Anxiety Options

[karmakiller]

Ok, since this isn't a bear-your-soul kinda forum, I'm not going to do that, but lately I've been having lots of issues with Anxiety. It's always been a problem, but it seems like it's getting worse.

I'll have anxiety attacks (they're different than panic attacks), whenever I find myself in a crowd my heart beats really fast and find myself telling myself to calm down and just breathe.

My question is if any of you have any problems with anxiety? What do you do to cope with it? Have you sought any professional help?

I'm been thinking that I should go see someone for it, but I don't even know where to begin

[Reidar]

I have similar experiences, although not really as severe, so to what degree this pertains to you may vary. But my tactic? Confidence.

I'll be in public places when I suddenly feel torturously hot and itchy from head to toe (although that rules because I can pretend I'm in lava), and that everyone is looking at me and thinking about how ugly some portion of me is, and I'd rather be somewhere else alone for no reason at all. I just ignore it because my assurance in myself overwhelms it. I know I'm ugly, but I don't care. I like being ugly, in fact. Or perhaps everyone else is ugly, and by my standards, I'm the only good-looking person! So I always adopt a sort of arrogance. This makes most people not like me, but when I'm that confident in my own self, I don't need friends, because I can do anything. Consequently, when I get those uncomfortable sessions, it's little problem to shut it out, even though it's most definitely there.

I also over-contemplate it, which also works with any kind of pain. I think, what exact part of me feels like this? I think and think about it, trying to pinpoint the components that comprise the feeling, and I become like an outsider to it, numb from the discomfort. "Who says this is 'pain'? What exactly is pain? How is this uncomfortable?" It really ruins the mood of it. Nice try, futile physiological sensations!