trache

This is the first pos (of hopefully many) to TFP. Be gentle. If this is the wrong board, I do apologize.

In short, my girlfriend is suffering from a great deal of anxiety brought on by just about everything she could imagine.

Her mother is over-bearing to the point of ridiculousness (oh I could tell stories) and her father tries to make her self-sufficient (which has worked wonderfully in that respect).

She feels as though she has to take care of everything in her life at one moment and actually does have very little time to herself when she is at home, but when she is in school (attending teacher's college in the fall) she seems to have everything under control. Her mind is a whirlwind of important dates, appointments and things to do all at once. A problem with being able to focus or concentrate on what is important at the moment perhaps?

Being a man, I naturally feel the need to help her and listen to her problems and try and give her constructive advice about her situation. Being a man, I feel as though I am not able to help her (Men are from Mars of course).

I do fear that I will stop seeing her if the problem aggravates itself over a long period of time in the future (we have been dating 5 years next week and I see no signs of it letting up). Don't get me wrong -- I support her in every way. She is quite the catch and I have no intention of leaving her. I know these two statements are contradictory, but I hope you understand. A feeling of this situation ripping us apart overcomes me sometimes.

I fear that she will go on drugs and that her behaviour will change so drastically that she might be a different person.

Am I being selfish? Most likely. I am trying to be a little selfish just because I don't want to see our relationship end in shambles. I have very strong feelings for her and only want to help her.

Her mood has been like a roller coaster; very amorous one moment and cold the next.

She is on birth control currently, which can complicate the situation, and she is also trying to excercise more (she has actually changed her diet and since September has lost a lot of weight).

I guess what I'm trying to ask: Does anyone have any excercises, good books or good websites about controlling anxiety, stress or panic attacks without resorting to drugs?


Thanks for reading. I hope to keep contributing to this BBS.

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"You looked at me as if I was eating runny eggs in slow motion." - Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip