Sour candy might help. There is a science to it. Your mind can only focus on one extreme at a time.
However if you do this often it will lose effectiveness. You have to deal with the cause.
I found therapy with a counselor to be very useful. I learned that stress usually triggered my anxiety. And talking about the stress situations helped relieve it.
EFT, (emotional freedom technique) is useful. Also called the tapping method. Google Brad Yates on youtube.
Eastern Body Western Mind is a fun read, if you don’t mind eastern religions and psychology.
But I have to ask, is part of the problem a feeling of being alone and helpless? Or not being heard? Were you abandoned as a child? Did something traumatic happen when you were young? (Don’t respond with details.)
If so, then I might suggest meditation with grounding techniques. Like go outside when its warm and plant your bare feet on the ground, visualize / imagine roots sprouting from your feet and sinking into the dirt.
Or go put your arms around a tree for a moment.
Yoga.
Mantras using prayer beads, repeating simple sayings like, I will be okay. I am safe. Or I am loved. Pick one short sentebce and strum a bead across a finger until you have gone around the whole necklace. What ever comforts you.
Close your eyes and just focus on this moment. Breathe. Eat a piece of fruit slowly and focus on the taste.
When traumas happen at an early age, we learn as children to disassociate from our bodies. We disconnect from or disown our bodies.
A lot of religious folks who struggle with sex, eating disorders, body image, hiding under a bunch of clothes- really really focus on the sins of the flesh. Like they are uber religious about it. It is becauae of trauma in the background. It is a trigger being set off.
Being abandoned, losing loved ones at an early age, not having a connection with familial roots. That can also cause a sense of fear and anxiety. Like everything good can just be taken away at any moment. And it just becomes difficult to enjoy life.
A professional can help unpack the source and teach you ways to cope.
When it comes to coping, it reminds me of Rogue on Xmen 2 when she lands the plane… The plane was crashing and lands hard to the ground. But she is just frozen in place. Her friends have to reassure her over and over again that they are good, everything is fine, they are safe now, and it is okay to let go of the steering wheel. But she has this grip on it and just can’t let go. She has to do it manuelly, slowly, much slower than a person who just stopped a car, parks, and gets out. We have to learn to let go. But it gets easier.
so. I really can’t take anymore