Anxiety always hits me right before I leave work.

[mrmandpgh]

Why? I leave work earlier then almost everyone there. May be I feel some guilt about that? My boss says I'm doing a fine job and does not care when I leave. Maybe because today I knew I was coming back home with nothing to do. Kids have basketball practice. Just me and my wife and I know she is tired and going to want to sleep.

When I got home today I was feeling anxiety close to the level of panic. I took two visitral didn't seem to calm me down..I lied down and took a nap for and hour and a half. just got up I feel better but the house feels empty. Kids doing homework. Wife now sleeping..Dark and raining outside

I'm wondering what tomorrow will bring..When will I get thru a day or work without this again?

I've been thru good weeks and even a month where I was fine. I've been thru horrible weeks ..A month once where the anxiety never went away.

I'm in cbt therapy doing what they say and taking the meds.

When is this going to go away? Why is this happening to me? What am I doing wrong?

[aml0017]

It is hard when your anxiety is triggered on a schedule so to speak, rather than just a random episode. Because it has been coming right before you get off work, you start to anticipate it and it becomes a vicious cycle. For me it happens on the weekends because I tend to just stay home and just be stuck with my thoughts for 2 days and nights without the distraction of work. Like clockwork on Friday after I can feel the anxiety start to ramp up. It is worse when I have a long weekend like for a holiday.

It seems your anxiety arises more from being home alone with your thoughts more than involving your job. Perhaps find some other activity to do instead of going home right away? Go to the gym or for a walk, or visit a friend or whatever. You need to break the cycle somehow.

My experience after dealing with anxiety for 20 years is it always eventually ends, or at least one worry gets replaced by another. Keep on with the therapy and keep reminding yourself that it is just anxiety. It sucks but it won't kill you, nothing bad is actually happening. Hope you get some relief soon.

[The Intolerable Kid]

Never feel bad for going home at the end of your shift. The person running the place I work at actually becomes furious when he sees an employee go home when their shift is over. If you're on salary he expects a ton of extra hours put in. At least your boss is ok with it.
For me the anxiety peak is sunday night, the dread anticipation of monday. I wish I could say I had a cure for it, but I really don't.

[Fashoom]

CBT is a practice. it's like learning to play the violin. you're doing it, that's good, but it takes time to rewire you brain in a positive way. you're doing a lot of things that are difficult for people w/ anxiety disorders to do -- working a job and doing it well (you have the evidence from your supervisor), being a husband and father. you can build on those successes and CBT will help you do that. remember that you're LEARNING. it's not just rote repetition, like memorization. it's real learning. you can do it and you're doing it -- just keep at it.

check back in and let us know how you're doing.

[josh0745]

Mine is usually the worst right when I wake up in the morning, as well as on the weekends. I personally have been turning to meditation and exercise to help knock down the adrenaline levels so I can get back to thinking clearly. My anxiety has been going strong for almost three years now and it's true that your worries just shift for the most part until your brain is successfully rewired. Another thing that helps me is my journal. Write out all the things that scare the hell out of you or what you're ruminating about through the day, then go back and knock the fears down to size with your pen. My fears almost always have an insanely simplistic answer and they're trumped. It's hard, scary and no fun but stick with it and you should have some calm pop up!

[fixmybrokenmind]

I always had the opposite...my anxiety would be terrible going to work. Probably because I hated my job.

Anxiety is tricky, and I am not sure it ever completely vanishes. You need to learn how to lessen the impact you allow it to have on your mind THEN you will see it start to disappear. When I fought my anxiety and let it conquer me I never got better. The day I decided I was just going to own it, and be bigger than it no matter what it threw my way was the day I started making progress.

I know that is probably not what you want to hear. Do you cbt and speak to a therapist if possible. ALWAYS remember one day you will get over it, and you are not alone.