Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) often slows you down; and when it does, it can be maddening and stressful. Anxiety can make people feel as though they're tarred and feathered, slowed down from real progress by a thick coat of heavy, gooey tar and coated in anxiety, represented by feathers. When generalized anxiety disorder slows you down, you  don't have to give up. You can move forward.

Hi, my name is Julia Banim and I’m the new co-author of Anxiety-Schmanxiety. I’m a journalist based in Manchester, England. Reading and writing have long been a quiet refuge for me from the social situations that, admittedly, have never come too easily (What Is Social Anxiety Disorder [Social Phobia]?). Journalism, therefore, always felt like a natural career path for me. I believe that writers should always strive to cover issues that are of personal significance to them. For me, this is anxiety, with all its messiness, humiliations and excessive worrying. I know how it feels to be wound tight as a spring for days, weeks, or months on end. I know how it feels to not realise how loud and fast you are breathing, how tightly you are clenching your fists, until the person next to you on the train looks at you with concern (Can People Without a Mental Illness Understand Us?).

Intense anxiety can seem to take over mind and body, and when you're a highly sensitive person, it can feel crushing. Each of the two states can be obnoxious on its own; combine living with intense anxiety and being a highly sensitive person, and it sometimes seems like there's no place to go where you don't feel wired, hyper-alert, overstimulated, and like a complete wreck (Why Does Anxiety Disorder Make You So Tired?). You're not a complete wreck. Intense anxiety and being a highly sensitive person can make you feel that way, though. 

I once heard an exasperated man lament, "My depression treatment makes my anxiety worse!" He's not alone in this frustration, and neither are you if you've found that treating depression worsens your anxiety. 

Nighttime anxiety can make it difficult to get back to sleep. Yawn if you've ever had this problem: it's the middle of the night, and suddenly you find yourself wide awake. Sure, you're tired, but you're wired, too, which makes that much-needed sleep elusive. Anxious thoughts race through your mind, and no matter what you do, they won't slow down, let alone stop. You need sleep. You want sleep. Believe it or not, it's possible to get back to sleep despite nighttime anxiety.

Many people living with panic disorder wonder, "Why am I panicking?" Panic attacks can be frightening and frustrating and emotionally and physically painful; it makes sense to want relief from and help with panic attacks. After all, the symptoms of panic disorder are awful to live with. Even worse, sometimes it can seem like there's no reason for them, no explanation at all. When they continue to strike, seemingly out of the blue, it's normal to bemoan, "Why am I panicking?" Believe it or not, there can be multiple hidden trauma triggers and other reasons for panic attacks. 

Living with anxiety is frustrating, and it becomes even more so when we find ourselves experiencing heightened anxiety for no reason. We’re living along, using the anxiety management tips we've learned so we're not overwhelmed by stress and anxiety, and making joy in our days. Everything is coming up roses, and we’re enjoying the rose garden. Then bam! Where there were roses, now there are thorns. Compounding this very unpleasant turn from low stress to heightened anxiety is the fact that it’s mysterious. We shouldn’t be experiencing anxiety, but we are. When you find yourself experiencing heightened anxiety for no reason, you might want to try these four ways to handle it.

School anxiety in parents who don't go to school might seem like an odd concept. Children, adolescents, and young adults, who do go to school can absolutely experience school anxiety and stress. Sure, parents can experience anxiety, and they can worry about their kids. But school anxiety in parents? The writing on the marker board clearly states yes. Parents can have school anxiety, too. 

You can help kids and teens manage school anxiety. School anxiety, whether it’s back-to-school or any other time of the school year, can make life miserable for kids of all ages, and it can present numerous challenges for parents and other adults in the life of a school-anxious child or teen. School anxiety and stress can make kids worry, it can make them afraid, and it can make them hurt. School anxiety can interfere with friendships and with school success. As daunting as this can be, there are school anxiety strategies to help kids and teens manage anxiety.

The start of a new school year brings many things, including school anxiety and stress. Statistics on school and mental health compiled by Youth.gov indicate that almost half of all American children meet the criteria for a mental health disorder, and among those kids, anxiety is the most common. School anxiety and stress are causing problems for many of our kids and adolescents.