BTW, when I had a bad anxiety problem, what really worked for me is walking. Really long walks, two hours minimum just wandering around the city. Three or four

BTW, when I had a bad anxiety problem, what really worked for me is walking. Really long walks, two hours minimum just wandering around the city. Three or four hours were better. The shitty feeling really subsided. I've taken up audiobooks, which incidentally jacked up my books-read numbers a lot (household chores are also much more engaging for the brain now). Dunno about exercise, as I couldn't do intensive exercise then, and light didn't work as well, even if prolonged. ----------------------- I'll also back the others on the topic of meditation in that it should show at least some result. I suspect, though, that you might've tried meditation with some spiritual flavor or something oriented purely towards the awareness and self-control aspect. Personally I've come to meditation from the body angle instead, and that's when it clicked for me. I detailed the workings here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20960513 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20960513 One point of meditation is that you aren't really ‘doing nothing’: the brain still needs to be occupied at first—but the attention is redirected from whatever it's hung up on at the moment, to breathing deeply and listening to the body, and the guide's voice also helps. This breaks the loop of anxiety and physical tenseness, which then lets you set the mind loose. Frankly this sounds like it should work for your exact case.