18y/o Male - Very concerned about an on-going problem.

[stroodlez]

Please excuse the length, I figured the more information I included the easier it would help you guys make some suggestions. I

[KatMay]

Hi,

I, too, suffered with depression and anxiety.  But I didn't know that anyone else had ever had an issue with looking people in the eye.  That was a bigtime problem for me.  It was almost as if I didn't want to "let them in" by looking in there eyes or letting them look in mine.  

You are definately not alone, and doing research can be incredibly frustrating I know.  I can't tell you what I did specifically to "cure" my condition, as I'm not a medical doctor, but I can advise you to see a holistic, natural doc.  They can and will address the causes, not just symptoms.  I do understand and sympathize with what you are going through, as I have been there.  Definately try out a good holistic doc.  They treat the person as a whole, not just the disorder/disease.  Best of luck to you.

Kay

links to anxiety and depression:

http://www.how-to-stop-your-anxiety-now.com/panic.htm?hop=jumpmom2
http://www.anxietynomore.co.uk/at_last_a_life.html?hop=jumpmom2
http://www.anxietyzapper.com/?hop=jumpmom2
http://www.conqueringstress.com/?hop=jumpmom2

[BethanySublime]

o.m.g. i have never heard anyone sound so much like myself!!  you have sooo much of the exact same stuff i do, except i don't have any head pressure.  like the way you overanalyze and you feel like you're "smarter" cuz you see things from all angles and possibilities & all that. and you feel detached from your body, just gliding through life.   even the way you talk and tell stories is like me.  your familial mental health history sounds similar to mine.  how you're afraid to start life, (i was the same way; i graduated last year though), GOD it's crazy...it's like, you know how your whole life contributes to your personality & mental status?  it seems like we have such a similar natural mental makeup AND similar life experience makeup & we have the same results.  i have that throat thing too.  but my memory & attention span don't seem quite as shot as yours (although they have both gotten way worse over the past year for me too).  i've gotten a lot more shy and less confident too, lost a lot of sexual interest, can't make eye contact, hard to make new friends.  GOD YOU'RE MY MENTAL TWIN it's freaking me out!  well idk what that nose bleed thing is but i had 2 seizures from my birth control about a year ago and since then i get a very dizzy feeling like you describe often, where it feels like i'm going to have another seizure but i haven't had one since i got off bc.  the last thing you described sounds like a panic attack.  my vision has been f***ed up too since i've started having GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which is probably the cause of your overanalyzing & most of the stuff you're worried about).  idk i'm at work so i can't be on here typing all this but we need to talk more!! you sound sooo much like me!!

[spade22]

I just wanted to add that many mental illnesses have a genetic component (run in families) and symptoms can suddenly come "out of the blue".

[spade22]

I agree with Hatgal - you need to go to a medical doctor for a definite diagnosis.  I suggest writing out a comprehensive list of your symptoms that you can take with you - in fact you could print out this monolog and take it with you.   If the doctor rules out medical causes for your symptoms, then a referral to a  psychiatrist would be the next step, especially in light of your family history and your statement:  "I feel I am able to analyze every single person ......... so well that I can read their mind, I feel like a genius with a special gift "

Your symptoms are certainly consistant with anxiety and depression however, whether these are causing your physical symptoms or it is the other way around will need to be determined by a doctor.  Good luck to you, and please  keep us updated.

[hatgal]

Wow, I feel sooo bad for you.  I hope I can offer some advice.  First off, you absolutely need to get to a doctor - an MD (an internal medicine doctor would be your best bet - they go over everything) - now!  Tell him/her of your physical symptoms - all that you have said here; that nose bleed thing is very scarey and that is not a symptom of anxiety that I have ever heard of.

Next, I can quite relate to the mental feelings you are having and I believe those are very much anxiety/depression symptoms.  When I was on the wrong SSRI (anti-anxiety/depression med) it compounded my depression 200000-fold and I too felt like I was living in someone else's world. Nothing that used to bring me joy mattered at all anymore. I was just, as you said, gliding through life.  I would plan things and then back out of them at the last minute b/c it did not interest me as it once did.

My good news is that I recognized this was a very bad med for me.  The bad news is that I believe you are suffering from extreme depression and anxiety and for that you MUST seek the advice of a psychologist - your MD should be able to refer you to one.

But, you must take hold of your life right now - medically, mentally, financially, etc.; you are 18, an adult now at a wonderful age. Although we cannot help where we come from, we can control the future with the right attitude and a positive outlook.  

You sound like you have so much to offer the world and society, but I know, you're not yourself and it will be hard to get off your butt (it was for me - but I hated feeling the way I did so that helped alot) and get going; just do it with all of your inner strengith and the strength of the one above - pray, see a clergy person - whatever to gain that strength and feel yourself again!

My very best to you; please post backto let me know of your progress - I care very much!