I have a huge project at work that starts this week and I am riddled with what ifs... what if it fails, what if it doesn't go as planned...what if I can't do this?

I have been told I have anxiety and it's as generic as depression sounds to me...

what are ways you experience anxiety, how does it manifest itself in you....how do you calm yourself?

[Victoria'smom]

It feels like someone has dug their fingers under my sternum and ripping the left ribs from the right side. Kind of like you would do with a wish bone. That and when it's really high I can't understand English.

[stopdog]

Have you tried searching "how to stop what if worrying"?

For example, I found these:
How to Stop Worrying: Self-Help for Anxiety Relief

For me, I exercise and meditate and do qi gong breathing.

[WikidPissah]

I sweat profusely. Start ruminating in my head. Clench my fists. Clench my teeth causing TMJ pain.

What I do: music helps me a lot. But I have to sing with it...LOUD, and dance. So, it's only available help when I am alone. Progressive Muscle Relaxation helps a lot too, and that I can do anywhere. Mostly, I just remind myself that it will pass and try to tough it out (this doesn't work at all)

Feel like I'm being chased down a dark alley by a masked stranger.

[1stepatatime]

For me, anxiety is that tingling sensation up and down from my abdomen to my toes...my mind goes blank and I tend to shut down..I have to stay focused when it happens so that I work my way through it without completely shutting down. Ex. On Friday at work...I was literally exhausted, two children decided to have a screaming match, face to face, screaming!! Normally I can diffuse those situations within minutes but because I was so tired and DONE..I just looked at them, felt myself getting tense, and told my assistant that it was 4:00 and I am going home!! Sometimes that is what it takes..

[atomicc]

My anxiety feels like there is tension in my whole body and I'm closed up. It's like the only thing to do is rip through my skin in order to let it all out. I shake all over and my heart beats wildly and I don't really hear or see the rest of the world anymore.

[yoyoism]

It feels like I have to run far far away or else something bad will happen. Or I need to find my own private space away from whatever is causing me anxiety.

[Ike McCaslin]

Runaway heartbeat, sweaty clammy hands, pressure on chest.

Xanax(if available), breathing exercises, or if I'm lucky enough to be at home I can do stick drills with the lacrosse stick, amazing how it is hard to be anxious if you concentrate on keeping the ball in the cross.

[Freewilled]

My anxiety feels like I can't breathe, I'm sweating heavily, my mind is going blank and I'm disconnected....I'm super super uncomfortable and then my mind starts racing about how I feel this way and I can't stop it and what's going to happen next. I used to pass out in certain situations but I've learned to cope on my own by putting those thoughts far out in front of me and waiting for it to pass. I tell myself it always reaches its peak and that what comes up must come down. Idk...seems to work for me.

[growlycat]

What if is a great way to sum up my anxieties--just a steady stream of them racing around my head

[Aloneandafraid]

I get a really stiff neck and a headache at the back of my head which is excruciatingly painful. I can also feel my heart thumping in my chest. I keep waking up with this feel recently which is scary and disorientating. As if I don't know where I am for a bit. I get this a lot at the moment. Horrible.

[elliemay]

I make the distinction between acute anxiety and chronic.

Chronic anxiety feels like a grinding of metal in my head. It's an amorphous vigilance and clenching. Exhausting and relentless. I startle very easily.

Acute anxiety is electric. My breath becomes much faster. I react in one of two ways: I either kind of space out or I act, usually with anger.

To calm myself I first master my breathing. It's one of the few things in our body that is autonomic AND under our control.

THEN I make a plan, and work the plan.

THEN I take a pill.

Seriously. I have no problem whatsoever drugging out anxiety. Depression fits me like an old shoe. I can carry it no problem.

Anxiety is crippling, and entirely pathological. There are no predators right behind me, yet my brain thinks there is. Utter nonsense. Sometimes I just have to pharmacologically show my brain who is running the show here.

I hear ya on the anxiety meds, sometimes I just need to feel it dissolve under my tounge and I can feel myself relax a bit.

* I wonder if that's the same feeling heroin users get, its the act of taking it that starts to make me feel better... hmmm , nice

[A Red Panda]

Anxiety for me is an increase in a tense feeling - especially my torso and arms. Not so much in my legs.

I get really restless and can't maintain eye contact. It will feel like my stomach is in my throat and I will likely feeling like throwing up all the time, yet it won't happen.

Thoughts will be doing circles in my head - it'll be the same thing on repeat, over and over and over.

My listening skills go down to just about zero. I will listen intensely but I probably can't tell you what you were talking about.

I might get "itchy" feet, where I just want to LEAVE and will do so if I get spooked.

[Littlemeinside]

I make gagging sounds to the point of almost vomiting..I can sort of prevent that by focusing on my breathing and avoid hyperventilating. This happens when I have too much going on in my head and basically forget to breathe like a normal human being. Hate it! Betablockers are a " lifesaver" for the rest of my " lovely" symptoms of anxiety. Uhm...

[BlessedRhiannon]

My anxiety has always been a very physical reaction first, eventually followed by racing, circling thoughts. I've always got a low level of anxiety that I carry with me and that feels like a constant tenseness. My body is always on alert, ready to act at a moment's notice. I startle easily, don't relax, and my posture is very stiff. When the anxiety increases, my heart rate increases, I tend to breathe erratically, I'll hear my pulse pounding in my ears, sweat more, start to shake, and I feel like there's an electrical current running through my body. I feel an overwhelming need to escape because I feel trapped.

As for what I do about it: Xanax. Also, I try to focus on my breathing, slow down my physical actions (like if I'm walking, force myself to walk slower, or do whatever I'm doing at half speed). focus on a calming image, listen to music, pet the dog, and as a last resort, call T.

[CantExplain]

It's a twisting, crushing sensation. In extreme cases I shake.

[Solepa]

I sorted my anxiety problems into categories. They are probably very wrong from the official definitions I have no idea and I don't really care.
A) General anxiety - worrying a lot, perfectionism, OCD tendencies about certain things, nervous feelings often with hands shaking, excessive sweating
B) Anxiety attack - trigger=lack of oxygen when I'm standing up result in: intense chest pain, shortage of air, shaking, cold sweat can get to the point of me passing out
C) Panic attack - very intense, shortage of air, cold sweat, waves of heat, intense shaking, tuning out, feeling unreal, senses go bizarre, urge to cry, feeling fearful

I don't do much about my general anxiety and I know how to stop my anxiety attacks I have them since I was 10yo (sit down or leave) so far so good. Panic attacks are a different story I don't know how to stop them and that sucks.

[IndieVisible]

depends on severity of attack. Mild, it feels like worrying. Moderate, feels like impending doom at any moment. Severe, out right panic attack.

[CantExplain]

Between calm and panic, there is a condition known as "dread", which for me can be the worst kind of fear.

[BonnieJean]

Anxiety is like currents of worry and dread shooting through me. They churn and collide in my belly area. I tense my muscles and face without being aware of it. I tend to chain think about troublesome things. Sometimes I'm able to realize that it is in my head and that if I can concentrate on the sounds around me and my own breathing I can calm down. If that technique is working I usually have to do it repeatedly until I get through it. I've found that my feelings do subside eventually - sometimes a day or so, sometimes shorter. I've learned I have to try to 'ride it out.' I don't seek outside help because I had to handle all that on my own as a kid so that is still my pattern as an adult - kind of ashamed I'm having difficulties.