help me out please.its serious

[Prab]

I am 30 years old male and i have been suffering from anxiety and have  obsessive features since my childhood which aggravated during my teenage and i was diagonised with Panic disorder with agoraphobhia, insomnia, and concurrent obsessive thoughts. I have been on medications for last 7-8 years. Currently I am taking the following medicines: Fluoxetine 60 mg, Olanzapine 2.5 mg, clonazepam 0.5 mg, Mirtazapine 15 mg.
  Few months ago a weired thought came into my mind- If their are so many stimuli present at a time how does one's mind pay attention to a selective stimulus. Then onwards i would become conscious of many distracting stimuli while i would listen to something or read something. I started feeling like a handicapped which cant listen or read. This very thought suffused my mind; day and night i would think about it. I contacted my psychiatrist who increased the dose of fluoxetine from 20 mg to 60 mg and decreased olanzapine from 5 mg to 2.5 mg. The medications certainly helped in the sense that my anxiety lessened a bit and also i started feeling less depressed.
  The problem is that whenever i start reading something or listening to someone i become conscious of the multifarious stimuli and i am not able to pay selective attention properly.
  Is there any name of this problem? Is there any solution of this? Is it tenacious enough so that it will linger forever? Can it be erased from my memory using hypnotherepy? Will any other medications work?

I want to know all these answers as i am finding this problem really troublesome and impeding my ability to communicate properly.

[Prab]

Thanks Geare. tahnk you very much

[JSGeare]

Almost sounds like a kind of atypical autism, to me, and is, quite literally if not medically, a presentation of attention deficit. Be that as it may, the fact that you are able to write about it coherently suggests you can focus pretty well when sufficiently motivated to do so.

But let's not get hung up on naming things, here. After all, the names, for the most part, are just mumbo jumbo that tells us what we already know and don't usually tell us what to do about it. We call a broken leg a "fracture," for example, we call a lack of insulin "diabetes," and we call the body's attack on its own nervous system coating "mulitple sclerosis." Do we feel better now? I doubt it. What we really want to know -and what YOU want to know, is what the hell's going on here and what can I do about it?

For the sake or argument let's just say that your panic/anxiety has some pretty fundamental connection to the lack of focus, the over-sensitivity to background stimuli. After all, we could just as well call "panic disorder," hyper-situational alterness," and that would be about right. The problem here, is the processing. As I type this, I am now aware of the computer fan running, the sound of my mate's footfalls as she drags in another 55 gallon drum of coffee, a distant auto down the lane, my ***** cat indicating her desire of a hot date with a cardboard box over there in the corner, the change of the angle of the sunlight, a slight rise in temperature, my nagging work ethic telling me I REALLY need to cut some more firewood, memories of school day chums and -well, you get the drift. But for whatever reason, my brain tells all those things to take a number and I focus more or less completely on YOU.

Which leads me to your psychiatrist and that rather zesty cocktail of drugs you're taking. What makes me nervous here is no mention of therapy and, evidently, no in-depth study and testing of your situation. Seems like we are fighting a lot of little fires with no attention being paid to the big pile of burning rubbish in the basement. Consequently, I'd get a bit more aggressive with the shrink -perhaps even request referral to another one with a speciality more akin to your symptoms- and get cracking on some serious investigation. Meanwhile, no matter what any well meaning soul may tell you, don't mess on your own with changing your drugs for the moment, but see if you can identify anything which does capture your attention more completely -perhaps something sensory such as music or art, perhaps something very cerebral, like how to magically solve math problems in your head or do magic tricks. I'm not kidding -it might be well to know where your attention CAN be focused.

That's my take, anyway, and I wish you well.

[Prab]

Thanks buddy

[snoozies43]

It sounds like your anxiety may be a tad high yet. Of course consult with your doctor.

I find myself when i am in a high anxiety state, everything is "pronounced" more noticeable. I do biofeedbck...ie: meditation. Bellaruth Narporstak.  has a great selection for several Problematic health issues. Check her website out. It may help.

also hopefully you are watching your caffine. I also have been trying milk b/4 bedtime to relax me. This is atually working! If iget up in the am. I just go for another glass lol. Do watch your sugar intake and try to remeber what you may have ate b/4 this hightened awareness comes on.

Best to you.