Having a really bad time

[Robbed]

Did you start to feel REALLY bad only after quitting smoking? It could be that quitting smoking that is causing your elevated anxiety levels. LOTS of people experience this when trying to quit. This is particularly common if you are a rather heavy smoker, and abruptly quit 'cold turkey'. An ongoing anxiety disorder will certainly exacerbate things further. You have a couple of options here. One is to stick out the tobacco withdrawal. Although it may feel REALLY bad, it won't last forever. With time, it will gradually abate. Another option would be for you to try some sort of nicotine replacement, such as Nicorette gum or Nicoderm transdermal patch. You can then gradually taper yourself off the gum or patch, until you are nicotine-free. This has the advantage over continued smoking that you are not really doing anything TOO bad to your body - nicotine alone is not even close to as bad for you as the tars in cigarette smoke. Plus, if you are fed up with smoking, then at least you are not lighting up cigarettes and inhaling smoke into your lungs. If what you are going through is just SO horrible that you end up smoking again, taper your cigarettes SLOWLY rather than going cold turkey. This way, you are quitting gradually. So it won't be such a shock to your system. And your anxiety levels will not be so 'through the roof' as a result of quitting.