anxiety - don't know where to turn

[olddogsnewtricks]

I was told by my doctor that I had general anxiety last year but he said that he thought I could cope with it through exercise and positive thinking. I can't. He has said the only other thing he can offer me is group therapy which I really can't face. I really don't think I can just live with it anymore as it is effecting my marriage, my work and my children. The list of things I am too scared of doing is getting longer and my world is getting smaller and smaller. I have already been reprimanded at work for not doing something that I put off and put off because it upset me (although it wasn't anything strange!) I live abroad and can't change GPs but don't know where to go from here. Any advice? Thanks!

I don't mean this in a selfish way but just knowing I am not a lone gives me some comfort. Do you know what I mean?

As I'm currently on holiday I've had time to download the book: Panicking about panic by Joshua Fletcher & I have to say it's helped enormously. Maybe worth a try? Hope you are all feeling a little better X

I found a few things really helpful when I was struggling hardest with anxiety.

CBT was hugely helpful, and also very, very quick. Just a few sessions and I found my anxiety levels very much reduced, and I had techniques which helped me identify and reduce any anxieties which sprang up again.

It also helped me reduce my excessive rumination, which with hindsight I think was the root of my anxiety.

I then had more in-depth therapy. Nothing huge: fifteen sessions spread out over a year. I've worked really hard to get the most out of it, and it's been bloody brilliant.

And lastly, mindfulness. Which I scoffed at when it was first suggested. I didn't like the classes I was given but I could see it was doing something, so I've downloaded several self-compassion meditations from the internet, and I try to do one or two of the sessions every day. They take between five and twenty minutes and although they're very simple and easy to do, they've really helped me.

Thanks. Going to see if I can down load book on my kindle.

I thought about doing a mindfulness course. I do find yoga has helped too.

Sometimes the panic just takes over and it's hard to see a way out.