Yeah, I have to admit that I am lucky that my friends understand first hand what I feel sometimes. It's funny, but we all didn't really share our feelings for years, even though we are so close. Now that we broke the ice with it, it's easy to go "no, I don't want to go to a movie tonight because I think I might have a hard time with it".
But, remember that there are TONS of people here who totally get what you're going through. I know that having anxiety can make you feel alone in the fight, but you're not alone. In fact, it's amazing how many people actually suffer from anxiety and keep it to themselves. I found out recently that two of my co-workers have anxiety struggles, too! I think that we never want to share our struggles with others because it makes us feel vulnerable, but when you do share it, it's interesting to see that there are those that CAN relate! And those that can't relate will at least sympathize and try to understand.
So, that said, make sure you spend some time venting on here! We'll listen and if you wish, we'll give you that mental push to "face" that pesky, good-for-nothing panic. And as far as that goes, I found that taking those baby steps are so helpful. Finding a situation that gives you a some anxiety (not lots, but makes you 'uncomfortable') is a good place to practice. Jump into the situation with a positive attitude and if the anxious feelings arise, breathe, relax as much as you can, distract yourself, challenge those thoughts, etc. When you leave the situation, reflect on it. What was easy? What worked? What can you take away from it that you can use next time?
Also, I find that sometimes doing exposure training for the same situation over and over every day helps. For example, there are certain intersections that I couldn't drive through. But, on days that I felt really upbeat and positive, I decided to give one of them a go. It wasn't that bad and I found that soon I could try it again. With one intersection, I ended up driving it every morning and each time I felt less and less anxious and so I focused on that and now I go that way without even thinking about it sometimes.
When we take certain situations and prove to ourselves that nothing bad will really happen, we eventually start to believe that! Then, we can transfer those accomplishments to other areas!
