I have bipolar and also general anxiety disorder. G.A.D is fairly new for me - the past 6 years, and before that off and on for 15. Before that, I had no anxiety. The anxiety is not part of the bipolar. It is part of being anxious for whatever reasons. In my case - I had anxiety due to the huge changes and uncertainty of my living situation.

Now that I am getting more comfortable with the life changes I am less anxious. Consequently, I am taking less anxiety meds. I still take them as needed. I had to go through quite a few different kinds in the past 6 years to find the one that worked.

So, have any faith that you can, that as life levels out and you get used to whatever changes have occurred, your anxiety might ebb.

Be sure and talk to your Pdoc about everything you feel. Anxiety is also a constant problem for some people and what causes it you need to understand in order to prepare for those moments.

There are many good tips on what to do during anxiety and panic attacks on this and other websites. Best of luck to us all.

--- daily ways I handle anxiety when it is bad - take hot baths, work around house, call crisis or e-mail someone, breathe, craft projects, finger tapping on wrist, stand up, move my body to get some of the tight anxiety caused energy out of me, talk to trusted family member, let dogs lick my face (yuck - but dogs sure do make a person feel better) if I try to think of someone else instead of myself I see that my anxiety might have made me behave selfishly - I was agoraphobic for like 2 years during this 6 - then I really dug into the hole deep and read, or watched tv, but if I didn't stimulate my mind, it made the anxiety worse).