Anxiety & fear of being far away from home
Hey guys,
My name's Joe, I'm new here.
about 3 years ago i re-developed my generalized anxiety. Since then it has only gotten worse and worse. I havent traveled or driven longer than an hour away from home. I guess because i know if something happened to me i am familiar with my surroundings and could get to the hospital/ etc. if something happened or my car broke down.
Now 3 years later i get heavy chested just being 20 mins from home. Meanwhile in the past i have traveled all around the world, Driven across country. etc. But now this overwhelming fear has taken over.
Recently i just got out of group therapy which taught me if you let the anxiety take over it will win every time. When i do get anxious and go through the mental battle with myself, I think about those words. I pump myself up and overcome the anxiety. But if i was away from my comfort zone, i dont know if i could do that.
I would say i dont think i have the confidence to know that i can shut down my anxiety if i was on an airplane or driving through a rural state with no-one around for miles.
Any suggestions or ideas?
Being away from home anxiety suggestions and what I have accomplished
Hello. I used to be care free and traveled all over the county with ease. 6 years ago, I worked at a prison as an officer/guard and had major panic attacks. It left me jobless and afraid to go to the grocery store. Several years, medicines, and therapy sessions later, I could see no results and knew it was time to take matters into my own hands.
My brother was getting married an hour away and I was elected to be a bridesmaid. There was no way that I was letting my only sibling still alive down. I practiced driving down the road, then the next one and the next one and then onto the next town. With my young son's help, I got better and better at it. Less and less anxiety.
I made it to the wedding and even stayed in a hotel overnight with 0 anxiety. What a feeling. I then took a job that I have to commute 27 miles one way and am still there today. It will be seven months tomorrow.
Now I still have an occasional anxiety moment and I have my "what if" moments too but I just go into the bathroom, sit down and use the I AM method. I say "I AM stronger than this feeling" "I AM the best at what I do" and so on until I calm down.
I still haven't been a long long way from home but I am working on it. If anyone has any suggestions for long long like 3-5 hours away or more travel please let me know. Also Praying is a big part of my life too. Thank you for listening and taking time to really read my blog. Amen and God bless us all.