I had this problem. It crippled me. One or more of the following solved it: - just time plus regression to the mean - talking with a therapist, for a while -

I had this problem. It crippled me. One or more of the following solved it: - just time plus regression to the mean - talking with a therapist, for a while - being hit with a completely different enormous life stress, allowing me to say "fuck it" to all other anxieties While it was ongoing, my coping mechanisms were: - ditch social interaction in favor of putting myself near the problem for hours at a time with nothing else to do until I made reluctant incremental progress I do not recommend that coping mechanism for anything except that which you need to literally survive. When it was very bad, the following was not helpful: - breaking into small chunks; fear-avoidance can be about starting, but in my case it was literally about producing any results visible to anyone else