Maintaining Your Sanity #2: Coping with Anxiety Attacks While Touring
If you’ve ever been hit with an anxiety attack while on tour, you know how overwhelming it can be. Touring life can be chaotic, unpredictable, and stressful, so when anxiety strikes, it’s important to have some solid tools in your back pocket.
This blog isn’t about how to avoid anxiety attacks - if that’s what you’re after, check out my other post, "Maintaining Your Sanity: Mental Well-Being Tips for Roadies on Tour."
Instead, here we’ll dive into practical techniques you can use to calm a full-blown anxiety attack while you’re on the road, even with the limitations of touring life.
Let’s get into it and find some relief.
1. Stay Organized: Using a Notebook to Ease Overwhelm
Write everything down. When anxiety hits, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, but getting your thoughts out of your head and onto paper can make a big difference.
Whether it’s your schedule, tasks, or even how you’re feeling, just jot it all down. Anxiety floods your system with adrenaline, which impedes with your memory, so keeping a notebook handy helps you stay organized and eases that sense of being overwhelmed.
It’s not just about making lists either - write down your worries. You can use tools like the "Worry Tree," which helps break down your anxieties step by step. Writing things out forces your brain to slow down, giving you a chance to look at things more clearly.
It helps shift your focus from catastrophizing to seeing things as they really are. Keep that notebook with you, and don’t underestimate the power of putting your thoughts on paper - it can bring real relief when the pressure’s on.
2. Take Proactive Steps: Small Wins Against Anxiety
When anxiety hits, don’t just let it take you for a ride. It’s tempting to think that by constantly replaying your worries, you’re working toward a solution, but in reality, you're just cycling through the same thoughts without getting anywhere.
What you need to do is give your anxiety the attention it deserves by addressing what’s really bothering you. If you leave it unchecked, it’ll just keep dragging you back to the same place. The key is to start getting proactive with how you handle it.
I know it’s tough when you’re in the thick of anxiety, especially since one of the symptoms is feeling less capable of working through things effectively. But don’t be too hard on yourself. Start small—accomplishing even one thing toward managing your anxiety is a win. Over time, those small steps add up. It’s about progress, not perfection, and any forward movement is a good day in the world of managing anxiety.
3. You can Access Therapy on Tour
I’m not saying you need to find a new therapist in every city on every day off – that’s not realistic for someone on tour. What I’m talking about is connecting with an online therapist who you can talk to regularly, no matter where you are. It’s important to have someone to share your worries and thoughts with, someone who can help you process everything that’s been building up in your mind. And don’t stress about time zones; there are plenty of therapists who can accommodate even the most challenging time differences.
It doesn’t have to cost a fortune either, and online therapy can be flexible enough to work around the changes in your schedule. I know it’s tough to stick to anxiety prevention methods when you're not in the middle of it, but talking to a therapist once a week or even once every two weeks – whether you’re feeling good or not – can make a huge difference. There are plenty of short-term solutions out there, but therapy done right is more of a long-term strategy. I’ll include some helpful links below to get you started on finding the right resource for you.
4. Motivational Videos on Social Media
This one might not be as common, but I’ve seen it help plenty of people in tough spots—watching a few motivational videos on social media can sometimes give you just enough of a boost to start tackling what you’re dealing with. It’s not a magic fix, but it can shift your mood a little, get you motivated to start handling your anxiety, and even help you forgive yourself if you’re carrying unnecessary guilt.
In a way, these videos can replicate some of the support and reassurance you’d normally get from friends or family, making you feel a bit less alone in your struggles. They can also help you put things into perspective, giving you a clearer sense of what’s really happening versus what your anxiety is making you feel.
5. Know When to Hit Pause: Give Yourself Permission to Slow Down
I get it. When you’re new to this line of work, you feel like you’ve got to constantly prove yourself, always pushing to make every day as productive as possible. But It’s okay to take a step back. Stop being so hard on yourself. You don’t need to be at 100% every single day.
On your day off, give yourself permission to slow down. Do what you need to take care of the essentials, then let yourself relax. It’s not about being the best all the time; it’s about looking after yourself like you would for someone you care about. Whether that means getting some extra sleep, taking a walk, or just sitting in silence for a bit—whatever it takes to switch your brain off for a few hours, do it.
Remember, part of being good at what you do is knowing when to recharge. It’s not a race, and giving yourself that breather makes all the difference when you’re back in the thick of it.
Touring can be an amazing experience, but it’s also challenging, especially when anxiety hits. The key is having strategies to manage it in the moment, and hopefully, this blog has given you some helpful tools to work with. Remember, it’s not about perfection, but about progress.
Whether it’s writing things down, taking proactive steps, or giving yourself permission to slow down, each small action can help ease the weight of anxiety while on the road. Take care of yourself - your well-being is just as important as the work you do.
