It may be worth you asking for referral for an Anxiety Management Course. The Occupational Therapy part of your local CMHT should have these courses on offer.
The key to anxiety is stopping the cycle of thought. So, as soon as you feel yourself begin to feel anxious, use a distraction, breathing while counting, thinking STOP loudly in your head and other such things can all help, as they stop the anxiety manifesting and feeding on itself.
Learning breathing exercises is always good, as this helps calm the bodies natural adrenalin rush that comes with anxiety. The earlier you can start to use these techniques the easier it will get.
It does take a bit of practice though. If worse comes to worse, it is worth remembering that it can not do you any harm. You may feel stressed, and you may need to take a moment out to calm down, but there will be no ill effect and you can move on once calmer.
Be gentle with yourself. There is no miracle cure, but you can get there.
Roiben x
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