you know that butterfly feeling that doesn't go away!?

[irishlondoner]

I see a lot here about intense panic attacks and focused, short bursts of anxiety -

just wondering if the following longer term symptoms apply to anyone...!?

I get bouts of anxiety that seem to last for weeks...they've been coming and going for about two years now...sometimes they come out of nowehere and other times gradually build.

It's a horrible feeling waking up anxious and having to go through the day putting a brave face on and appearing to friends / colleagues to be perfectly fine, while underneath the surface my stomach churns and my mind feels like it's in an emotonal rollercoaster!!

strange thing is though i am able to function in this horrible state for weeks at a time...granted I sometimes think i'm going mad!!

let me know if that sounds like you - would be good to hear from other people with similar probems

[joey9]

My anxiety is similar. I never have acute episodes - never had a panic attack, but every now and then, and increasingly frequent over the past 5 years or so, i go through episodes of a few weeks where my thoughts are relentlessly terrifying (to me) - whirling round and round and seizing on the fears that really push my buttons. My heart pounds and I get the butterflies, especially in the mornings. I too have wondered how I manage to have a job and look after a family with so much going on in my head, but I manage to keep it well contained so no one ever seems to notice anything is wrong. My worst is at work because that's where most of my anxiety manifests itself - I live with a constant fear of being 'found out' that I'm actually rubbish at my job. So i have to be all smiles when i get praised at work when actually praise makes the fears worse because inside I feel like a big fraud.

What are you afraid of?