Some stuff I learned:
- Stop* with coffee, for some reason tea does not the same thing to my body, coffee is like gasoline on the anxiety fire, I cant stress this point enough.
- Stop* with nicotine, (almost) same as coffee
- Stop* drinking, you need to stay strong 7 days a week to get out of it
- Start walking, at least 8km during weekdays day, in brisk pace, you should have to take a shower after. After each walk, do a workout, pushups, chins etc. Make this a priority, and dont walk when its dark outside, you need the sunlight.
- In the beginning, avoid everything stressful, its not hiding, its waiting until strong enough
- Stoicism contains allot of valuable lessons for us, its where CBT came from after all.
- If you come out on this like me on the right side (I hope), and your loved one is still by your side, remember that !
All the best !
*) To stop with something like "drinking" and coffee, it seems hard and rash, but it really helps, and dont make the mistake to once in a while break the rule, its much easier to stick to the rule if there are zero exceptions, less inner conversation, less guilt, more pride.