You guys I'm upset ):

[medic09]

Every time I've reached out on any anxiety forum, whether here or somewhere else, I come out empty handed. I have had 2 vague replies out of multiple posts here and elsewhere. I have debilitating anxiety, and I need help, or at least someone to talk to. I've been playing phone tag with my psychiatrist office, and I couldn't get an appointment until about a month away. My doctors appointment is about the same time away. I need intervention SOON, because every anxiety attack I have feels like a medical emergency, and it has become debilitating. One person tells me it's just anxiety and doesn't grasp the gravity of the situation, another friend can't help me and my mother has suggest checking in to a psych ward. I have no one else. Please. Can someone just reply to me. I just want to know I'm not alone.

[smokvica]

Hey, I will reply, since I seemed to have calmed down considerably...(who knows, maybe the calm is just in my head :P)

So, what does your anxiety stem from? Do you know, or you haven't found out yet. One of my friends recommended to me: Mindfulness. I still don't know what this is exactly, but I will be looking into it. And just going around talking with people that have similar issues does help, my friends helped me now...I just sent them messages and they all tried to calm me down, so it is good to always have someone that won't judge you and be there for you...a calm person. I try to be surrounded by positive people, but in this day and age, there is a lot of pessimism everywhere, cynicism and so on...sigh.

[medic09]

My health anxiety is debilitating. It interferes with my Paramedic class, it interferes with me sleeping, I'm too afraid to take my own medicine, etc. It has been severely bad recently.. I have these scary, inner body sensations that happen sometimes and it causes me to go into anxiety attack mode. It's almost as if I had a sudden drop in blood pressure. It makes me feel as if I have to crumple over and keep me head down in order to be able to breathe, see straight, not faint, etc. BUT, if I keep my head up, I'm able to do those things, but this sensation amplifies. I sometimes have hot flashes with it and other times I go really cold to the touch, even my chest and stomach. I'm chronically dehydrated; the first "episode" I had with that sensation I was in shock from dehydration. Now it seems to happen more frequently, especialy since I started a class relating to health problems (Paramedic).

[DrStrangeluv]

Every time I've reached out on any anxiety forum, whether here or somewhere else, I come out empty handed. I have had 2 vague replies out of multiple posts here and elsewhere. I have debilitating anxiety, and I need help, or at least someone to talk to. I've been playing phone tag with my psychiatrist office, and I couldn't get an appointment until about a month away. My doctors appointment is about the same time away. I need intervention SOON, because every anxiety attack I have feels like a medical emergency, and it has become debilitating. One person tells me it's just anxiety and doesn't grasp the gravity of the situation, another friend can't help me and my mother has suggest checking in to a psych ward. I have no one else. Please. Can someone just reply to me. I just want to know I'm not alone.

Well... The way I look at it is that everyone in this forum is on the same boat( not the Titanic btw). No one is being cold or anything, to be honest if it were that easy, they wouldn't be here in the first place but outside with you "dancing in the rain"... :) Actually 90% of those who get better never come back to this or other forums because they are happy and well and don't have time or the desire to live in the past. I'm the 10% who stays behind to help the stragglers.

Is not that people don't want to help, they just don't know how because they feel the same way as you do. Sometimes you just need to vent, don't take it personal if no one answers, people are looking at your post just don't know what to say, some just can't take the emotional discharge from someone else going thru the same things and would rather avoid hearing about something that triggers their own anxiety. Psychologists and psychiatrists actually have their own shrinks because they are human lightning rods, so you see how tough it can be for any human being... /Then again I see dozens of new posts, replying to every single one is well not possible unless I were to get high on something.

Anyway.. with that out of the way...I'll be clear... neither your friend nor your relatives or superman can help you son, because the answer lies within you. I have no doubt that if they could pick your brain and turn you into a model citizen they would have done so already.

Now.. unless you like wearing straight jackets for fashion you don't belong in a psych ward, moms do what moms do best, and that is scare you.. so you somehow change your behavior, remember when you were little and they said something like don't do this or that or the boogeyman is going to get you? Well it might have worked in the past... when you were 5.

The doctor's appointment being 1 month away is just plain wrong, who's this guy? Dr. Oz? if they care about you please tell them to find you a doctor within a week that can prescribe you short-term relief via gaba enhancing "benzos" ( xanax / ativan / klonopin ),.. just 1/4 of a pill will do wonders. or better yet.. beta blockers( propanolol/ atenolol ) . The second class is even more benign that the first and they don't require a prescription, also if you are scared about your heart of anything, they are used as heart medicine. And yes this is a disease just like diabetics need insulin, people need to get stabilized.

I just want to end with a thought... YES you will get better, just hang in there.. and try to understand that there's a reason why you are stuck in that pothole, something happened to you, I don't know what, I don't know why, that's for you to figure out on your own. Maybe you already know what it is, but what i've seen that usually is about people coming to terms with their own human condition(money, relationships, and specially mortality). But understand that you have two choices you can either continue to despair, blame others and not get well... or you can believe in yourself, take control and be well( Please choose what's behind door number 2)

When you get stabilized... look within...

[Nowuccas]

Hey medic09,

Psychiatrists are much more likely to prescribe anxiolytic medications, such as a SSRI like Paxil, or possibly even a benzodiazepine like Klonopin; see drugs.com & mediguard.org re possible side effects. SSRIs are associated with a high rate of sexual dysfunction, and benzodiazepines are addictive, with a very long weaning off period, and long term use substantially increases the risk of dementia.

You would very probably benefit more in the long term from consulting a clinical psychologist and having up to 6 months of cognitive behavioural therapy. Google: "clinical psychologists; CBT, (your location)".

In the meantime there are some techniques which may help:

Give the Meridian Tapping Technique / EFT a good tryout, to see if it helps you. It is free via the searchbar at mercola.com "EFT" & "EFT therapists" or tapping.com (13 free videos), or eftuniverse.com or emofree.com or one of the many YouTube videos. Google: "YouTube; EFT videos".
Professionally instructed is generally preferable. - There is a version for use in public places at eft.mercola.com (if you like, you can claim to have a headache, as you employ the acupressure massage / tapping on your temples, but you would then be restricted to subvocalising: saying it to yourself in your mind: "Even though I suffer from anxiety, I deeply and completely accept myself)."

Also give Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) as shown at drcoxconsulting.com/managing-stress.html a good tryout, and use whichever works best for you.

Learn and use the Technique for Reprogramming Negative Thoughts: It's important to regularly monitor, and deal with a negative internal monologue (self talk), or mental process, such as disturbing thoughts, images, impulses, or emotions, by the process of (a): recognising it, and (b): challenging it immediately. Technique For Re-Programming Negative Thoughts: When you notice something negative, such as: "I can't do this/ am never going to get over this!" or: "Why am I always so useless/such a loser?" or even an image, emotion, or a memory; recognise that it is being generated from the negative part of your mind.

After identifying and labelling it, visualise a large, red, flashing, "STOP!" sign, and/or possibly a stern faced person wagging an index finger at you in a negative manner, then say to yourself as forcefully as you can, even aloud in a big voice, if alone: "I know this tactic: GO AWAY FOR A WHILE !!!" You may want to use either: "ruse", "ploy", "game", or "trick". In the case of an image, visualise a large "STOP" sign, or your preferred version.

Some people go so far as to keep a wide rubber band in their pocket, then put it around their wrist, when they catch themselves backsliding, stretch and release it, as a method of reprogramming their mind sooner, but I don't regard it as being strictly necessary. Remember to remove it, afterwards, if you use this method. Try replacing a negative thought with a positive affirmation of your choice, like: "I am a unique individual, with my own set of skills, and good points", or "I may not be perfect, but I'm doing the best I can, right now".

Limit "worrying time" to 30 - 45 mns, daily, possibly when you get home, or after your evening meal, but not too close to bedtime, after which, resolve firmly to refuse to worry again on that day. Understand that to do otherwise would be counterproductive to your mental health, and enjoyment of life. Having had your "worry time" for the day, you can just write down any more thoughts that come to mind, and say to yourself: "Well, I'll just have to worry about that tomorrow, won't I?".

[jessed03]

This forum has been super quiet lately. Either the guys who own it have forgotten about it, or anxiety has gone out of fashion? Maybe we should all get a different disorder!

Have you been given any benzos by your doctor or psych?

[Davit]

There are a vast number of different techniques that work for different people, but they all work for somebody. I've become wary of talking about what works for me after being told I don't what I'm talking about. Yet here I am totally recovered and not ridiculing any ones post. Just reading and gathering information. Maybe in time I'll talk about it, but right now it isn't important. Suffice to say positive thought is very important no matter what technique you use.