Anxiety disorder

Hi,

I'm 22 year old student.I start to have anxiety disorder just one week ago, when i knew that my mum would have a minor operation, and one of my close old neighbors is severely ill.

Since then I start to think of "death",which makes me panic and my heart races all the time. I want to stop thinking but cannot.I'm always worried, i'm worried about my mom and dad's health..I imagine of some days..when my beloved ones will leave me..Although I'm trying to be calm, to think that death is normal thing that everyone has to accept, I still cannot concentrate on studying and stop worrying. Sometimes I feel that I'm living in my imaginary world (20 , 50 years later when i have to face the death of relatives or of myself), not reality.

Can you help me to control my anxiety? I really feel very exhausted because of this anxiety, racing heart feeling controls me all the time.

I tried to relax and stop thinking..but cannot..I just want to be back to normal, and live a happy life. I would be grateful to your advise.

Regards,
Sophia

The best way to get rid of anxiety is to release so much anxiety as possible. Lie down on the bed and think about death and all the terrible things that could happen. Let it feel as painful as possible. Try to keep this unpleasant feeling as long as possible.

You will notice that, after the anxiety attacks disappear, your body calms down and you feel better.

It is a big difference between losing your parents at 22 and losing them as a middle-aged person. Middle-aged persons have usually their own children and moved their love towards them. The parents are old and weak and it is easy to think that it is better for them to avoid suffering.

When you have released your anxiety with the above mentioned exercise, you can try to investigate which thoughts cause your anxiety and which thoughts make you feel good. People usually torment themselves with thoughts that make them feel bad. Try to reflect if you have anything to gain with this way of thinking. Would it possible for you to have more constructive thoughts and avoid those poisoning, self-destructive thoughts?

These two exercises seem contradictory, but the first one deals with cleaning out the anxiety from the body and the second one deals with stopping the anxiety from coming back again.

The best way to get rid of anxiety is to release so much anxiety as possible. Lie down on a bed and think about death and all the terrible things that could happen. Let it feel as painful as possible. Allow yourself to feel the anxiety without holding back, as long as possible.

You will notice that after the anxiety attacks disappear, your body calms down and you feel better.

It is a big difference between losing your parents at 22 and losing them as a middle-aged person. Middle-aged people have usually their own children and move their love towards them. Their parents are old and weak and it is somewhat easier to think that it is better for them to avoid suffering.

When you have released your anxiety with the above mentioned exercise, you can try to investigate which thoughts cause your anxiety and which thoughts make you feel good. People often torment themselves with thoughts that make them feel bad. Try to reflect if you have anything to gain with this way of thinking. Would it possible for you to have more constructive thoughts and avoid those poisoning, self-destructive thoughts?

These two exercises seem contradictory, but the first one deals with cleaning out the anxiety from the body and the second one deals with stopping the anxiety from coming back again.