Panic attacks and anxiety attacks can both feel highly terrifying to the person going through them. Your heart can start racing, and it’s hard to connect with your brain to think yourself out of it. Did you know that you can lessen anxiety with a few simple DIY crafts?

Creating art is good for your mental and physical health. A study done by the Community Mental Health journal showed that partaking in the art for six months had a significant positive effect on those with mental illness who participated. DIY crafts are a great way to get into art.

Here are a few DIY crafts for items that can help soothe your anxiety and prevent further panic attacks from happening in your life.

Stress Balls

Making an at-home DIY stress ball is easier than you might think. Stress balls work by giving your hands something to focus on if you need to fidget throughout your day.

Many people fidget throughout their day, whether using their jewelry, fidget toys purchased from a store, or playing with their hands and hair while speaking. These fidgeting behaviors are expected. Try this stress ball craft if you don’t already have something that works for you.

Materials

• Balloon (1 per stress ball)
• Rice, cornstarch, flour, or pinto beans (you choose!)

Here’s how to make this craft:

1. Choose a balloon color of your choice.
2. Fill the balloon with rice, cornstarch, flour, or dried beans. It is up to you which texture you’d like to try.
3. If you are worried about the balloon ripping, try adding another balloon on top of the first one.
4. Tie the balloon shut
5. Draw on the balloon with a Sharpie—you can add a cute face or a design

Your balloon is ready to squeeze when you need a fidget toy!

Sensory Jar

A sensory jar is a jar you can fill with little details to look at when you’re feeling anxious. It’s great for practicing mindfulness by attuning your senses to whatever is in the jar. Here’s how to make one.

Materials

• Water
• Liquid hand soap
• Items of your choice (beads, plastic hearts, fake snowflakes, etc.)
• Glitter

Here are the instructions for making your DIY sensory jar:

1. Fill a jar halfway with clear water.
2. Now, add your items. These could be plastic animals, light rocks, marbles, fake snowflakes, or beads. They shouldn’t be extremely heavy.
3. Fill the rest of the jar up with liquid hand soap. Make sure it reaches the top.
4. Add glitter and stir.
5. Close the jar using its lid. Turn it upside down to allow the items to fall through the hand soap and mix together.
6. Now you have a sensory jar!

Use the jar to watch the items flow through the mixture whenever you need to practice meditation. Watching the glitter and plastic beads can be incredibly calming.

At-Home Bath Bombs

Have you ever bought a bath bomb from a store or online? Did you know that you can make and personalize your own DIY bath bombs at home? Here is a simple recipe for DIY bath bombs that you’ll love.

Ingredients

• Half a cup of baking soda
• A fourth cup of cornstarch
• A fourth cup of Epsom salts
• A fourth cup of citrus acid
• One to two teaspoons of water
• Three to four teaspoons of coconut oil
• One to three drops of a scent of your choice
• Colored dye (your choice)

Here’s how to make them:

1. Start with only the dry ingredients. Mix them together until thoroughly mixed.
2. Now add the wet ingredients.
3. When the mixture starts to form clumps, you’re ready to add it to molds.
4. Grab your bath bomb molds (you may have to order these online if you didn’t buy a kit).
5. Put the mixture into the molds and close it shut.
6. After five minutes, remove the bath bomb. Let it sit overnight before using.

This recipe makes two bath bombs. You’ll want to double it for 4, and so on. Taking a bath with a bath bomb is a great way to reap the calming benefits of Epsom salts and essential oils and have fun with a brightly colored bath. Add body-safe glitter for an extra exciting effect.

Conclusion

We hope these three DIY anxiety crafts can help you prevent worry and panic attacks in your everyday life. You can even try them all! The best part about DIY crafts is that you can personalize them as you wish, so they’re much more unique than store-bought items.