Managing Anxiety Workbook

Breathe. One sentence. One that has been a running mantra in my head for years. A word I know better than my own name. When I walk into a room. Breathe. When I talk to someone new. Breathe. When the phone rings. Breathe. When I'm standing in front of a counter trying to order food. Breathe. When I'm afraid of what people are going to say or what they think of me. Breathe. Anxiety has shaped my life.For example, it stopped me from going to college. It stopped me from having healthy relationships and it stopped me from believing in myself. For a really long time, it stopped me from having a life. When I was 11 I started having anxiety-induced stomach aches. By 14, I was having panic attacks. At 16 I started to get stress headaches and migraines. At 20, I was borderline agoraphobic. My main coping mechanism was avoidance - avoid, deny, and ignore all of the things that made me anxious and if that didn't work, then I'd eat everything I could get my hands on, play a video game, sleep, and d