Traumatic event causing Anxiety

[crippledcowgirl]

Recently I had my implanted defibulator go off (shocks the heart) while I was in the shower. I passed out and smashed my head and broke a tooth. I woke up in the bottom of the shower...and was scared to death. I went to the hospital and was told my heart went into a rhythm called "sudden death". The only thing they can do for me is to give me an anti arrythmia medication that is known for have bizzare and severe side effects.
I've been home from the hospital for about three weeks now. I experienced severe anxiety about showering (but did it anyway) due to the event that happened. There is always the chance that an episode like before can happen again at anytime. My psychiatrist has me on ciprolex, buspar and xanax. It has helped my anxieties to a degree. But I really feel that I need counselling to overcome this traumatic event.

Has anyone else experinced a traumatic event that triggered severe anxiety? If so..how did you cope??

[Robbed]

Here's my view on anxiety. From my experiences with anxiety, it starts out with stress. This stress could be the result of a medical conditon (perhaps in your case), or just life in general (perhaps the vast majority of cases). This stress sensitizes your nervous system in such a way that when something perceived as serious happens, it makes you panic, and sends you into a downward spiral. Of course, if this traumatic even is sufficiently serious, then perhaps long-term stress prior to the event is not needed. Anyway, these 'serious' and 'traumatic' happenings could be a real medical problem (as was your case). Or they could be the emergence of stress symptoms themselves (my case, and perhaps the majority of cases). And, of course, once this happens, a subconscious imprint has been made that something is REALLY wrong with you. This, in turn, creates more fear, stress, and anxiety symptoms (including the EXTREMELY common side effects of depression and obsessions). See what is happening here?

This also gives you some insight into how to deal with this problem. By realizing that your symptoms a 'bluff' rather than something REALLY serious that needs to be feared (even if you can only react a LITTLE less fearfully), you reduce your overall level of fear, and, therefore, the symptoms. It also instills upon the subconscious the whole idea that whatever is wrong is not as bad as it was before. So, over time (and often a relatively LONG period of time), you recover (although there will be times symptoms increase for a while during recovery). I know this sounds rather simplistic. But it is the general method by which MANY people recover and STAY recovered.