Creating a Crisis Box

It's not a secret that I do suffer with severe anxiety and depression and often when I'm suffering with it really badly I don't really know what to do to keep myself busy and to get rid of the anxiety or help control the low mood. I've had anxiety and depression for a long time but handling it is something I'm really not good with at all. A friend of mine suggested making a crisis box. This is something I had heard about before but not really thought much about it since hearing about it, but as this really worked for her it made me want to see if it was something that maybe I should try too.

A crisis box is a a technique you can use to help distract you from the anxiety or depression you're feeling. It's basically a box full of things that will de-stress you, cheer you up, and distract you from any emotional distress you're feeling. It basically gives you a place to go when having a crisis and helps you with the crisis and hopefully prevents you from harming yourself or whatever.

So over the past week or so I've been putting together my own crisis box for whenever I'm feeling stressed, panicky or in a really low, depressive mood. This should hopefully help me control my emotions and make me feel better. I've had so much fun putting it together and thinking of things that could help me de-stress and calm down, and I have things that will stimulate me in lots different ways, so I thought I would show you my box and maybe give people a few ideas if they wanted to put together their own crisis box.

The photo above is my box, I got it from Paperchase for £8.50 which I thought was a pretty good price. It's technically a gift box but I'm using it as a storage box for happiness. I'll put the link at the end of the blog if you're interested in getting the same box.

My friend had already given me a few suggestions of what to put in the box itself so from her own and I thought a few of my own and this is what currently is in my box:

• Peppermint tea
• Cross stitch for kids
• Play-doh
• Candles
• Plasticine 
• Bubble bath
• Creme eggs
• Colouring book for de-stressing
• Mindfulness colouring book
• Activity books
• Make your own crochet bag charm
• Make your own felt owl bag
• Face masks
• Hair masks from Lush

As you can see, I've got things that will help me relax like a face mask, or a colouring book. But then I have other things that will be stimulating for the scent, like candles or a bubble bath. I also have things that will keep my hands busy when I'm considering self harming such as the cross stitch or play-doh and then I have a few bits to stimulate my taste buds like the chocolate and the tea. 

I haven't actually used it yet, but when I do I'll probably write another blog post about how it goes or if it helps me. But I'm really hoping this makes a difference in my life and I did enjoy making it and thinking about what I could put in there. It made me a lot more aware of what I need to do when I am panicking or in a low mood. 

I hope this gives you lot a little insight to what a crisis box is and how it could help you if you're going through the same thing. I'm not an expert on them but seeing as I have made one recently on some good advice I thought I may as well write about my experience creating it and the sort of things I have in there, and maybe it's inspired some of you to create your own to help you too.

Stay awesome.

http://www.paperchase.co.uk/maps-flatpack-box.html