My mom and anxiety

[ghall]

My mom has never had to deal with anxiety. She doesn't understand and sh doesn't even try. She gets angry with me when I panic, and she thinks that my treatments are going to miraculously cure me overnight. She doesn't understand how hard it is and when I try to explain she says I'm making excuses. On top of this she's trying to tell me I'm not trying and I don't care.

This whole relationship is messing up every aspect of by life and all I need to fix it is for my mom to stop being so ignorant. Sometimes I just wish I could force her to understand.

My anxiety attacks are very random and she has the nerve to suggest that I just happen to have one when I don't want to do something when un reality I don't want to do that thing because its making me anxious.

I don't know what to do. She's acting like a baby and treating me like an 8 year old ( I'm 18). [/b]

[RabidBadger]

Hi

Why don't you see if you can get your mum to spare a few minutes to read some of the posts on this forum. Maybe then she will see that it is a genuine problem that affects a lot of people.

Chris

[ghall]

She awknoleges that anxiety is a real problem but she doesn't understand how difficult it is. She doesn't even try to calm me when I'm panicky she just gets upset and then my panic attack gets worse. She says she understands but the only people I know who understand are people that have had the same issues. She thinks that just because I've talked to a therapist for a few sessions that I know how to stop a panic attack. I'm sure we all wish it was that easy, but if it was, none of us would be on this forum would we? No matter how much I try to tell her, she tries to tell me what to think.

I'm going to give her a link to this forum anyway, just so she can begin to understand how dibilitating anxiety is. Maybe she'll open her mind when she sees I'm not making this stuff up.

[setler]

I am so sorry to hear that your mom isn't giving you the help you need.

It sounds like she needs to do some in-depth reading of the issue if she really doesn't understand what it is like. Also, she might act like you are faking it because she wants to think that you aren't in this much pain. I am 19 and I remember when I told my mom that I was in so much pain that I didn't want to be alive anymore. She got really angry at me and told me that was the worst way to think. Later she apologized and said she acted that way because she was so scared that she was going to lose me... Parents act funny when their kids go through crises that they haven't been through.

I truly hope she will come around to your side. I send my best wishes to you.

[bedhead]

Hi ghall

Anxiety is not an easy thing for people to understand when they don't suffer from it. I'm 29 and have suffered from anxiety on and off since I was in primary school. I have met alot of ignorance regarding this subject, people just cannot accept what they can't see. If you had something physically missing like an arm or a leg then it would be easier for them to identify with it. It doesn't mean these people are bad its just they can't possibly put themselves in your place and experience what you are feeling. If I had a pound for every time somebody told me to "just don't think about it" i'd be rich! It is incredibly difficult to turn these feelings off but it is possible and with the right help and support you can beat this. Don't despair, if anything, I hope coming to this forum has shown you that we are many and the knowledge and experience shared by others will help you feel less isolated :)