Hello. I'm very sorry to hear about the anxiety you have faced. It can feel overwhelming and confusing. I've struggled with it for a long time. I eventually took some time to study what was going on. This helped me a lot: Anxiety is a special "problem solving" mode that the body has. It helps us deal with situations where we don't already have a well practiced solution in our back pocket - where there is some unknown threatening situation or lack of confidence with how to solve whatever is in front of us. It is a very generic body response. It feels the same regardless of the cause/phobia. It's the same thing you've used and felt thousands of times in you life. Likely not even realizing it very much because it naturally goes away when it's not needed. It does a few kinds of things, which make s lot of sense it you think about them: it makes you more awake, more focused and attentive, more physically alert, gives you a negative feeling to motivate you to leave and avoid your situation. All things that make you more effective at being vigilant against threats. Okay. So, it's pretty cool if you just think about it in the abstract. So how do we fix it when it happens inappropriately? Well, identify the cause. What are you currently interpreting/perceivimg as a threat? Address that thing, come up with a solution for it. It doesn't even have to be real a lot of the time. Just imagine a solution. Like imagine you have a genie who could just solve your problem if you just asked. If you are scared of something imagine that it happened but it wasn't a tenth as bad as you thought it would be and that you conquered it instead. If you focus your attention and imagination on a solution, you will start to feel better. If you focus on beating the perceived threat and it is now in the past you will feel better. When you focus on a threat you get anxiety, when you focus on a solution you get relaxation and confidence. So you never need to be worried about anxiety itself. You can always make it evaporate once you understand what brings it on and what takes it off. Think of a positive thing, something you want to happen right now. Imagine it is happening right now. Notice you physically and emotionally feel a little better as you think it. Celebrate that feeling because it is evidence, pure evidence, that this is how anxiety works and that you can get rid of it. Notice you feel incrementally better because of that evidence. Repeat this positive thought cycle until you feel better. And then laugh with yourself that you were ever upset in the first place. I've had anxiety and panic attacks for many years and this method has snapped me out of it very fast. Hope you feel better soon. Wishing you happiness ahead.
