high anxiety right now. please help

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I'm having anxiety right now over cleaning the house. Please tell me there's a home for everything I need to put away.

I don't want to take an ativan because I don't want to get sleepy.

There's a home for everything you need to put away.

I feel your pain MasterJedi this is something I also have a very very huge problem with.

The time before last that I cleaned up I experienced incredible anxiety attacks, trying to deal with the mess, and get everything in order and where I want it, and it was so damn overwhelming, I was an emotional mess all that day and into the next, and the amount of cleaning needed that was accomplished ended up being very little My big problem is staying on track, not getting sucked into small time consuming parts of the cleanup, and getting overwhelmed by the big picture of what I need to accomplish.

Now last night I had to do an emergency run through the place to clean up for a inspection by the landlord and fire inspector today, and at first it was straight panic, and I wasn't able to focus and could feel the pressure building up and a migraine starting, but I took some time and forced myself to relax, and started picking 1 short term project at a time to accomplish, and prioritized according to what had to be done, and what could slip by if I ran out of time.

I was absolutely shocked to discover myself 6 hours later with a clean apartment, and a manageable level of stress/anxiety, a huge huge improvement over previous times, and I have to say I'm quite proud of myself.... Now just to keep up with it.

But yeah MasterJedi, just take it easy, keep calm, break it up into manageable chunks that you can accomplish each part of in less than an hour, and I have faith you can get it done, with or without the Ativan

Take care and goodluck,
-Mahlon

Yes, do what you can, take breaks, and you will get it done!

it's back. I can't put my finger on it now. Feels more like a combination between depression and anxiety this time.

Let's see if I can't figure it out:

I've gained weight this week. Constantly hungry.
Too many side-effects to my medicine to warrant me staying on it.
Had a HUGE bowl of cereal this morning just to get the full feeling.

nothing but rain and clouds for the past week.

Depression + anxiety sounds like how I feel when I stop taking Lorazepam/Ativan. Aargh, cleaning house. I hoard and save stuff and we are living in an apartment that is 1/2 the size of our last home, and I don't have the extra garage storage, attic, storage sheds, etc. I'm overflowing in stuff. I also had an inspection recently and went into panic mode. I straighten up as best as I could but the place is very cluttered just because of the amount of stuff. When I clean I can't seem to stay on target. I start in one place doing one thing and end up with projects going in every room. I've tried various techniques but am still making piles and cleaning inefficiently. I've tried to let go of some of the "stuff" but it is hard. Some days I can make a pile to give away but if I leave the pile too long I take things back out of it (because I might need it someday). My walk-in closet is so full of food/soap/water/medical supplies/vitamins/supplements, etc, that there is only a tiny space to squeeze through sideways. I want to have a more organized house but don't know how to accomplish it. I'm not dirty, everything is clean but there are lots of plastic tubs, overflowing shelves, boxes, and piles. Sigh. I hope you feel better soon. Thank goodness the rain finally stopped where I live. This is the second day without rain - and there is actually some sunshine!

my life got a little easier when i realised there is a place for everything, but very often that place is the bin.