Severe anxiety.. need suggestions!

[Pink___White]

Hi all,

For a little over two years now I suffered from GAD, panic disorder, social anxiety, slight agoraphobia, and more recently depression. Meanwhile I have been suffering with glue ear and sinusitis, which both trigger my anxiety and amplify symptoms. Because of this, my life has become very constricted. I cannot handle being home alone because two years ago I suffered 3 panic attacks in 3 days and each time I was home alone so this has caused me to avoid being home on my own for two years, which frustrates me because I used to love being home on my own but I cannot bring myself to attempt to stay at home on my own out of fear of a re-occurrence. I also cannot handle being out in public because of my social anxiety which has worsened in the past two years and because of my glue ear, causes me to constantly feel agitated, uncomfortable, and easily overwhelmed. And now, my anxiety is also affecting my university studies. I've just began seeing a psychologist for CBT, and I have recently been given prescription for benzodiazepenes to take when needed.

The reason that I'm writing this thread is because last month while on a two hour car trip I suffered a severe and traumatising panic attack that suffered for around an hour. I now have a wedding to attend next week, which is 10 hours away and will be a 3 day trip. I am very overwhelmed at the thought of the car trip as I cannot handle being in a car, even for short trips to the local shops. I feel claustrophobic/trapped and can't feel car/motion sick. I am also worried about being away from home for 3 days as I suffer from depersonalisation and derealisation, and feel very overwhelmed when experiencing it when in unfamiliar surroundings and increases my anxiety. My other concern is that the wedding will be quite large, and the venue is not very big, and as stated above, I cannot handle public areas, and being around more than a few people, otherwise I become overwhelmed, off balanced, and feel like I'm going crazy/loosing control.

I was hoping there would be someone who has a similar issue, or really just anyone, who can offer me some suggestions to help me handle the long car trip and the wedding.

Thank you for reading, even if I did ramble on or at times might not make sense x

[Pink___White]

Hi romantic_thi3f,

Yes, it was definitely better than I had worked myself up to believe it would be like. Its so lovely to read your reaction to my post. I now look back on all my overthinking and negative thoughts and feel so empowered that I overcome them and proved them wrong and did not let it get in the way of the weekend. And now thinking about it, it is quite an improvement and big step forward from where I was at in my first post.

Thank you so much for all of your advice, support and lovely words. I cannot thank you enough. This forum is a very supportive and helpful place, I'm glad I joined.