Hey there. I am glad you joined and I hope you find this site helpful and resourceful. Can I ask, what is your anxiety triggered by and what helps you relax.? There are a myriad of coping techniques you can utilize. I am just curious what you have tried and what types of recreational/leisure activities you enjoy. For me, as a former social worker, and now a therapist and one that experiences anxiety due a near-fatal MVA, I engage in deep breathing exercises, meditation, and visual imagery exercises, but everyone is different. Some people need music or find coloring or drawing to be relaxing. Have you tried any coping skills lately? Obviously, your family lacks insight into what you are going through and I am sorry to hear that. I hope to hear back from you:)

Take care!
Riley

Thank you for your reply, just reading a response from someone who can somewhat relate is soothing to say the least. I joined this group today since my recent anxiety attack left me feeling hopeless and depressed, which is not a typical feeling after my anxiety attack ends. As far as triggers go; there are many. Today I saw the stack of mail that I did not want to sort thru yesterday. My 21 year old son was in a serious car accident and seeing a medical bill or any correspondence from anything relating to the accident brings back visions of seeing my son look extremely bad, for a lack of a better word, in the hospital. So that stack of mail started the anxious feeling that lead to my physical symptoms being more noticeable by the minute. I tried to relax in a hot bath which helps often, yet not today. Some past triggers have been watching my mother be such a wonderful grandmother to my 3 boys who are 23, 21, and 12. However, she was a neglectful mother to me, failing to protect me from abuse and making me feel as if she hated that I was such a burden to her. She has a loving nurturing relationship with my boys in which I would never want to take from her or my boys, but that is an all too often trigger of the lack of love she had for me, which triggers thoughts of things I had to go through due to her lack of love for me. I find myself getting lost in my thoughts when I see a mother and daughter shopping together or laughing together. That seems to be a calming feeling until I get in my car and feel the loneliness. That is when I will turn music on to try and drown out the thoughts that I know can lead to anxiousness that gets out of control. This works most of the time. My children would tell you I am the most loving and present mother they know. They have all 3 told me that they feel incredibly lucky to have me. That's a moment I try to reflect on during anxiety. It is helpful in certain situations. My husband has never known anyone who displays physical symptoms from anxiety like I do. We have been married for 14 years (second marriage). He has recently been very angry and mean about my anxiety. He claims my anxiety is happening way too often now and Its because I am a weak person who can not "just get over it". If my anxiety is indeed getting worse, I would relate that to his harsh words and cold hearted cut downs. He is a good person to everyone who he has contact with and a good father and stepfather to my boys. So I do take a lot of thought into his new found inability to be so mean to me during anxiety attacks and moments of anxiousness that I feel I am hiding well and keeping from him. Apparently he is looking awfully hard for them or I am not as good at hiding them as I thought. I do pilates at home to combat feelings of anxiousness that I am not sure what has set me off, this does tire my mind and body out about 80% of the time. I tend to do it daily but it is too physical to do every time I feel anxiety creeping in.
Thank you for your reply. I would consider myself a friendly person and have the opportunity to see a lot of people at my boys sporting events, etc. However, I do not have 1 close friend that I would feel comfortable getting close to, mainly because I am afraid of them knowing the extent of my anxiety.

My bf doesn't get it. He says he does but in reality he doesn't. He never wants to hear about them or help me when I have one. This summer my panic disorder came back like full force and had to do some medication switching and i was in full panic mode all day unless I took the klonopin which made me a zombie and pass out. I couldn't eat or anything. And he basically ignored me. I almost left him. Just know u r not alone

Thank you Diane22. I do feel alone a lot. I wish my husband could see just how strong I am since I do feel I make huge efforts to keep my anxiety issues hidden. That takes energy, effort and a sense of love for all those around me because I do not want them to feel that they must worry about me. Lately my inner voice is to divorce just so I won't have to worry about anxiety creeping up in front of my husband. That worry in itself is a source of anxiety. But then I fear that everyone I meet may react the way he does. Then the inner voice says just stay because this is as good as it gets.