Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
UPDATE... Okay I spoke of my security blanket going away for a month... and my only living relative my sister is not always supportive.. not bad.. but just doesn't understand. When I can't reach her I panic... She is now going away tomorrow ... just for 2 days... but I am so anxious and scared... petrified... that I won't be able to handle it... Help me please. I am just terrified... She is going to Bar Harbor Maine which is over 4 hours away... I have tried to set up people to be around here and there... Someone tell me I can do this.. that I won't go stark raving mad... that is how I feel right now....
The cool thing is that you are able to "adopt" others as safe people OR adapt the "safe" zone or move that idea of safety anywhere you want.
I used to have anxiety and doctors helped me find solutions, so I'm speaking from the outside in.
Anxiety convinces us that only our "safe" person understands us or can help us if we're in distress. It's not true. Nearly everyone has had anxiety and most people, if you can say, "I'm having anxiety" can be empathetic. Seriously. I once had a panic attack in a public bathroom and THREE women hugged me, talked to me and helped me through it. Total strangers. But every one of them had been through anxiety.
The power comes in realizing YOU are the one calming YOU down! : ) You think the safe person has the power, but it's really you with that power. You're projecting it on to someone else. That's why you're able to feel safe around certain people.
If you have friends around, you might ask them, "Sometimes I feel anxious and here's how you can help." I've found that people are sometimes not helpful because they don't know how to be. One of the most powerful things you can do for yourself is knowing what helps you feel less anxious - and what causes anxiety. Cues can be tastes, sounds, smells, sights, etc. Certain foods can make us feel anxious. Lack of sleep. Feeling cold or hot. Just tune in so you know. That gives you some control. Realize to, that anxiety is generally a release of adrenalin. That's it. You probably actually aren't afraid of elevators or bridges or whatever. It's just that the release of adrenalin coincided with something you were experiencing so your brain, for survival purposes, connected the two. But it can be undone.
Also realize that it generally doesn't take a lot to help us calm down from anxiety - not sure if that's true for you but it was always weird to me that anxiety felt SOOOO enormous and yet if I was in the presence of my safe person, it dissipated. But it was because of what I told myself about the situation, not because that person had special powers or anything.
You did a good job setting up some alternatives. You can also come on here and there are anxiety lines you can call. And I assume you can text your safe people if needed? Just knowing you can reach them if you REALLY need to, can help.
You might look up some videos on You Tube to help you feel calmer too. There are some meditation videos, EFT, and other tools that might help.
Sending warm hugs.