I love the topic of anxiety and reading about it and writing about it. Please, don’t confuse it with mere worry – although of course worrying is part of it. While simplistic, situational anxiety is the reason we use seat belts, the chronically anxious are strapped in, car or no car.

Anxiety is a killer – it kills joy, ambition, truth, and vision. When people are anxious they cannot see, think, hear, or communicate with any reliable sense of accuracy.

Anxiety can lead people down rabbit trials in search of reducing their anxieties only find it spiked by new and unexpected sources.

Anxiety let loose makes victims of as many people in the circle of influence as possible. It’s contagious.

Chronic anxiety is not usually reduced by making different choices or decisions but by understanding and negotiating loyalties – visible and invisible.

While freeze, flight, and fight are often the response to chronic anxiety; distorted protecting and fused caring are both its product too.

So, what may the chronically anxious do?

Connect as deeply and appropriately as possible with family, take time to search for the source, and find a small community of supportive friends who are unafraid to set their boundaries and join you in a journey of growth.