Distress Tolerance Notes

• S -- STOP, PAUSE, AND DON'T REACT
• T -- TAKE A STEP BACK, WALK AWAY AND TAKE A DEEP BREATH
• O --- OBSERVE - NOTICE YOUR SURROUNDINGS AND HOW YOU FEEL
• P -- PROCEED MINDFULLY - WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Calm your nervous system down by making yourself cold (splash your face completely in cold water, use ice packs, make an ice bath in a bowl and dunk your face in for thirty seconds). 

Paired Muscle Relaxation:

• work on one section of your body at a time
• while breathing in, tense your muscle.
• while breathing out, relax the muscle.

My Meltdown Symptoms:

• crying/loss of verbal words
• shutting down
• inability to communicate
• pacing/escaping
• hyperventilating 

More Sensory Self-Soothing:

• Eat sour candy
• Drink something cold (like a slushie).
• Lavender scent
• Make yourself cold
• Chew gum

Improving the Environment

• Dark room, soft lighting, lava lamps, silence. 
• Watch comfort tv shows 
• Listen to comfort audiobooks or podcasts while drawing or stimming.
• Weighted blanket or pillow.
• Leave the distressing environment.

Signs I Need To Use Distress Tolerance Skills:

• when I'm beginning to feel very anxious
• when I'm beginning to feel overwhelmed
• when I'm tired to the point (or close) of not being able to mask
• when I start to feel trapped in the distress 

Possible Barriers

• Some of these skills require me to be home, but I'll just use the other ones for when I'm out of the house.