Dear Rebecca:

The title of your thread includes the word overwhelmed. When we are anxious we are often overwhelmed. If not anxious, life would have been much easier. That inner critic, or inner bully you referred to in an earlier thread, is a voice that generates a lot of anxiety along the way.

The better you manage and reduce your anxiety daily, the less overwhelmed you will be. It is best that you eliminate or minimize interactions with people who continue to criticize you (“my mom has always been critical of my weight and appearance. She was also critical of my grades in school and just my personality in general. She has something negative to say about everything I do”,  a previous thread).

It is also important that you engage in activities that reduce anxiety, such as exercise, yoga, guided meditation perhaps.

You asked for encouragement and support: your life can get better and easier and I hope it will, but it will take awareness and better choices, not repeating what was not effective in the past and choosing to do what is effective.

anita