mustlovedogs

That used to be my way out, too. Suffering from anxiety all my life, I could "manage" it by shoving it away with a forceful NO, or thinking of something good, but then it spun out of control on me early this year when too many stresses hit me all at once. Suddenly even the good thoughts weren't working either, and I couldn't muster the strength to NO the what-ifs away. I think anxiety works in various stages--some ok, some not good, some crippling to day-to-day life. I also think that the stages come and go. Right now, I'm in the "crippling to day-to-day life" stage. I think a big part of the reason it's so hard for me right now is because I'm also currently suffering from a little more depression than usual, which means I can't seem to find those good thoughts to help me wade through the anxiety.

I've had to work on retraining myself (with the help of my therapist) to find those good thoughts again. I'm not currently on meds, but am considering them. Right now, it's just the therapist for me, but therapy does help. It helps to have someone to talk to about your worries who not only will assure you that you have every right to feel worry and it's not your fault, but will also help you to see a different perspective on them (something that's difficult for us to do on our own when we're so wrapped up in them).

It really helps just to talk to someone about them who won't poo-poo you. I've found that giving solid presence to my anxiety (voicing the worries out loud) and discussing them does help ease them. I recently broke a severe anxiety attack by just describing what it felt like to my husband and having him listen. It took my mind off of the anxiety as I had to struggle to find the right words to describe it. Thankfully, he was very patient and understanding. He doesn't suffer from anxiety, but he does suffer from depression and mild social anxiety, so he kinda understands my anxiety but not really.

Maybe you could find someone to talk to who won't mind being your strength when you feel your strength waning. Whether that's a therapist, a friend, a relative, whatever. It really does help to ease the isolation and loneliness of anxiety to be able to talk to someone who cares enough to listen until you're done. Sometimes you don't necessarily need advice, you just need to know that someone cares and wants to understand (even if they don't).

Don't ever think your worries are too small to matter. They are what they are and, as someone else said, the nature of anxiety is that it isn't rational. Just because you consider your worries small doesn't mean that they are causing you any less stress than someone with bigger worries. And that's normal for anxiety.

(Sorry about writing a book... )