YES - " If I try to avoid it or suppress it it only gets stronger."
What you resist persists
Sounds like you were trying "exposure therapy," which did not work for my OCD friend who lives in utter isolation for fear of touching a door knob touched by other humans.
@owasco, I'm not sure I understand how you can "delve into" the anxiety instead of resisting it (which doesn't work) and then work your way into a state of ecstasy. I keep hearing about Lion's Mane mushrooms (!!??) but herbal remedies can be risky and supplements are unregulated and the prospect of choosing which bottles to buy is about to induce an anxiety attack... NOTHING from a bottle, thanks, better to find it straight from the source, in nature, but billions of us live in cities surrounded by concrete (another cause of all our anxiety and despair), not in forests, where we can forage for ginger and ginseng, or meadows all a glow with St. John's Wort.......