Do not avoid it. Push yourself to face what makes you anxious. You will realize the next time you face it, it won’t be as bad. Essentially, you are proving your anxiety wrong. Instead of avoiding the situation that makes you anxious, use it to your advantage. A little bit of anxiety can actually be channeled into a better performance.

You are certainly not alone. I have all those feelings too and at my wits end on what to do. My doctor has given me pills to take but they really don't help at all. It is that I see all these happy people with familes and they are laughing and smiling and I am unable to do that. I feel lost an afraid and yes very anxious. Patti

@aston I like that concept of "proving your anxiety wrong". What you can do is replace your thinking with another approach of how to think about something in a more positive way. Use creativity as a guide to figure this out, like a detective. When you find the event that colored your thinking, you can re-evaluate it and see it through fresh eyes and from a more experienced perspective, and you might just find that the former thoughts don't make sense anymore… then you've grown and can be grateful for new thinking and understanding. You're right, anxiety can be an inspiration to achieve great things.

Yes, worry. My parents were worrisome people, but alot was going on in their lives. I also tend to worry. I have to remind myself to give my issues to the divine since they are too much for me. And, worry just doesn't seem to achieve anything.

@healthytoday – sometimes when I'm actively worrying about something, my husband will kindly and gently ask me, "Does that help?"

I always have to admit, "Well, no, it's really not."

I like the way you think Lisa. Give the worry up to the Divine. I'm going to take this on. It may help me.

@psearby17– Good morning. I'm a worrier too. My middle name should be "what if". One way to lessen and gain control is to make a list. Then go back and see which things you can control. Those are the ones that need action. The other ones need to be at the very bottom of your list because you have no control over them, you can't change them. Might be a great idea just to put them away.

My worry got worse after a major panic attack when my husband lost his job. My thinking is negative. I don't sleep well either. And I have IBSD

@pjss48 I have been reading a lot about IBS-D recently because I may have it. I am not entirely sure if it's lactose intolerance, IBS-D, or IBD. I have an appointment next week with a gastro's NP but I think I am going to the wrong person. I think they will refer me to a different gastro who specializes in this. Once you have one gastro, you apparently have to go through that doctor to go to another.
What are you doing for your IBS? So far I have eliminated dairy primarily but the reason I think it may be more than lactose intolerance is that even on some days when I have no dairy, I still have D. Imodium helps very slightly, better than nothing. I have read that anxiety can contribute to IBS. Mine began after I started taking immunosuppressants (post liver transplant). It took me a very long time to put 2 and 2 together and discover that dairy was a trigger.
JK

I like the youtube series Yoga with Adriane. Practice yoga in your home, especially relaxing breathing.

I take bentyl immodium. Sometimes ibguard. Mine is anxiety related. What I eat is still unsure

I have extreme problems with anxiety. Six months ago my husband had a “widowmakers” heart attack which most people do not survive. I was present with him on the floor as someone did cpr on him. I remember screaming his name and then the ambulance crew arrived . His heart was completely blocked. He was put into a coma for three days to preserve his organs and heart. After a week he woke up. I get flashes of the event out of nowhere. I was diagnosed with ptsd. I was told to use thought blocking.

what is cpr aand ptsd" Hope he is doing better and you are coping a little better. That is something that would give anyone worry and anxiety God Bless Patti

@brit Hello Patti:

PTSD refers to "Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event." (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967) and CPR refers to Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) "a lifesaving technique useful in many emergencies, including a heart attack or near drowning, in which someone's breathing or heartbeat has stopped."
https://www.mayoclinic.org/first-aid/first-aid-cpr/basics/art-20056600

@brit CPR is cardio pulmonary rescuscitation that is done when someone's heart function and breathing stops to save a person. PTSD is post traumatic stress disorder that happens after a frightening event which tends to cause panic attacks. PTSD is hard to live with and disrupts your life when events trigger memories of the very traumatic events that happened in the past. PTSD is treatable. I experienced some of that with extreme fears of having surgery because of fearful similar experiences when I was little. Every time I thought about having spine surgery, I panicked. Some of that was also because of the injury I had in a car accident twenty tears earlier, that caused the spine problem I had that then needed surgery, and that accident was also a traumatic event contributing to the problem..