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QUESTION OF THE MONTH: SEPTEMBER 2013
Hi all! How is everyone? Hope this finds everyone well!
It's time for our question of the month. Please take a minute to share your thoughts and let's generate some discussion!
This month, we would like to ask you how much your anxiety has interfered with your life, like work, interpersonal relationships, social life, etc. How much does anxiety hold you back from doing things you either should be doing, or would LIKE to do?
Some thought-provoking questions to help you answer (you don't have to answer each one, this is just to help you understand what we're asking):
Please expand on how you cope with the debilitating factor of anxiety. What kinds of things do you do to push yourself? How do you cope when your anxiety is peaking, yet you have to do something (like work)? Do you often find yourself avoiding more and more activities when your anxiety is high? How do you deal with the "fall out" of avoiding things, either from your loved ones, or your employer?
We're excited to see your answers. I know this particular question is near and dear to my heart. I've dealt with varying levels of agoraphobia secondary to my panic disorder, and that's one of the harder things to handle.
Thanks in advance for your participation!
Your Community Leaders:
CJ
Nursegirl
P.S. Please PM either of us with any questions you think would be great for one of our QOM. We're always looking for input. Thanks again!
It's time for our question of the month. Please take a minute to share your thoughts and let's generate some discussion!
This month, we would like to ask you how much your anxiety has interfered with your life, like work, interpersonal relationships, social life, etc. How much does anxiety hold you back from doing things you either should be doing, or would LIKE to do?
Some thought-provoking questions to help you answer (you don't have to answer each one, this is just to help you understand what we're asking):
Please expand on how you cope with the debilitating factor of anxiety. What kinds of things do you do to push yourself? How do you cope when your anxiety is peaking, yet you have to do something (like work)? Do you often find yourself avoiding more and more activities when your anxiety is high? How do you deal with the "fall out" of avoiding things, either from your loved ones, or your employer?
We're excited to see your answers. I know this particular question is near and dear to my heart. I've dealt with varying levels of agoraphobia secondary to my panic disorder, and that's one of the harder things to handle.
Thanks in advance for your participation!
Your Community Leaders:
CJ
Nursegirl
P.S. Please PM either of us with any questions you think would be great for one of our QOM. We're always looking for input. Thanks again!
Bump!
I believe orginially it was both debilitating for me in social aspects and with self confidence. When I first experienced a panic attack, I literally did not know what hit me. It was scary and confusing. I went from being extrememly confident, active, and social to constantly on edge, questioning every thought or action, and a recluse. At first, it seemed overwhelming and I could not see a way out of it.
But as I started to learn about the anxiety and seek help for it, I remember one, that I was so very surprised about how many people actually go through this. Another thing that I noticed is that so many people from different backgrounds experience this. For example, I went to a group session with a teacher, lawyer, graphic designer, and a corporate exectuive all experiencing what I was going through. I believe that was a huge turning point for me. I always had assumed that there was this preconception that since I felt that my life was spiraling out of control, that I must be "different" and that noone 'normal' could possibly be going through this, but as it turns out, it is normal to experience this. These people were all extremely intelligent and successful people, both in their careers and family life. So, putting it into perspective, enabled me to tell myself that I was not crazy or alone...as with any challenge, one must learn about it and confront it.
Now, I would actually say that I am MUCH more rounded as a person because of my experience with anxiety. In the long run it has made me much more patient, a better father and husband, and I tend to appreciate life so much more than I did before this experience. So really in retrospect if I could go back and change things I wouldn't...we are all a product of our combined experiences in our lives and this experience definitely taught me so much about life. So, yes it REALLY ***** (which is probably a gross understatement) when going through it, but on the other end, I believe it has helped me with so many aspects in life. I believe I am more confident, social, and active than before. Remember, when going through this, it is not pleasant short term. But long term, you will learn a lot and you WILL get through this. As 'nutty' as this sounds, I am actually thankful for the anxiety in a weird sort of way...
But as I started to learn about the anxiety and seek help for it, I remember one, that I was so very surprised about how many people actually go through this. Another thing that I noticed is that so many people from different backgrounds experience this. For example, I went to a group session with a teacher, lawyer, graphic designer, and a corporate exectuive all experiencing what I was going through. I believe that was a huge turning point for me. I always had assumed that there was this preconception that since I felt that my life was spiraling out of control, that I must be "different" and that noone 'normal' could possibly be going through this, but as it turns out, it is normal to experience this. These people were all extremely intelligent and successful people, both in their careers and family life. So, putting it into perspective, enabled me to tell myself that I was not crazy or alone...as with any challenge, one must learn about it and confront it.
Now, I would actually say that I am MUCH more rounded as a person because of my experience with anxiety. In the long run it has made me much more patient, a better father and husband, and I tend to appreciate life so much more than I did before this experience. So really in retrospect if I could go back and change things I wouldn't...we are all a product of our combined experiences in our lives and this experience definitely taught me so much about life. So, yes it REALLY ***** (which is probably a gross understatement) when going through it, but on the other end, I believe it has helped me with so many aspects in life. I believe I am more confident, social, and active than before. Remember, when going through this, it is not pleasant short term. But long term, you will learn a lot and you WILL get through this. As 'nutty' as this sounds, I am actually thankful for the anxiety in a weird sort of way...
I lost all my friends because they don't want to be around me anymore and I only feel safe in the four walls of my room, I don't even wanna go out anymore. I'm so suck of this crap, I just want my life back to normal! :'(
Someone please help. I just joined this site because I need comfort. I'm going to tell you my story and please respond because it doesn't seem like anyone's been on for a year or so in my anxiety discussion comment I posted.
Okay, so I'm reading all of your comments and I figured I'd comment as well. The things I'm going to tell you sound dumb, but maybe some of you know what I'm going to be talking about. My friend got me to come over to his house because he said, I have legal Marijuana. I thought to myself, okay.. that would be legit, so I went over to his house. He showed me a small packet that said, "Atomic Bomb, Not For Human Consumption" I was stupid and just laughed that off because apparently it was the new thing since it was legal. I took a few hits and than it kicked in. I stood up and it felt like my heart was going to stop. I felt like I wasn't in the real world. I told my friend, I couldn't breathe and he just laughed and said, sit down.. you're just high and that was ********, never try it even if it is legal. That was what officially triggered my first panic attack. I tell doctors and others that and they either never heard of incense or looked at me like I was crazy. Than my panic attack went away after I woke up from a nap. Then, a year later my dad had a heart attack and I had a panic attack in the hospital from watching my dad suffer this. I was horrible and I felt like I was going to faint, but than an hour later it went away. Than, last year my sister was diagnosed with cancer and I had tons of panic attacks for days. I kid you not, I would have anxiety 24/7. Tight chest, irregular heartbeats, but no headaches! Now, in the middle of Feb, I was chillin' with my friend and I laid on the kitchen floor like a dying animal with the worst headache ever. I physically couldn't even get up. Now every day since, it's been 7 months and morning to night, I have a dull headache, sometimes a sharp pain in my head. It's strange because it moves around. I feel it from my temples to the back of my neck and the sides of my neck and behind my eye. I feel all of your pain when you say, OMG am I going to die yourself? I use to be the cockiest person ever and never worried about a thing. I had a hot *** girlfriend, good job and my life was great, until the devil hit me and that devil is none other than anxiety. I've gone to shrinks and it's just a waste of money. I have this headache right when I wake up, to when I go to sleep. I don't throw up, have blurred vision or anything like that, but I did have this thing when I was laying in bed and I tried opening my eyes and it felt like my brain was shutting down, irregular heartbeat. It was the scariest sensation I ever felt. I never use to have headaches, but my dad had them and they say anxiety is genetic. I feel like I have a brain tumor and I annoy my parents and everyone else around me always asking questions about it. I'm sure it gets beyond annoying, but I can't help it. I don't know what else to do. I told my doctor about it like 4 times when I've gone in multiple times and he says, it's anxiety, tension headaches and it all leads to stress. The crazy thing about anxiety is, if you think you have something in your mind, you actually start make yourself sick. All my friends look at me like I'm some crazy person and I always tell them, if you had it, you would understand, but they don't. I guess it's apart of life, but it's really taken over and I regret ever smoking, Cloud 9, Atomic Bomb and other incenses.
I could write a book on this subject because of how experienced I am with all the anxiety I have every single freakin' day! You cry out for help, but it feels like know one is there or listening. Trust me, I'm with all of you researching for an answer and I refuse to get an MRI because than I'm stuck with a $5,000 bill just to tell me that it's anxiety when I already knew that? Nah, I'll pass. Everyone tells me, I'm fine including my doc, so I'm just gonna cope with it. Ps. I am the worst hypochondriac ever.
I connect with everyone's comment, literally. I have the worst of worst anxiety, and also pain relievers like, Advil and **** don't work, so that leads me to believe it's anxiety because obvi the anxiety headache it's an actual headache, it's just a sensation, so it wouldn't take the pain away. That's just my theory. Sorry for this being so long and rambling on, but I could talk about this for hours, but I'll stop here and like I've been saying to all of you that will check this a year later since it's been a year since you's have written on this, YOU'RE NOT ALONE ANXIETY BUDDIES. :/
Okay, so I'm reading all of your comments and I figured I'd comment as well. The things I'm going to tell you sound dumb, but maybe some of you know what I'm going to be talking about. My friend got me to come over to his house because he said, I have legal Marijuana. I thought to myself, okay.. that would be legit, so I went over to his house. He showed me a small packet that said, "Atomic Bomb, Not For Human Consumption" I was stupid and just laughed that off because apparently it was the new thing since it was legal. I took a few hits and than it kicked in. I stood up and it felt like my heart was going to stop. I felt like I wasn't in the real world. I told my friend, I couldn't breathe and he just laughed and said, sit down.. you're just high and that was ********, never try it even if it is legal. That was what officially triggered my first panic attack. I tell doctors and others that and they either never heard of incense or looked at me like I was crazy. Than my panic attack went away after I woke up from a nap. Then, a year later my dad had a heart attack and I had a panic attack in the hospital from watching my dad suffer this. I was horrible and I felt like I was going to faint, but than an hour later it went away. Than, last year my sister was diagnosed with cancer and I had tons of panic attacks for days. I kid you not, I would have anxiety 24/7. Tight chest, irregular heartbeats, but no headaches! Now, in the middle of Feb, I was chillin' with my friend and I laid on the kitchen floor like a dying animal with the worst headache ever. I physically couldn't even get up. Now every day since, it's been 7 months and morning to night, I have a dull headache, sometimes a sharp pain in my head. It's strange because it moves around. I feel it from my temples to the back of my neck and the sides of my neck and behind my eye. I feel all of your pain when you say, OMG am I going to die yourself? I use to be the cockiest person ever and never worried about a thing. I had a hot *** girlfriend, good job and my life was great, until the devil hit me and that devil is none other than anxiety. I've gone to shrinks and it's just a waste of money. I have this headache right when I wake up, to when I go to sleep. I don't throw up, have blurred vision or anything like that, but I did have this thing when I was laying in bed and I tried opening my eyes and it felt like my brain was shutting down, irregular heartbeat. It was the scariest sensation I ever felt. I never use to have headaches, but my dad had them and they say anxiety is genetic. I feel like I have a brain tumor and I annoy my parents and everyone else around me always asking questions about it. I'm sure it gets beyond annoying, but I can't help it. I don't know what else to do. I told my doctor about it like 4 times when I've gone in multiple times and he says, it's anxiety, tension headaches and it all leads to stress. The crazy thing about anxiety is, if you think you have something in your mind, you actually start make yourself sick. All my friends look at me like I'm some crazy person and I always tell them, if you had it, you would understand, but they don't. I guess it's apart of life, but it's really taken over and I regret ever smoking, Cloud 9, Atomic Bomb and other incenses.
I could write a book on this subject because of how experienced I am with all the anxiety I have every single freakin' day! You cry out for help, but it feels like know one is there or listening. Trust me, I'm with all of you researching for an answer and I refuse to get an MRI because than I'm stuck with a $5,000 bill just to tell me that it's anxiety when I already knew that? Nah, I'll pass. Everyone tells me, I'm fine including my doc, so I'm just gonna cope with it. Ps. I am the worst hypochondriac ever.
I connect with everyone's comment, literally. I have the worst of worst anxiety, and also pain relievers like, Advil and **** don't work, so that leads me to believe it's anxiety because obvi the anxiety headache it's an actual headache, it's just a sensation, so it wouldn't take the pain away. That's just my theory. Sorry for this being so long and rambling on, but I could talk about this for hours, but I'll stop here and like I've been saying to all of you that will check this a year later since it's been a year since you's have written on this, YOU'RE NOT ALONE ANXIETY BUDDIES. :/
BUMP!!
Thanks for sharing Paxiled! It's changed me in ways too that I cannot imagine ever going back to me pre-panic norms, but I keep trying ! :0)
Come on everyone, join in the discussion! :0)
Come on everyone, join in the discussion! :0)
It has altered my entire life since I got it, even before medication destroyed my life entirely. Before I got it, though, I suffered from depression (though nobody talked about things like that when I was young so I never got a label), and it hit soon after I had moved across the country so I've never had any support network. Meaning, you can't generalize one person's life to another person's, but for me, as I say, my life was radically diminished and my options altered completely. But after what Paxil took from me, or rather the psychiatrist I had at that time, that period of just being phobic now looks like my salad days!
Bump
Thanks for sharing! It sounds like you're really working hard to get your anxiety under control. Good for you! And,. you've come a long way since the passing of your Mom.
I encourage others to share. I'm very interested in this topic and would love to hear how others manage the urge to avoid situations when anxiety is high. That seems to be one of the more debilitating factors of anxiety.
I encourage others to share. I'm very interested in this topic and would love to hear how others manage the urge to avoid situations when anxiety is high. That seems to be one of the more debilitating factors of anxiety.
This past month has been mostly great to me. After losing mom in early June, I had a lot of depression and then a lot of anxiety at work.For the most part, except for work anxiety, I had been okay! Today I took my daughter to a local campground where my sister and her family had a spot. I did great until the ride home. This was the same ride I had about a year ago that I had brain zaps coming off of cymbalta. My anxiety came back but about an hour after coming home it got better.
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