Did you overcome severe anxiety to enable you to move forward in life?

Hi,

I'm happy for everyone who went through anxiety and overcame it. If you are still strugling, things will get better, just keep going.

My anxiety started about a year ago. I'm a uni student, learning to become an English and History teacher (in my country, teacher-training starts right after high school and we have to choose two subject areas). Here, exam periods last about a month, so we can retake exams in the same semester. It started after I failed an exam because I was too tired from the all-nighter I pulled on the previous night. When I prepared for my next exam, I started to think back of the feeling of failing. My anxiety got so bad that I called my mother at work, crying, telling her that I can't do it anymore. When she came home from work, she had the number of a therapist who I had to call right away. Thankfully, the therapist helped me in some ways. I still failed 4 out of my 5 exams that semester, but at least I was no longer a nervous, crying mess.

Next semester was a bit better, though I was anxious whenever I had to enter the History building. This January was terrible again. After Christmas, I was in a terrible place because I failed one of my exams by 1 point. I panicked when I was left alone at home, I couldn't stay in my room, I always was by my parents' side. Things started to get better when I passed 3 out of the 4 classes I still had left (we cannot choose our courses, we only have mandatory classes), but I couldn't bring myself to start to prepare for the last. When I started, I again felt that panic I felt previously.

This semester, I finally passed ALL of my classes. I still have one final-final exam where we have to cover topics from all previous courses, but I'm finally positive that I can do it and finally start my last year: student-teaching in a primary school.

While I'm still not 100% anxiety free (and I came to accept that I'll probably never be), things are starting to get better. Now I only get anxious before exams, and even that is managable. I was supposed to graduate this semester, but I'll only do so next year, but I think I've learnt so much during that one extra year, mostly about myself.

Hey @lucy2! This may seem like a really vague question, but how did you do it?

My anxiety is through the roof and I'm really only stable when I'm at home practicing mindfulness or isolated in my room. I'm 27 and thinking about going back to college for science (Geophysics or Biology, not really sure) and I'm terrified. I can't make a decision and stick to it. Currently, I'm debt free and the thought of accumulating any is sickening.

But I also know that if I don't do it, I may never get better. I may never get healthy, or meet a SO, or do anything with my limited life. I just love reading stories about people who fought anxiety and won. Gives me hope that I can do it myself. But I'd really like to know how anyone does it.

No, I definitely didn't overcome anxiety yet, I'm still stuck, not independent, not able to work or study, do things I like, sometimes even eat and care for myself. But I'm working hard on it, I'll get somewhere, sooner or later

@lucy2 i still go throigh it and no end in sight but i guess i will live and die with my anxieties till the end...life is just a bad joke...paradoxically, when i had the cancers news, i was free from anxiety for the first time because I thought the end was near and i didn't care anymore...now it hits me nit only daily but multiple times a day @lucy2. I am happy for you that you found a way to liberate ypurself from the torment and pain...hope others can follow ypur path too...to healing...it seems i cannot do it...