hello john. welcome to ds.

are you aware that anxiety is a hard-wired part of the survival instinct? it warns us of danger. while that can be most inconvenient while hypervigilance is convincing me that infant is hiding an assault rifle in his/her stroller, it can be a lifesaver in the event of clear and present danger.

anyhoo. . .

when i find myself reduced to agoraphobia, i break my isolation in itsy bitsy baby steps. a post like this one might be my first step. or, i might make myself stand in front of the open door for minutes at a time until i find the courage to step over the threshold. or i might make myself call one of those friends i've lost touch with. the important piece is doing some little something every day until i can get back into the flow of life.

steadying support while you find what works for you.
welcome aboard.

Welcome to this forum, John. I have learned to take things in baby steps. I am trying to be more connected in general with new friends. The old ones are gone with the pandemic it seems. I've been ill and not had the energy to socialize plus we had to have emergency repairs to our house that are almost finished. So I try not to beat myself up but maybe to text or call one person per week.

Arfie wrote, "are you aware that anxiety is a hard-wired part of the survival instinct? it warns us of danger. while that can be most inconvenient while hypervigilance is convincing me that infant is hiding an assault rifle in his/her stroller, it can be a lifesaver in the event of clear and present danger."

Replication of cells is an essential part of the human experience. When there is injury, we need cells duplicated and connected with other parts of the body. However, cancer involves a replication out of touch with any genuine needs of the body.

Likewise, anxiety may reflect a genuine and sensible worry which prompts us
to check and evaluate. If a woman feels anxious when someone she just met at a bar urges her to take a drink that he just brought over, anxiety can protect her. Contrarily, if you feel lonely and a good friend invites you to an event or dinner, and you don't go, then this is bad anxiety. If you are in bad finance shape but cannot go to an interview, again there is unreasonable anxiety. The body can give us bad clues or overreact, if you were mugged and are now afraid to go out, that would be an overreaction, though some concern is sensible.

For the most part, we're talking about behavior that is disproportional and harmful to the person. One step is recognizing that, a second looking for help, a third truly committing to a treatment plan.

So very sorry that you are going through this as I know the feeling all too well. Anxiety-free is such a dream, I wish that for us all. As one other mentioned about, I would take the baby-step desensitization route. Set small goals, such a standing on the porch for a little bit, then maybe a nice lovely stroll to the mailbox(yes, it's a big deal for us!), once you're comfortable with those things, maybe try a drive down your street and back. They are small tasks that are huge successes. Remember, there can only be setbacks if progress has already been made. Reach out, anytime! xx.