tried breathing techniques and distracting my mind with different resources, but nothing ever really seemed to work for me. Then, one day whilst speaking with a friend, she told me about a revolutionary trick which combined both breathing exercises and distraction mechanisms; in other words, the 333 rule, which leads me to where I am today; a happy and fulfilled GAD sufferer!

What is the 54321 method for anxiety?

The 54321 method is based on coming back to presence, especially through our five senses, bringing our attention back, and refocusing on the world around us when we feel a moment of anxiety. If this method is acclaimed, it is because it is within everyone's reach and can be done quickly and discreetly. In the event of an anxiety attack, when the first bodily signals are felt, all you have to do is focus on your senses in five steps.

• The first concerns sight: you have to force yourself to look around you and identify 5 elements - not distressing, it goes without saying - that are part of our environment.
• The second step focuses on hearing: you have to identify 4 distinct sounds, such as the ringing of a telephone, the voice of a person you know, a song, etc.
• Then comes the third stage, which is that of touch. It is then necessary to focus on three elements that you can feel through your skin, it can be a jewel that you never remove, the fall of a garment, or the wind in your hair...
• The fourth step concerns the sense of smell, which can be more complicated depending on where you are. But if possible, try to smell two distinct smells: that of freshly mown grass, of a new book, or even that which escapes from a bakery.
• Finally, the fifth and last step is that of taste. For this one, you can simply try to analyze the taste that you have in your mouth, drink a sip of water or take a candy and savor it fully.

Be sure to check out these articles too;

• What anxiety does to your body
• The reasons we get paranoid
• 6 Tips to conquer shyness