Hi, im new to the forum and dont know where to begin.

[infearandfaith]

Hi! I'm new to this forum and i really dont know where to begin.

I'm a 23 year old female and I've had experienced severe anxiety for the past 3 years. I honestly dont remember what triggered it or how it started but I do know that my anxiety now is beginning to cripple me.

I've never been to a therapist or a professional to help me sort through this because I just don't have the means to go to one. This is my first time reaching out to others for help.

I know i've suffered anxiety attacks often. It would begin with a tightening of the chest, shortness of breath, a constant increase of my heart rate, my appetite disappears, my mind becomes spaced, my body begins to numb up, and i get nauseous to the point of wanting to throw up.

I don't know how to control these attacks.

Also, can someone tell me how one would know if they have obsessive thinking? Generally, when when a stressful situation or a stressful problem arises, I think about it all .... day.... long until I go to sleep and it'll be the first thought in the morning.

i need help.

[trinidiva]

Hi! I'm new to this forum and i really dont know where to begin.

I'm a 23 year old female and I've had experienced severe anxiety for the past 3 years. I honestly dont remember what triggered it or how it started but I do know that my anxiety now is beginning to cripple me.

I've never been to a therapist or a professional to help me sort through this because I just don't have the means to go to one. This is my first time reaching out to others for help.

I know i've suffered anxiety attacks often. It would begin with a tightening of the chest, shortness of breath, a constant increase of my heart rate, my appetite disappears, my mind becomes spaced, my body begins to numb up, and i get nauseous to the point of wanting to throw up.

I don't know how to control these attacks.

Also, can someone tell me how one would know if they have obsessive thinking? Generally, when when a stressful situation or a stressful problem arises, I think about it all .... day.... long until I go to sleep and it'll be the first thought in the morning.

i need help.

Hello, and welcome! Sorry to hear about your problems with anxiety. I suffer with Generalized Anxiety and have been dealing with it on and off for about 6yrs.
You mention that you arent sure what triggered your anxiety..but when you start to have your panic attacks, are you doing something that you would consider stressful or thinking about something particularly stressful to you? Generalized anxiety can cause obsessive thoughts as well.
To control the attacks, there are plenty of breathing exercises that you can do. I usually search "anxiety breathing exercises". Also, I know it sounds weird but meditation also helps. I downloaded a meditation app on my phone that helps a lot too.
There's a specific type of therapy that helps also. Its called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. If you go to amazon.com , they have some great CBT workbooks that you can purchase for a decent price. I've purchased a few, and they have helped.

Also, this is a great place to talk to some honestly really nice people who are going through something similar. Hope you start to feel better soon.

[ldts3012]

Hi there. I also have suffered on and off with generalized anxiety disorder for about 7 years. I do see a therapist and take medication. However, there's plenty of self help books, and breathing and meditation exercises that can help. If you're looking for cheap deals on books, try half.com. There's also vitamin supplements that can help like magnesium and omega 3 & 6 supplements. Also, try this exercise - when you have an obsessive, fearful or irrational thought, write it down, then write down what a more positive thought would be that you can replace it with. It helped me a lot. I wish you all the best!

[meichmann]

Hi! I'm new to this forum and i really dont know where to begin.

I'm a 23 year old female and I've had experienced severe anxiety for the past 3 years. I honestly dont remember what triggered it or how it started but I do know that my anxiety now is beginning to cripple me.

I've never been to a therapist or a professional to help me sort through this because I just don't have the means to go to one. This is my first time reaching out to others for help.

I know i've suffered anxiety attacks often. It would begin with a tightening of the chest, shortness of breath, a constant increase of my heart rate, my appetite disappears, my mind becomes spaced, my body begins to numb up, and i get nauseous to the point of wanting to throw up.

I don't know how to control these attacks.

Also, can someone tell me how one would know if they have obsessive thinking? Generally, when when a stressful situation or a stressful problem arises, I think about it all .... day.... long until I go to sleep and it'll be the first thought in the morning.

i need help.

Hello,
I just joined this forum today and I'm sorry to see you experience this. I've been diagnosed with Panic Disorder and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) from a difficult upbringing. I get the same symptoms you do and it does feel horrible.

I hope you can find a way to go see professional help, but until then, try this:
When an attack occurs, let it happen. Don't fight it. fighting it will only cause it to get worse. But, when an attack starts, just go limp. let your shoulders drop and force yourself to breathe deep and slow. I know it hurts but force yourself. Also, tell yourself "It will go away. it doesn't feel good right now but it will be over. Nothing bad is going to happen to me, this is only a panic attack". If needed, tell yourself this over and over.

Now, this may sounds strange, but after its over, laugh about it and praise yourself for getting through it. You're alive and your not disabled from it, so praise yourself and laugh saying to yourself "Is that all you got?"

Now, meditation and relaxation helps (Yoga, Tai-Chi, etc...) but also relaxing music. put some on at work and when you go to bed at night.

If you have a smart phone, there are great anxiety and panic applications out there. The app I use is called "Stop panic and anxiety". it has a diary so you can track your attacks, and even has reference material and an audio clip you can listen too during an attack.

I hope this information helps and hope you get it under control.

Best Wishes

[Perses]

Dear faith,

First, you are not alone in feeling the way you do. We are all here suffering from anxiety, and, it's a hard burden to carry by yourself. It's also hard to reach out to others because of the stigma attached to mental conditions. Isolation produces greater insecurity which can only feed your anxiety. Others have given you excellent advice on how to mitigate the effects of these attacks. My worst case anxiety attacks lead me to faint. It rarely happens, about 4 times, but I have to say that I always feel much better when I come to. I feel like I've been reborn -- well, as you know, panic attacks are pretty yucky things. Other things I find helpful is to drink lots of cold water. I think for me this works in particular because after I come to from fainting people give me cold water to drink. Also, I think the coolness of the water forces your mind and gut to concentrate on drinking, and finally, hydrated veins help speed the blood through the body. Another thing that I do is memorize bits of poetry and repeat them, again to focus my mind away from exacerbating my attacks. Still, one really feels just horrible, especially when there's no ostensible reason for them.

Absolutely, I think one of the chief symptoms of anxiety is that one obsesses over events -- it's like a feedback loop that's mostly unhelpful. Or, a daisy chain of negative what-ifs. Exercise helps, but one thing that I've found is that while I'm running or walking my mind sits on top of me worrying through problems anyway.

It would help to know what your situation is like. Are you living at home? Do you work? What would you like to do with your life. Are there positive aspects of you life that you can count as blessings? The therapist tries to get you to draw out what might be the underlying, well hidden, causes of your anxiety, and what, indeed, might be the stressors that have unconsciously or subconsciously been occupying your mind.

Right now, I have very little of my own money because I'm in the process of looking for a job. I just moved to NY. I went to a local clinic that has a sliding scale fee; the clinic in turn suggested that I go to a public walk-in psychiatric clinic. I was quite nervous as I had never relied on public institution before. To put it rather bluntly (and to my own discredit) I thought -- Oh great! I'm going to be stuck with a bunch of psychotic nut jobs. But, in point of fact, it was an excellent experience. It took a while but I got to see a psychiatrist who listened to me, put me back on medications I had previously taken. And I arranged for group and private therapy. All of this for $15 a visit.

I see that you live in California. My suggestion is to look for mental health clinics or psychiatric walk-in clinics that work on a sliding fee.

http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/mch/cpsp/CPSP%20Direct/SPA%203/SPA3_MentalHealth.PDF

http://www.westsiderc.org/f/r_csa.htm

Here are two resources that may help you. There are options for you in California.