I have suffered from anxiety for a long time. I use public transportation for years. I have one major issue.?

Question: My fear of large crowds is always in the back of my mind. When the bus is stopped for a red light, i feel completely consumed with fear. I feel like i need to bolt off the bus. I start to fidget and have trouble swallowing. Once the bus is in motion, i feel so so , but still not ok. I dont know where this phobia is coming from. Can anyone else relate to this? Do you have any suggestions? I have tried counselling to no avail. Any help would be appreciated.

Answers:
I suffer from anxiety too. When I was in a class with like 300 people, I would get dizzy and stuff. I started taking Zoloft and it helped me. I am back to normal now. Well, still somewhat anxious sometimes, but definitely handleable.

Other Answers:
Try riding a bike.

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Maybe medication? I've been told I have some sort of social anxiety, but I'm iffy about it. I can travel half way around the world with 30 people I don't know, without my parents (I'm still in high school) and be perfectly fine, but if I stay the night at a friend's house or a friend travels with me and my family, I get very anxious. I feel sick, the only reason I don't get sick is because I'm trying to hold it down, it's just awful. I'm on Paxil and I think it's helped with most of my problems. I still get anxiety attacks when I spend the night at a friend's house, don't know about them traveling with me, but I can be away from my parents on a trip and be fine. Before I got really anxious.

Maybe if you had somehing that calms you down with you... Do you listen to music when you're on the bus? If you do and it doesn't help...maybe talking to a friend? Something to get your mind off whatever's bothering it. Other than that, I'd go with a bicycle or carpooling with someone.

Peace and Best

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