Hi Marty,
Many years go after a major death in the family, I experienced debilitating anxiety attacks. I was very young and had no idea what they were - I thought I was having a heart attack, which only made me more anxious.
Two things helped me:
Believe it or not, grooming my horse in a rhythmic, mindless way. It made me totally relaxed and does so to this day. Whenever I am a bit stressed, my horse's coat looks amazing!:)
The other thing that really helped was a remark by someone that anxiety is not fun, but it's normal. Once I realized that everyone feels anxious at one time or another, for some reason that made the anxiety attacks go away!
How are you affected?