Please help with reoccurrence of anxiety

I completely understand. The thoughts are like a hamster wheel. I know that when I started noticing that when my thoughts start spinning, I really started noticing. The awareness of doing it is the first step into changing that. It takes practice and I try to become aware of my thoughts when I start feeling anxiety and stress. I am usually not in the present. I am worrying about things that may never happen. I try and tell myself (and this helps me) that an asteroid could blow all of us away at any moment. That is kind of drastic but also a possibility. Hang in there. I have started writing in a journal as well. If I get triggered by a thought or if someone says something that causes a physical reaction, followed by spinning thoughts and anxiety, I write it down. I also try and make the most of the times when I feel good, because similar to you, I know that I may not feel good in the morning when I wake up...but right now I feel okay. Thank you for replying!

Xanax is highly addictive and should never be used more than once or twice a week at the most, no more than once a month.

Some but not all people can become addicted to alcohol.

Everyone can become addicted to benzodiazepines.

Excellent way to handle an anxiety and stress episode.

When all the cortisol from a stress trigger gets into our nervous system, rational thought and reasoning tends to go out the window because our physiology for survival takes over because some people are more prone to fall prey to stress triggers for a whole host of reasons. Past experiences being a major one.

This physiological response is due to the primal thought processes taking over.

Fear is a most primal thought process. It leads directly to the body doing flight or fight to keep us alive.

Rational thinking is a more advanced, more human thought process that doesn't cause cortisol to be triggered, which then causes higher anxiety and panic symptoms.

The key to keeping calm is rationalizing, writing down what is real, because a primal brain response goes to all possible danger zones, real or imagined.

Are you getting enough sleep?
You are on exactly the same medications (less one or two) that I am on for anxiety, depression, and panic attacks.
There is something we are missing.

For what it is worth: having 1-2 beers with friends is a great anxiety reliever and doing so does not mean you are an alcoholic or your drinking is out of control. Taking it to 3 may not be entirely wise, though.

I agree with others on here, that you should keep the beer to a lower alcohol percentage, and perhaps have a glass of water, just to keep the medication/alcohol reactions to a minimum.

I am concerned about 1) the sleep; and 2) why the panic/anxiety increases when you are alone in your living space.

Ask yourself: "What do I fear? Why am I feeling sad?" Sometimes it takes some persistent self reflection to find that fear and get rid of the fear.

Fear is almost always what causes depression and anxiety. Do you also have a sense of being overwhelmed by life?

It seems you are afraid these panic, anxiety, and depression issues will never go away.

Sometimes we have to endure the storms to get through them, there is no way of going around. But you WILL get there, there is hope.

Some people are more prone to stress reactions. You seem to simply be a person, and there are many like you, that are ultra sensitive to stress and the resulting sensitivity to cortisol.

There IS a silver lining behind it: people sensitive to stress are survivors. They just need to learn to handle the reactions to stress, recognize them, be ready for them and manage them.

I am nearly 70 - my grandparents and parents lived to nearly 100.

I figured I needed to learn and study as much as humanly possible about this hypersensitivity to stress beast. It is a beast.

But it is just thoughts. You are not your thoughts. Thoughts and thinking are two different things.

These words of yours have even touched me deeply too! I even wrote them down to keep as a constant reminder! Thanks! We all go through NEW and different things/times/ in our lives..that we can look at as"new" experiences...to get to realize different parts of ourselves ... while discovering, and adjusting to those new parts..and abilities of ourselves ...that we hadn't "seen" or used before!! WOW! Life! Thanks again for your advice! And sending positive thoughts & "vibes" to Yanks!

Wish it was that simple. Not to be rude but perhaps if you did some reading and research on panic attacks/anxiety you may gain better insight. It appears by your statement that you have not experienced severe anxiety nor had panic/terror attacks. Consider yourself fortunate!

Very profound but not entirely true!

@slarson14. I find myself wondering why you perceive anxiety as "simply fear". Have you personally experienced anxiety and if so what did it feel like to you?

@slarson14 I just finished reading an excellent book by the fiction writer Matt Haig. He has a history of anxiety and depression and wrote about it in his book "Reasons to Stay Alive". He describes the mental and physical symptoms he experienced when he had his first episode when in his early 20's. Much of the reason Haig says he was able to recover was due to the love and support of his parents and his girlfriend who later became his wife.

I experienced my first episode of anxiety and depression at about the same age as Haig. Much of what he wrote in the book I referenced in my first paragraph resonates with me. Like Haig, I still have periods of anxiety and depression but none as severe as when I was 25-years-old. I'm now 73-years-old.