Hello, I am new to this group. I have suffered with anxiety for as long as I can remember. I am 33 years old, married, and attending graduate school. I often worry about things that I have no control over, I often stress that I've done something wrong if I don’t hear from somebody and if someone I know is stressed and I can’t do anything to help them- I stress about not being able to help them. It is a never-ending cycle. If I can turn a switch off I would but unfortunately, I'm not that lucky. People often tell me that I can't change what has already happened but yet I stress and sometimes make myself sick because my anxiety gets so bad. I sometimes break out in a sweat, and get butterflies in my stomach. I often take care of others, before I take care of myself.

On 3/24/2020 I was laid off from my job, I was stressed and felt worthless. I 've had this job for almost 15 years (basically my whole adult life). I grew accustomed to the people I worked with (they’re family), of course there were times that I couldn't stand my job, but hindsight is always 20/20. You never appreciate what you have until it's gone. I felt worthless that I didn’t have a job, intellectually I realized that that it was due to COVID-19, but emotionally I was wrecked. I felt sorry for myself and had no motivation. Perspective is something I've learned the last 5 weeks. I got a call a couple days ago, from my current employers asking me if I wanted my previous job back. I feel blessed and confused. I am now in charge of the company, and have a lot more responsibilities. I also have the choice to either hire staff that were in the office before we got laid off or to hire new people. It's a lot honestly- I’m blessed, grateful, and appreciative to work again during this pandemic where so many people have lost much more than I.