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I take pills--both a prescription pill for my depression/anxiety, and an OTC pill for nighttime anxiety (for sleeping). Even with prescription medication my anxiety is so bad at night that I have to take the OTC medication (it's doxylamine succinate, if you're curious--it's the active ingredient in Unisom Maximum Strength and basically works not by making you drowsy, but by making your brain stop thinking) or else my brain will just run circles around itself and not shut off. I can literally work myself into a major panic attack in less than thirty seconds when I lay down to sleep. I have some intervention techniques that work and do relax me, but they don't get me to sleep the way medication does. I usually end up taking it at least a couple of nights a week.
I also smoke pot occasionally and drink.
Better living through chemistry, I say.
Exercising also calms my nerves, as does a hot cup of chai, or eating a small bite of chocolate. Those are other techniques I use. I also do a fair amount of venting through writing, talking with others, or calling my mother.
I wish I had a better means of controlling my anxiety when I go to sleep, but after so many years of living with it, I've found that the method I currently use really is the most effective. It's also the easiest, which is kind of nice.
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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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