Dear lavender27:
Fear, anxiety hijacked so much of my life. At 5-6 I developed Tourette Syndrome and OCD. I performed many rituals to keep danger away and I moved every voluntary muscle of my body (motor and vocal tics). i was later diagnosed with other expressions of anxiety. I was afraid that my mother will either kill me or kill herself as she threatened to do both. I was under attack, most of the time verbal. Lots of it. And nobody intervened no matter how loud she got. I get startled easily, or got startled easily. I see a word, five minutes ago, “devastating” and i think it means something devestating is going to happen to me.

How to deal with panic and anxiety, you asked. For me it has been a long process starting with cognitive behavioral therapy/ mindful/ dialectical therapy, mainly examining THOUGHTS for distortions and feeling better after correcting those thoughts as well as PAYING ATTENTION to what i am thinking and feeling and to the here and now. as well as seeing reality in AND instead of OR- correcting distorted thinking of all or nothing, personalizing, fortune telling. Lots of articles on this kind of therapy skills and information in a website called psych central. Also I am finally (!!!) in a good relationship. Not that i was able to have a good relationship when i met my husband. Going to a few years of therapy and practice of interpersonal skills as well as the skills i mentioned above and INSIGHT into my past- all that made a good relationship possible with the GOOD man I was fortunate to meet.

A baby, a dog needs CONNECTION, affection to feel safe- this is how the animal part of us deals with fear- through connection, comfort by another. This is why the trauma you and I went through is so severe- instead of getting comfort by our mother we got ATTACKED.

That screws with a developing child. Lots of this stuff is covered by “complex ptsd” or developmental ptsd”- same thing,

Anything else that you would like me to share with you???
anita