Hi Kelly

I think that your idea of using meditation and breathing exercises to help with your anxiety is great - I live with mild/moderate anxiety and both work for me.

I also think that Mark's idea of checking out CBT methods is a good one. Essentially CBT involves learning how to notice "unhelpful" thoughts and then "challenging" them - asking "Is there any evidence that that thought has any basis in reality?" Very often the answer to that question is "No.", which can be empowering. Examples of unhelpful thought patterns include catastrophising (focusing on the worst possible outcome), mind-reading (guessing, with no evidence, what another person thinks about you), fortune-telling (predicting a bleak future with no evidence), black-and-white thinking (focusing on the extremes), discounting the positive, over-generalisation (a single negative event is viewed as affecting everything) and personalisation (feeling responsible when not at fault).

CBT takes time and practise to learn but it has been valuable to me in dealing with my Major Depressive Disorder.

All the best.