Can a highly stressful childhood increase the likelihood of extreme anxiety? How do you ease pain and stress?

I come from a background of divorce, blended family, where thoughts and opinions weren't shared, and workaholic families. When I went to college I balanced often two or three jobs and even added buying a house and getting married to the load. After college I had two jobs then the following year I added another job. The year after that I went down to two jobs and now for the last eight months I've had one job. I found I had a lot of time on my hands, constant worries, and periods of hyperactivity. I finally went to the doctor three months ago with physical concerns and was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder, within the last month Obsessive Compulsive Disorder was also diagnosed. I just don't understand how so much stress and pain can come down on me and cause physical problems when in actuality the things never had me involved. The psychology of the human mind is like a jigsaw finding and putting together its pieces.

yes it is. do not use caffeine and cholestrol products. do not use microwave oven. be more believer and visit you religion place (like church) more often. read the "power of your subconcious mind book by joseph merphy", do not sleep tooo much or tooo little. try to relax even for 5 minutes by lying down as an example. fast walking is very nice and light sports. try the breath exercises. Sexual transmitted diseases medicines cause mental problems so stop it if you have one and live with it. try to maximize your B12 vitamin levels above 500 (by having syringe, not by having pills). check your other vitamins and minerals levels. check your stomach and colon. fix any digenstion problems. use fresh food. minimize processed food and minimize processing time for processed food if you cook. have a little spoon of vineger at the end of you meal. morning have fresh barely with milk and few dates (as dates have pure sugar that need no body efforts). maximize your usage of milk drink as it is really really calming.
beleive me your life will change

http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/artic...

A man goes to a shop, picks up a beautiful cup and says "my god this cup is so beautiful" and suddenly the cup starts talking to the man. The cup starts saying "O man, I am beautiful right now, but what was the state of my being before the pot-maker made me a beautiful pot?

Before I was sheer mud and the pot-maker pulled me out of the mud from the mother earth and I felt why that pot-maker is so cruel, he has separated me from mother earth. I felt a tremendous pain. And the pot-maker said, "Just wait." Then he put me and churned me, when I was churned I felt so giddy, so painful, so stressful, I asked the pot-maker "Why are you so cruel?" the pot-maker said, "Just wait." Then he put me into a oven and heated me up, I felt completely burnt. There was tremendous pain and I asked the pot-maker "Why are you so cruel?" and the pot-maker said, "Just wait."

Then he poured hot paint on me and I felt the fume and the pain, I again asked the pot-maker "Why are you so cruel?" and the pot-maker said, "Just wait." Then again he put me into an oven and heated it to make me more strong, I felt life is so painful hence pleaded the pot-maker and the pot-maker said, "Just wait." And after that the pot-maker took me to the mirror and said, "Now look at yourself". And surprisingly I found myself so beautiful.

When god gives us lot of trouble, it appears god is very cruel but we need patience and we have to wait. When bad things happen to good people, they become better and not bitter.

So all difficulties are part of a cosmic design to make us really beautiful. We need patience, we need understanding, we need the commitment to go through in a very calm and wise way. So all difficulties are not to tumble us but to humble us.

With this understanding, let us not be against difficulty. Understand difficulty is a part of a purifying process. A purifying process at present which we cannot understand and hence we need faith and we need trust.

Let us understand how to handle stress with this background. You can be affected by stress from two angles. There is an internal stress and there is an external stress. Nobody can avoid stress; one has to only manage stress. Managing stress can be internal and also external.

The internal stress is; your thoughts can create stress, your values can create stress, and your beliefs can create stress, meaning thereby your stress is coming from your mind more from the outer world. Many people suffer not from heart attack - they suffer from thought-attack.

For example, when somebody says you are an idiot, we get so hurt, we get so victimised. My boss has called me an idiot and I am feeling tremendous pain. Now where does this stress come from? If my boss has called me an idiot, I have to ask myself "am I an idiot"?

If I am an idiot nothing to be upset about; and if I am not an idiot, then also nothing to be upset about! It is the perception of the boss. But why do we suffer from that stress? I suffer not because my boss has called me an idiot but because of the thought-attack.

I may say the boss has called me an idiot; therefore I am suffering? It is true that the words are unpleasant. But what hurts is the interpretation of the unpleasant word. The thought in me interprets. That is pain and therefore it becomes pain. Much of our stress is our mind interpreting it as pain. So we suffer from thought-attack more than heart attack.

Sounds like there wasn't really any down time when growing up and it sounds like it was pretty chaotic with the effects of divorce and a blended family. This can take such a toll on a developing child. Have you thought about going to therapy to figure out the root of your anxiety? Medication can help, but you might always struggle with this if you never take the time to find out what really is causing it. I would suggest you explore your past to find answers on what is till affecting you today. That way you can really help your anxiety instead of relying on medication the rest of your life.

Yes, a stressful childhood does follow you into adulthood. There has been much research done on this topic as it relates to borderline personality disorder. You may want to research it under that topic. Doesn't mean that you are borderline, just some of the childhood issues may relate to yours. Divorce seems to be a particular issue that comes up. Biology (genetics) also plays a part.

Yes, it certainly can. Get some therapy from a councelor you trust, maybe some meds. You need to rest from this. You sound like you just kept it all inside, supressed and tried to work so much you never thought about it, now it's coming out in a bad way...