First, I’m sorry. It’s a terrible ailment to live with.
I read about the first 20 posts and they pretty much sum up what helps. I started with the diet and EXERCISE!! That last one is bigger than anyone gives it credit for - if I could sit to meditate I would, but after decades of trying on and off it just doesn’t work for me. I finally caved to medication & therapy. The first was a four year trial of being a guinea pig for meds. It’s not easy, nor is a commitment to therapy. Therapy is work, most people don’t know that. Going in, unzipping your emotions and thoughts, then the therapist having to zip you back up in the last 5 minutes to send you back into the world not feeling like a wet noodle! Neither of these things are as easy as some believe. They do take hard work. This all controlled most of my bipolar, however anxiety is a different beast.
All day anxiety, over thinking, fear all equal stress which leads to higher cortisol release and the cycle keeps going. One person mentioned breaking everything into bite size, basic baby steps and it’s true. If I want to leave the house or anything really I must focus first on just getting dressed and think no further while doing it. Mostly be aware of the moment. Another thing that is important is a support system.
Pot does help somewhat, but that would not be my first stop for you - it was a practice experiment at first has I had not touched the stuff since 1985/25 yr old and had kids. So it was trial and error to find the right kind so I didn’t get “high”. Bonus side effect was it got rid of a lot of my inflammation for RA/PA (rheumatoid & psoriatic arthritis). Another important thing: do not self medicate with alcohol. It may have an immediate beneficial feel, but it stops your body from producing its own dopamine because it thinks it’s getting it somewhere else. This means anxiety gets worse instead of better.
I have still not conquered Anxiety despite doing everything right. The reason I believe is my exercise was cut short by a severe leg injury. My motto is: “Do it afraid.” Then it’s surprising how easy some of it is, how I can actually have fun after all, and all the little gifts of grace life gives you - simple as the sky being a pretty blue. *Nature is a great healer.
Know your red flag situations - reason I can only do dungeons once in awhile or turn down big social gatherings. Just not worth the stress.
Just know you are not alone. Crippling anxiety has lead to my agoraphobia despite all the best intentions. You’ve received a great deal of good advice. Just pick one or two to start with - ease your way in. Someone in this thread of advice probably said something that really spoke to you on a gut level. Start there.