--- title: How I Stopped Anxiety From Taking Over My Life description: Find out how therapy helped one woman get over her life-long anxiety. canonical: https://time.com/4878491/anxiety-therapy-solutions/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-28T17:54:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:49.469Z og:title: How I Stopped Anxiety From Taking Over My Life og:description: 'I ran through my stressors over and over, like a song stuck on repeat' og:url: https://time.com/4878491/anxiety-therapy-solutions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67f76044226298af/6988d79522fb850992e222ab/anxiety-health-wellness.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4928 og:image:height: 2772 og:image:alt: Worried. Girl with hands on face and red nails og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How I Stopped Anxiety From Taking Over My Life twitter:description: 'I ran through my stressors over and over, like a song stuck on repeat' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67f76044226298af/6988d79522fb850992e222ab/anxiety-health-wellness.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How I Stopped Anxiety From Taking Over My Life > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Kara Perez / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Kara Perez / Health.com Contributor Jul 28, 2017 5:54 PM UTC  Woman closeup covering his eyes with his hands. Woman closeup covering his eyes with his hands. Volanthevist—Getty Images by [Kara Perez / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Kara Perez / Health.com Contributor Jul 28, 2017 5:54 PM UTC Three years ago, I was a recent college graduate living with my three best friends in Texas. I had a loving and supportive boyfriend, and I was in a city I loved. Still, I found myself gripped by [anxiety](http://www.health.com/anxiety) and sadness. My life consisted of part-time work as a caterer and a receptionist, which brought me $900 a month and made me feel worthless. I felt like all my friends were doing better than me. These feelings began compounding, and I started questioning myself. Maybe I wasn’t smart. Maybe I wasn’t talented. Obviously, I was struggling to get my life together. **RELATED:** [**19 Natural Remedies for Anxiety**](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20669377,00.html) I also had crushing student loan debt, to the tune of $18,000\. And I found myself changing. I’ve always been a high-energy, outgoing person. Now, I felt down, avoiding seeing people and hiding in my room. I was [depressed](http://www.health.com/depression) and anxious every day. One day, I found myself crying behind the wheel of my car, and something clicked. I realized that I needed help handling my emotions and figuring out where they were coming from. I needed help processing my anxiety, tools to deal with it, and learn how to still live my life. The answer was clear: I had to get back into therapy. I’d gone to therapy when I was a senior in college for anxiety. Back then, I was experiencing a tightening in my chest every time I thought of classes and socializing. My therapist and I ended up talking a lot about my stress levels, time management, and creating my own definitions for myself rather than relying on others. It was a generalized anxiety, and therapy helped me dial it back. This time around, I was dealing with things I had never had issues with before. My anxiety was a constant companion; I ran through my [stressors](http://www.health.com/stress) over and over, like a song stuck on repeat. It felt like I couldn’t escape my own thoughts, all of which centered on how bad of a person I was. It was deeply unhealthy, and I wanted out. **RELATED:** [**7 Types of Therapy That Can Help Depression**](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20310354,00.html) ### **Seeking help—and sticking with it** I did a Google search, looking for a therapist who worked with low-income people. I found a psychologist less than 10 minutes from my house and made an appointment. At our first session, there were two boxes of tissues on the coffee table, and an orange couch pillow that brightened up the room. I was glad to be there, but I knew it was going to be tough work. My therapist asked me to talk about what had brought me in. My financial anxieties just spilled out. I spent the entire time talking (and crying) about money. I told him that I wasn’t capable of earning more because I didn’t bring value to anything in life. If I was truly smart, someone would have hired me. If I was truly good, I wouldn’t feel so bad. I viewed my situation as proof to justify my bad feelings. It was a vicious cycle. Each subsequent weekly or bimonthly session, my financial anxiety was front and center. Finally my therapist said, “What are you actively doing about your debt?” He had recognized that my biggest stressors revolved around money. I worried about being able to pay my monthly bills. I felt panicky when I thought about the future; I couldn’t see past my debt. It felt like a weight around my neck. I realized that all my other problems came back to one truth: my debt made me feel not just broke, but isolated and powerless. **RELATED:** [**12 Signs You May Have an Anxiety Disorder**](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20646990,00.html) ### **Taking steps toward healing** Recognizing that my debt was the source of all my stress and anxiety was freeing—but it was also awful. I was still underemployed. I was still broke. Someone had handed me a flashlight, but I still needed a way out of the cave. Continuing therapy provided that map. It helped to explore how my personal history with money informed my actions in the present. I grew up watching my mother have a hard time with money. That left me with the impression that money was hard, and the only want to relate to it was to struggle with it. Money wasn’t something for me—it was for other people. My mindset was, ‘I don’t deserve money,’ so I didn’t seek it out, and I spent it when I did manage to have it. Once I had that understanding, I could take steps to right the situation. I felt deeply trapped by my student loan debt, so paying it off became my new challenge. I also needed to stop tying my self-esteem and sense of worth to my income. My therapist and I worked on changing that mindset together, and I worked on raising my income individually. **RELATED:** [**15 Inspiring Things Celebrities Have Said About Dealing With Anxiety**](http://www.health.com/anxiety/celeb-struggle-anxiety) ### **Happier—and healthier** By taking actionable steps, things began getting better. I asked for a raise at my catering job, and I started looking for more work. Having more work to do left less time for anxiety to run in circles in my brain, and it gave me more money to put toward debt payments. Each time I made a debt payment or put money in savings, I felt myself moving farther away from where I’d started. In 10 months, I’d paid it all off. I felt in control and powerful. My self-doubt didn’t run my life anymore; I made decisions that were right for me on my own accord. I saw the impact that my actions had and it was all _good_. I was making myself happy, which made me trust myself. **_To get our best wellness tips delivered to you inbox, sign up for the_** [**_Healthy Living newsletter_**](http://www.health.com/mind-body/healthy-living-newsletter) Although I left therapy after six months, I’m glad that I went. It was a safe space to open up, and I learned very helpful coping tools. For example, when I start to feel anxious, the first thing I do is remind myself it’s temporary. This feeling has an end. That’s important, so that it doesn’t take control of my brain and start to escalate. The second thing I do is get outside. Anxiety makes me claustrophobic, and being outside is very helpful. Next, I breathe deeply for a few minutes, until it goes away or until I can tell someone, “hey I’m feeling bad, I need support right now.” **RELATED:** [**10 Signs You May Have OCD**](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20707257,00.html) For anyone struggling with their own depression or anxiety, I recommend finding a [therapist](http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20457022,00.html)in your healthcare network who specializes in those conditions specifically. Ask a lot of questions to find the best fit for you. Know that it’s okay if you have to meet with a few therapists before you find the right one. Therapy gave me the springboard to build my life into what I actually wanted it to be. I have a thriving career as a freelance travel and finance writer, and a much healthier relationship to money—plus a lot less anxiety. _This_ [_article_](http://www.health.com/anxiety/therapy-helped-me-deal-with-anxiety) _originally appeared on_ [_Health.com_](http://health.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4878491/anxiety-therapy-solutions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4878491/anxiety-therapy-solutions/"},"headline":"How I Stopped Anxiety From Taking Over My Life","datePublished":"2017-07-28T17:54:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:49.469Z","description":"'I ran through my stressors over and over, like a song stuck on repeat'","url":"https://time.com/4878491/anxiety-therapy-solutions/","keywords":["motto","Anxiety","health","Wellness","Therapy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67f76044226298af/6988d79522fb850992e222ab/anxiety-health-wellness.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kara Perez / Health.com"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67f76044226298af/6988d79522fb850992e222ab/anxiety-health-wellness.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Worried. 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