Constantly stressed and anxious

I will try to answer your question and give you some tips. First of all, I would like to compliment you on the fact that you are going to start a treatment. You should be very proud that you have taken this step!

What is characteristic of any anxiety disorder is that we are oversensitive to danger. Danger can be a biting dog, but danger can also be rejection or loss of control. In short, we are alert because we have the idea that something bad could happen. And that stress stimulus is always something negative, or a worst-case scenario. Because we are so sensitive, our defence mechanism is continuously active. The bad feelings you have are deliberately uncomfortable so they motivate you to look for safety. Suppose you are afraid of a barking dog, then you run from it. Feeling -> behaviour.

When anxiety develops into a disorder, you see that there is an excess of safety and avoidance behaviour. These are things we do to keep ourselves safe or avoid danger. That might feel safe, but also gives the impression that it is necessary to always feel safe. So a vicious circle arises. So we get more and more scared.

What can you do now?

• Try to reflect on your own thoughts and see if you can make them more neutral. Is it the worst-case scenarios that you only think about? Are there other options? What would you advise a friend with the same thoughts? If you felt differently, would you estimate the probability of a disaster differently?
• Keep doing plenty of relaxing things. Do nice things for yourself, do something distracting, but sports can also help to reduce stress. It can also help to do relaxation exercises. For example, look up the Body scan or Progressive Relaxation.
• Challenge yourself to sometimes counter your fear. For example, set 1 small goal every day to do something that scares you. For example: briefly visiting a place that could make you feel stressed, turning off your phone for a while, making an impulsive small choice, deliberately forgetting to bring something or something else that gives you slight tension. Dare to discover if your disaster will come true and dare to believe that you can handle it!

I hope this helps you a bit on your way. Hang in there and I want to wish you the best of luck with your upcoming treatment!