Hello,
Very glad for this group and hope to find inspiration for avoiding AVOIDANCE! I am a 56 year old mum of two grown up children. I have had some version of anxiety most of my life, mainly in the form of panic attacks , agoraphobia and emetophobia, all which overlap and led eventually to a dependence on alcohol and tranquilizers, a dependence which I have beaten. My main concern now is my daughter, who has also had panic most of her life on and off but has now come to a very bad peak in her early 20s. We speak very openly about it and I ask her if she feels she "learned" anxiety from me and she answers honestly, saying that some of my more aggressive bevaviour when using drugs and alcohol was certainly a problem, but that she does not remember specifically me being very anxious. I find if very strange that she has a form of emetophobia as well but does not remember my being scared. I did try my best to hide it and comfort her and her brother when they were ill. I am looking for discussions in general but for feedback from mums or dads in particular, who have children who are showing signs of anxiety. My son seems to have escaped it. My own mother was very anxious as were her own mother. Thank you for this forum.