So, since I deal with anxiety a lot, and occasionally depression, and am prone to anxiety attacks; as well as having a lot of friends who struggle with anxiety, depression, and anxiety and panic attacks; I’ve been very interested in various relaxation/stress relief methods. Now, obviously, the most effective things are finding a good therapist and maybe discussing prescription medications, but not everyone has access to that, or perhaps the situation doesn’t require it right that second, and then it’s useful to have some alternative methods.
I’ve seen a lot of posts on tumblr with links to various calming sites, and while some I really like, some don’t help me personally so much. Plus I’ve found other sites elsewhere around the web that also help that I haven’t seen here yet. So I thought it wouldn’t hurt to post my personal list.
The more I’ve worked on this, too, the more it’s become a masterpost for all kinds of helpful websites for understanding and coping with anxiety and depression. So, the sites near the top are more for immediate stress relief, while the sites near the bottom are more for long-term mental health care. I hope this is helpful for somebody. ^__^
Nature Sounds For Me - I know rainymood.com is pretty popular right now, but I just found this site and I think I like it better. It lets you mix your own set of up to 4 ambient tracks of nature and other calming sounds, and lets you adjust volumes and frequencies for them, and then they just keep playing nonstop. I have one going right now that’s rain, thunder, wind through leaves, and crickets.
AudioEntrainment - In case you don’t know what they are, isochronic tones and binaural beats are ambient sounds with specific frequencies/pulse rates that are meant to coax your brain rhythms into syncing up and inducing different energy states. From what I’ve read, I believe they have been shown in studies to help with relaxation, meditation, and sleep at the very least, though some claim to do everything from help you quit smoking to astral projection. If nothing else, it’s nice white noise. Here’s one that’s specifically designed for anxiety and depression.
Top 10 Most Relaxing Songs - If you aren’t on a site or video with included music, this article has links to youtube videos for 10 songs that studies have concluded to be the most relaxing.
Stress Analyst - A site designed to help talk you down from a stressful experience.
Player 2 - This site helps talk you through conflicts with other people.
The Thoughts Room - If the above two sites don’t provide what you’re looking for, this site is a place to just pour out all the things you’re thinking and want to say but feel like you can’t or shouldn’t.
Calm.com - Guided relaxation sessions up to 20 minutes with nature sounds and calming graphics.
MoodGym - Haven’t tried this myself, but it’s supposed to be an interactive site with various ‘modules’ to help with depression and anxiety.
The Nicest Place On The Internet - A website full of people giving you hugs! I know it’s not actual physical hugs, but it never fails to make me smile and feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Calming Manatee - The most heartwarming place for comforting and encouraging words.
Automatic Flatterer - compliments for you!
Self-Help Anxiety Management - This is a smartphone app to help track your anxiety over time, identify stressful situations, and manage your anxiety. I haven’t used it much yet, but I just downloaded it. It’s available on both droids and iphones.
I also like to employ aromatherapy candles and diffusers, and calming herbal teas when they’re available. Those would likely require their own masterpost, however, and aren’t always available to someone in need of immediate calming, so they’re not on this list. If/when I get a post about those made, though, I’ll link it here.
Cute Roulette - Videos of adorable animals
Cute Overload - photos and videos of adorable animals
Pusheen - adorable comics about an adorable cat
Simon’s Cat - adorable videos about an adorable animated cat
Puppy Livecam and Kitten Livecam - watch baby animals be cute in real time.
MuguMogu - cute videos of web-famous Maru the cat
Silk - An interactive art site that is very meditative. Reminds me of those posts about how drawing the infinity/figure eight or watching fish swim is a therapeutic technique. It also has lovely music.
NeonFlames - Another cool drawing site.
Musical Squares - a simple music making site
Soy Tu Aire - move a paintbrush to the beat of a song, and make a unique visual depiction of the music.
Virtual Bubble Wrap - a virtual sheet of bubble wrap you can pop
Doll Divine - A website full of doll makers and dress-up games, which I find can be quite fun and engrossing.
So Fetch! - An avatar visualizer for the website Subeta, but I like to use it as an excessively extensive doll maker.
Zynga - maker of some of the most addicting facebook games.
New Grounds - host for a lot of flash games.
AddictingGames - resource for a lot of flash games.
Neopets Games - This site has a lot of variations on classic games, as well as a number of games they’ve created themselves, and then can be played without needing an account.
RPG Maker games - RPG games made by people using the RPG Maker program.
YoYo Games - Games made by people using the Game Maker program.
Puzzles.com - A website of various puzzle games
Crossword Puzzles database
Web Sudoku - online sudoku puzzles
World Of Solitaire - a bunch of solitaire games you can play in-browser
Cookie Clicker - An objectiveless game that can provide some cheap distraction and time wasting.
Candy Box - Another distracting time-passing game.
Rogue - One of the first RPG games. Descend through a dungeon fighting monsters and retrieving loot.
Cubefield - An avoiding-obstacles game
Cat Planet - A cute little game with lots of cats. There’s also a highly entertaining and well-known Let’s Play of the game that always cheers me up.
Read Any Book - a resource for online books.
Project Gutenberg - another resource for free online books, in the public domain.
Writing prompts and exercises
Cracked.com and TV Tropes - two websites I can get lost all day reading.
If these aren’t doing it for you, check out some of the suggestions in the Additional Resources links, such as making a glitter jar, cooking comfort food, doing crafts or art projects, taking a walk, etc. I also enjoy distracting myself by researching and reading about topics that interest me and/or making pointless lists of things (TV shows I like, game mods I’d like to download, ingredients for recipes, etc.).
List of Hotlines - Crisis Hotlines sorted by need
Befrienders - Find crisis hotline information for whatever country you live in.
Suicide Hotlines - A list of crisis hotlines by country.
International Rape Crisis Hotlines - A list of international crisis hotline directories.
Lifeline Crisis Chat - Online chat help for people in a crisis.
IMAlive - another online crisis chat.
Another List of Links that includes a lot of articles and reading materials that may be helpful.
You Are Not Alone - a mental health support tumblr that a lot of the links from the above list are from.
Mental Illness Mouse - another mental health support tumblr with lots of good resources and encouraging messages.
List of Self-Help Channels - a list of youtube channels to help people with a number of anxiety and depression-related challenges, and other mental health needs.
The Safe Space Network: Tumblr List - an extensive list of support tumbles.
Self-Harm Alternatives - different people self-harm for different reasons, and require different alternatives. Here’s some potential ideas to help find what coping mechanism may be right for you.
Finding Professional Help
Depression: Finding a Doctor or Therapist - What to look for and expect when seeking out a therapist.
Psychologists vs. Psychiatrists - Understanding the difference between these two types of mental health professionals. From personal experience, I would advise seeking out a psychologist over a psychiatrist for talking through stressful situations, but a psychiatrist over a family or personal doctor for obtaining and monitoring prescriptions. It is perfectly alright to have more than one doctor helping you, as well, since different doctors have different specialties. (I have both a psychologist and a psychiatrist for my anxiety)
Psychology Today: Find a Therapist - Search tool to find therapists near you.
Psychology Today: Find a Psychiatrist - Search tool to find psychiatrists near you.
If You Are Not The One In Need Of Calming
How to Talk to a Friend Having a Panic Attack
How to Talk to a Friend Who Self-Harms
How to Talk to a Friend With an Addiction
How to Talk to a Friend With an Eating Disorder
How to Talk to a Suicidal Friend
More Things Not to Say To Someone Dealing With Mental Illness X X X
Physical Realities of Mental Illness
What Anxiety is Like: X X X
What Depression is Like: X X
This comic works for both
What An Anxiety Attack or Panic Attack Feel Like: X X X
Artistic photographic depictions of what living with anxiety and depression are like.
In general, remember that mental illness is a legitimate illness, their feelings are real, even if they don’t always show, and they can’t just 'get over it’ and many cannot be 'cured’ or 'fixed’. If they are exhibiting self-destructive behavior, remember that it’s a coping mechanism for underlying stressors. Focus on what is causing them to feel like they need this behavior, not the behavior itself. Listen to what they say they are feeling and take it at face value, don’t dismiss or devalue their emotions. Emotions may be irrational, but they are never 'wrong’. People with mental illnesses are human beings, are not broken, and deserve respect and love.
P.S. I am totally willing to update this and/or repost it with new links! So if you have other ideas, I’m up for hearing them!
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