Aa
Question of the Month (Poll) June 2013
What age did you first notice symptoms of anxiety?
Thanks for participating, comments are welcome and encouraged. I think this is a good topic, to compare notes on the onset of anxiety. It's well documented that most people diagnosed with an anxiety disorder experienced their first bouts of significant anxiety in late teen years to early 20's. I'm anxious to see the poll results.
Thanks for participating, comments are welcome and encouraged. I think this is a good topic, to compare notes on the onset of anxiety. It's well documented that most people diagnosed with an anxiety disorder experienced their first bouts of significant anxiety in late teen years to early 20's. I'm anxious to see the poll results.
My understanding, such as it is, is that all children suffer fears and anxiety -- they're children. As far as I know, childhood anxiety is unrelated to adult anxiety, and almost always goes away. It's only in us anxiety sufferers that the disorder arises later, generally in late teens to late twenties, but it is considered materially different from childhood anxiety, which is universal. That makes it hard to say, hey, I was anxious as a child now that you mention it, because everyone was, but not everyone got an anxiety disorder later in life. My childhood fears completely went away, and the anxiety I got later was quite different in nature probably because I no longer had mommy and daddy to make it all go away!
Great question Nursegirl.
It's kind of hard for me to answer. Only because I felt like a was a very sky child, maybe it was anxiety though. I had my first panic attack at 18 and I had no idea what was going on other than I thought I was going crazy. It took 5 years to get a diagnosis and a name for it.
It's kind of hard for me to answer. Only because I felt like a was a very sky child, maybe it was anxiety though. I had my first panic attack at 18 and I had no idea what was going on other than I thought I was going crazy. It took 5 years to get a diagnosis and a name for it.
Mine started around 25 after my dad died. My first legit panic attack was during that summer. All though I always worried about nuclear war, growing up in the 1970s and 1980s.
a short expanded view of anxiety as a child.....
There are 9 of us siblings, and we are all a year, or a year and 2 months apart, and the fear was that when mother went away to deliver she might just not come back. She suffered horribly from postpartum depression
and spent most of her time locked in her room in the dark. We were told
not to bother her but I would sit at the locked door and listen to hear if I could hear her breathing.
There was no help for the children, her doctor prescribed her some medication that she never took, it stayed on the top shelf in the kitchen
and I would check the contents regularly.
I wasn't diagnosed until I was in my teens and was held hostage with 4 other children who were not related to me. After the man was arrested and the police had me in the station, they told me that I would probably have shell shock over the incident. The official diagnosis didn't come until the 80's and its been therapy and therapygroups ever since.
M
There are 9 of us siblings, and we are all a year, or a year and 2 months apart, and the fear was that when mother went away to deliver she might just not come back. She suffered horribly from postpartum depression
and spent most of her time locked in her room in the dark. We were told
not to bother her but I would sit at the locked door and listen to hear if I could hear her breathing.
There was no help for the children, her doctor prescribed her some medication that she never took, it stayed on the top shelf in the kitchen
and I would check the contents regularly.
I wasn't diagnosed until I was in my teens and was held hostage with 4 other children who were not related to me. After the man was arrested and the police had me in the station, they told me that I would probably have shell shock over the incident. The official diagnosis didn't come until the 80's and its been therapy and therapygroups ever since.
M
I guess I have technically never been diagnosed with anxiety disorder. I do remember having insomnia as a child, I was probably 10. I would panic and cry because I couldn't sleep and knew I had to go to school. I never told anyone. I have had major bouts of insomnia my whole life.
Thanks all for participating. Seems like many of us have always been anxious. I find that interesting.
Another question to ponder (or to expand on the QOM)...for those of you who recognize that you had anxiety as a child...when you were actuallly diagnosed with an anxiety disorder?
Did your parent(s) ever seek help for you for the signs of anxiety as a child? Mine didn't, and I don't fault them. That was before the days of anxiety being so commonly diagnosed as a chronic condition, and my parents just thought it was related to being adopted at an older age (18 months) and figured it was severe separation anxiety (which I believe all of the above)..they figured I'd grow out of it. They (my mom especially) tried to "love" me better.
Great discussion, thanks!
Another question to ponder (or to expand on the QOM)...for those of you who recognize that you had anxiety as a child...when you were actuallly diagnosed with an anxiety disorder?
Did your parent(s) ever seek help for you for the signs of anxiety as a child? Mine didn't, and I don't fault them. That was before the days of anxiety being so commonly diagnosed as a chronic condition, and my parents just thought it was related to being adopted at an older age (18 months) and figured it was severe separation anxiety (which I believe all of the above)..they figured I'd grow out of it. They (my mom especially) tried to "love" me better.
Great discussion, thanks!
Yes, JG OCD is what I have too. It definitely causes anxiety. And the more anxious I get the worse the OCD kicks in and takes over. I am trying to apply some coping skills; relaxation techniques and journaling for example. Baby steps. Have a good eve.
If you would have asked this poll question in May, I would have had to say that my anxiety is rather recent, since the mid 80's. But as my therapy continues I have had to overcome the denial that there were anxiety issues since early childhood, but did not know what they were, and in most cases figured that was just the way I was....
Excellent Poll question...
Thank you
M
Excellent Poll question...
Thank you
M
The first option. I rocked myself to sleep when I was a child, I had to yell to my parents "turn off the light" after I got in bed. After a while I was better but in my late teens, it started up in earnest and I was diagnosed with OCD which of course causes a lot of anxiety.
I'll go first. I voted for the first option. I was a horribly anxious child. I can remember having panic attacks as a toddler. Of course, I didn't know what they were back then, but looking back, that's definitely what they were. I was very agoraphobic as a child too. I was petrified of vacations, amusement parks, even sleepovers.
My major onset of panic as an adult occurred when I was a freshman in college. That was when I had my first real whopper of a panic attack...the one that makes you stand up and take notice.
I was officially diagnosed with panic disorder at age 18.
My major onset of panic as an adult occurred when I was a freshman in college. That was when I had my first real whopper of a panic attack...the one that makes you stand up and take notice.
I was officially diagnosed with panic disorder at age 18.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Anxiety Community
Find out what can trigger a panic attack – and what to do if you have one.
A guide to 10 common phobias.
Take control of tension today.
These simple pick-me-ups squash stress.
Don’t let the winter chill send your smile into deep hibernation. Try these 10 mood-boosting tips to get your happy back
Want to wake up rested and refreshed?
