Just joined

[panicallthetime]

Hi all,

I'm Sophia. I have general anxiety disorder and social anxiety. I get panic attacks (been getting them a lot worse lately) and OCD symptoms which I'm currently trying to work on with CBT. Not on any medications (have been on lots in the past but the side effects were making things worse). I also have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.

I've been this way since I was very young. In fact I can't remember ever NOT being constantly anxious. I'm 21 now and it seems to be getting worse unfortunately. The panic attacks especially :(

I'm a bit tired of never being able to discuss my anxiety with anyone as my family either don't want to hear about it, or dismiss it as something that's not a big deal. I really need to learn new and better coping mechanisms (I currently try to use CBT - I hate it and it's almost impossible but it's really hard to find a therapist who is willing to try any other techniques even though I've been attempting to use CBT for 8 years now unsuccessfully!) and want to also hopefully be able to share some advice that I have picked up along the way.

[Ryker]

Hi Sophia,
Welcome to the club. Here you're totally normal.

I have agoraphobia and some ocd and a few of the usual anxiety issues so completely understand what you go through, as will virtually everyone here. I'm probably what people would consider cured as I can do anything that anyone can do easily without discomfort but I know I have to keep working at it for the rest of my life to maintain that.

That's not to say we should expect anyone to reinforce or support the anxiety behaviours though. The only thing that works to crack anxiety is education about the problem and hard work and determination working the exercises.

Look forward to seeing you around.