My Cycle of Anxiety....ugh!

My Cycle of anxiety looks a little like this.....

Step 1: I get anxious because my I had a stress-filled day and NOT took time out of my busy life to take care of myself.
Step 2: I come home from work and take my days stress's out on my husband and children. As a result of my impatience, I yell, say things I don't really mean, and 9 times out of 10, someone cry's. (most of the time, ME!)
Step 3: My family avoids me or walks on "egg shells" in my presence.
Step 4: I feel more anxious because my behavior has made my family avoid me.
Step 5: Repeat step 1-4 over, and over, and over again.

Does this sound familiar?

Let me explain this precarious cycle in "psycho-babble". (Think in a circle, going clockwise)

Step 1: We get anxious over kids, work, husbands, wives, traffic, our appearance, etc.....
Step 2: We try to control this anxiety by doing something different. i.e. Yelling, avoiding, drinking, smoking, cleaning, etc. These behaviors are often our "bad habits."
Step 3: Others try to "cope" with our bad habits. (see Step 2 above). i.e. They yell back, drink more, smoke more, or worst case sennerio they LEAVE us, etc....
Step 4: It's the snowball effect now. Since others are feeding off my bad habits, I then feel even MORE anxious and maybe scared, lonely, in need of therapy, etc.
Step 5: Repeat step 1-4 with any stressful stimulus.

It often takes many years and professional help to stop this endless, heart-breaking cycle; Duh! But, I promise you, that yes, I've heard worse and yes, I know bad habits are hard to break, but IT IS POSSIBLE. Should you feel like you need to talk to someone, please do so. There are a lot of VERY experienced behavioral therapists that do this on a daily basis. I encourage you to change your approach so others don't have to suffer any longer. I did!