As we all know people with anxiety can shy away from doing things that we need to do during our every day life, it can be anything from going down to the shops or even getting dressed and taking care of one's self, the range is wide.

A useful way of getting used to doing things again is called Goal Setting, and it is proven to be very useful when tackling our fears.

Its important to be sensible and realistic when setting goals there is very little point in trying to get to the local supermarket when you struggle to even get to the front gate.

it can take time and it can be very difficult as it often means facing the fear and tackling the anxiety but with a lot of support and determination great things can be achieved.

So for example for some one who is agraphobic and cannot leave the house at all, a sensible goal would be to perhaps sit in the garden or even the front door step for ten minutes each day, to do this for a week then move forward and the following week go as far as the garden gate or even the 1st lamppost in their street, its all about baby steps little steps towards acheiving their goals ..

Some people set themselves goals and then keep going its all about the individual and what they feel comfortable with, there is no wrong or right way as long as we move forward then it is all GOOD .

Posative thinking is required as often when we face our fears and challenge them the symptoms of anxiety will almost definatly appear, as I have said before it is a bully and will try to stop you, remember this and be ready for it, practise your controlled breathing daily - twice a day for 10 minutes or more is fantastic and will definatly help you take control when the nasty symptoms appear.

Above all remember that nothing bad will happen, they are just feelings and are totally normal ( Altho i know they dont feel it )

I used to be ready for it when i went thru my goal setting and when the feelings came I would say to myself " ok i knew this was going to happen I am ready for it and I am going to keep going it wont beat me "

Dont feel down if sometimes you do retreat or back down the mere fact that you are trying is a Posative step forward and you will do well.

It also helps if you can keep a dairy, each day write down what you did, how you felt and how you reacted to it, then if you do have a bad day you can look back and remeber other times when you perhaps felt worse and see that nothing happened.

It is important to start taking good care of yourself eat well and regularly we need to re- stock our body to make sure it is in the best condition so we feel good,

It never ceases to amaze me how many of us myself included, make sure our loved ones eat well and we sleep well ect, but when it comes to ourselves we are our own worst enemy.

One more thing , as anxiety sufferers we are tuned into How we feel 24 hours a day we notice every little ache , muscle pain the lot , when you feel like this look around you, go to the windows and watch outside, direct your attention to your surroundings and not yourself........ it does work ..

often when people panic I will say to them ok - tell me where you are and what your room looks like , they think I am nuts lol but by the time they have finished telling me what colour their walls are they have calmed down because they are not thinking about themselves !!!!!


Hope this helps Good luck all

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