Anxiety developing too quickly?

[jiffnon]

Hey all,

Around four weeks ago I developed an anxiety disorder that started off with a simple panic attack on the tube, but ever since the condition seems to have deteriorated at a worrying rate. The week before that I had a drug-induced panic attack, but my doctor didn't seem to think this was the cause of it all. I should mention as a disclaimer that the most prominent form of anxiety I suffer from is hypochondria.

For the first week I generally experienced a constant sense of dread and mild panic that seemed to subside after about 9 days, but after around two weeks I began to notice visual snow (no doubt thanks to Dr. Google) and a general sense of lethargy, detachment and brain fog. I'm not sure if this is DP/DR or simply the first signs of depression. The world feels a little duller and less vibrant, as do I.

These symptoms have remained ever since, but my worry reached an all-time high last night when I began to obsess over the idea of developing schizophrenia thanks, yet again, to Google. I fit some of the prodomal symptoms and am 23, so I'm in the right age range for development. The worry seems to make my thoughts completely incoherent, and my intense examination of them no doubt makes them seem crazier than they actually are. Regardless, last night is the most worry this horrid affliction had caused me to feel and it genuinely felt like I was dipping my toe in the pool of genuine craziness at times. I've woken up this morning feeling nauseous, unrested (I usually oversleep) and feeling even more detached and analytical than I did before, like my mind has broken further.

Can anyone offer any tips? Is it normal for it to develop so rapidly over just a month? I have a consultation with a mental health service and a blood test next week but I'm just desperate for my first steps to recovery to begin asap.

P.S I have just woken up from a nap and the detachment now somehow seems worse. Could this just be fallout from the intense worry last night?

[AnxiousPsychGrad]

First, hypochondriac here as well, so I'm with you!
I've had anxiety for years, but my severe anxiety developed in a matter of 24 hours. I looked into a mirror, thought I looked pale, took off for the ER thinking "this is it, I'm dying", and got home only to be bed written by a debilitating panic disorder. This lasted MONTHS, and I was finally moving on... Now it's back. Never.Ending.Cycle. Until we break it, we allow ourselves to be a slave to this disease. I wish I knew a fast route to get through it so both you & I and the millions of other who suffer can move on with our lives. I'm currently suffering with nocturnal panic attacks, this may be why you are awakening with anxiety. Read into it a little.
I, too, had fears of schizophrenia for a while. As hypochondriacs, we all have fears -- irrational fears, but fears none the less.
The best piece of advice I can give you.. STOP GOOGLING! Well, not completely. I've learned to write the word anxiety after ever symptom I type into the Google search bar. Hope that proves helpful. :)
Keep your head up. It is very easy to fall into depression, especially fighting a battle you feel as though you will never win. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I hope both you & I see it soon.

[Xerosnake90]

Psych grad, I love your attitude and willingness to help someone the way you do. You're a healer and we need people like you around here to remind us and motivate us back into a sense of better being. Just seeing your post reminded me that yes, we can be the people we want to be and not to let this control out loves. Thank you for that.

Jiffnon, you may feel like your anxiety symptoms came on suddenly. However, who's to say you haven't had them for years and just lived with them? That's what I did at least. My body retaliated so harshly in the form of a stomach flu. I lost 20 pounds and became an unhappy shut in with multiple anxiety symptoms. I now realize many of these symptoms have been present in my past, I simply did not understand and acknowledge that I have anxiety. After realizing anxiety was the cause of my ailments I've been changing my life, slowly but surely and no more drugs or cigarettes. Drinking moderately once a week! I used to mask my issues with drugs and blame them on weed paranoia. Now that I'm aware I can't touch the stuff, and neither do I want to. It's how the brain forces us to live our lives or suffer because of the things we don't do for ourselves.

In order to overcome this you have to recognize what you want in life that you haven't been making happen for who knows how long. Your focus dictates what you do for yourself and not putting effort into a positive and forwarding focus is what drags us down. Evaluate what you've been doing different. Your mindset, people you hang out with, things you love but stopped doing for whatever reason. By doing these things again you can start taking those steps forward once again.

[AnxiousPsychGrad]

Thank you, XeroSnake. Healing people is what I've always wanted to do. My severe anxiety has kept me from realizing that dream. Helping others here is a small step toward that while also reassuring myself at the same time. :)

[Xerosnake90]

Thank you, XeroSnake. Healing people is what I've always wanted to do. My severe anxiety has kept me from realizing that dream. Helping others here is a small step toward that while also reassuring myself at the same time. :)

This is beautiful, and i can relate. At my lowest point it took me coming back to helping people that made me realize that's what I love to do. I used to think that doing better for myself was the way id be the best me. I now have realized that me giving to other people allows me to be the best me. This place has become a way for me to help others beat something that I go through as well. It reminds me that it's not always about me and that I have the power to get myself and others through it.

Hope you stick around and help others, as well as getting past your own journey. Everyone has hopes dreams and desires. Because of that we all have some form of anxiety, but we don't need to let it control all aspects of our lives. We take control. See you around!

[Im-Suffering]

This is beautiful, and i can relate. At my lowest point it took me coming back to helping people that made me realize that's what I love to do. I used to think that doing better for myself was the way id be the best me. I now have realized that me giving to other people allows me to be the best me. This place has become a way for me to help others beat something that I go through as well. It reminds me that it's not always about me and that I have the power to get myself and others through it.

Hope you stick around and help others, as well as getting past your own journey. Everyone has hopes dreams and desires. Because of that we all have some form of anxiety, but we don't need to let it control all aspects of our lives. We take control. See you around!

Wow. Keep on truckin ! Love it.

[Im-Suffering]

Thank you, XeroSnake. Healing people is what I've always wanted to do. My severe anxiety has kept me from realizing that dream. Helping others here is a small step toward that while also reassuring myself at the same time. :)

Healing yourself is what you always wanted to do, it is thy purpose. The main plan. Healing others is a method to accomplish that, period. By teaching what you need to learn, that's the circle of life. So get it done. Practice here, in the safety of the walled garden, fear not your intuition in giving advice. If it is from love, you cannot harm anyone, which is your fear.

Let's rephrase your sentence,

"My severe anxiety has kept me from realizing that dream"

To-

"My doubt's about self and my capabilities, my peers acceptance should I endeavor to offer assistance, have turned on me , repression to fear, manifesting anxiety in my body"

"I need to solve this problem, step out into the light and express myself, and see what happens"

Let it be done.

[jiffnon]

Thanks for the responses, guys. Very helpful and I feel somewhat more soothed now than I did yesterday.

Xerosnake: I've always been a generally anxious person but it wasn't the sort of all-pervasive anxiety that I'm now experiencing. It generally went away when I wasn't doing something that made me nervous, and nervousness was about the height of it.