Paralyzed with anxiety and need advice

Ive messed up so many things lately because of alcohol. And when I start thinking about taking action and starting to deal with everything, it causes so much anxiety and normally just leads to a drink
I am sitting here, one day sober, and I dont want to drink.
But this anxiety is overwhelming, its taking me to a state of derealization (dont know how else to describe)
How to I deal with this feeling? Do NOT want to slip.

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Welcome to the forum Nicky! Reaching out is a great 1st step :slight_smile: Im glad ur here.
Anxiety has been a problem for me in the past also. Usually when i start to feel anxious i do deep breathing and a grounding technique called the 5 senses grounding exercise.


It helps bring me back into the present. I find anxiety is mainly future based. So its soo important to stay in the present moment and focus on One Day At A Time.

When it comes to getting sober and dealing with all that we have to deal with (all the past mistakes etc), we only have today. Keep it simple and stay focused on just being sober for today. Do not pick up no matter what! Over time, there will be opportunities to make amends, to repair relationships, to fix finances, etc. The first step (and most important step) is to stay sober just for today. Keep reaching out and stay connected. We are here for u!

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Welcome Nicky
Congrats on your first day.
There’s so many things you can do to battle anxiety.

I hate to speak for everyone but most of us have been where you are.

For me it was gratitude. EVERY DAY of my sobriety I came here and did a gratitude list.

I read others. I write my own. I exercised that gratitude muscle so much I retrained my brain. And it’s such an easy thing to do. The brain cannot focus on anxiety and gratitude at the same time. Google it. Anxiety and Gratitude lots of good research out there. Without gratitude we got nothing. Gratitude is the air of recovery.

Now I got to meetings. And I share my problems and that cuts them in half. At meetings im with sober people that know what we are going through.

Stick around on here. Read and learn. Join in when you’re comfortable.

Just keep an open mind to everything sober people like me have to say. You never have to do what you don’t want to do. But there’s a lot of great sober people here willing to help.

You need any thing? Just ask.
The lights are always on here.
:folded_hands::heart:

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Dang!!! You know what you’re talking about girl. Love this.
:face_blowing_a_kiss:

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Wow. That really helped thank you. Im focussing on fixing all the things Ive broken but I need to just start with myself

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Thank you💗

Haha thank u friend :slight_smile: this made me smile hugs I have learned alot from you. Grateful to be on this journey with everyone here :slight_smile:

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Absolutely! To be honest, i felt the same way when i first got clean and sober. I wanted to fix everything at once. But i found, once i started getting some sober time under my belt, things began to repair themselves. Some things took more work than others, but being sober opens soooo many doors and opportunities :slight_smile:

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