Anxiety has taken over my life.. help!??

[becks xxx]

Ok basically, i've got to the point now where i don't know where to turn next. I've stopped attending school, i may do half a day every now and then if i can face it but when im in school i get panicky and have to get out of lessons and so on..
My bedroom has become my "safe place".. i just feel like i always want to be alone and i have no hope for the future. Some days i'll be really optimistic then out of nowhere i have a few days where im down and thinking i wish my life was just over.
I haven't had a panic attack in about a month, but i think ive realised thats only because i haven't been facing my fears. I haven't been going out in social places, eg. school, shopping centres. I've been at home, stuck in my room, imaginging i have all these serious illnesses wrong with me so no wonder i haven't had an attack ive had nothing to be afriad of! i also suffer from depersonalization/derealisation it's horrible but when it comes i can't help but obsess over it being a mental illness.
I do get counselling but it's not really helping, ive been offered medication but im too scared of side effects and becoming addicted.
I don't know what to do now.......
help/advice please??

[Charmbracelet81]

Ok, I fee like I just read something that came from me!! You sound exactly like me!!! I have a job, and I have to keep it, but its sheer terror getting through those 6 hours! If I could stay in my room all day, I would. I have generalized anxiety and panic disorder as well as OCD becaseu of my repeated thoughts of death and of me having a disease. My main focus is my heart. I have seen numerous Dr's and all say nothing is wrong, but I think THEY ARE WRONG!!! So I keep going back :( It's getting expensive, but in my mind, something is WRONG! I try to tell myself all the physical symptoms I have such as palpitations, and chest pain are from being high strung every waking moment of my life, not from my heart. I am also in therapy, and it has helped as far as getting through panic attacks and venturing out, but my thoughts and daily anxiety have complete control of me still....I also do not want medicine because of the hypochondria: I will be searching for negative symptoms of the pills, and am afraid of becoming addicted and "needing" the meds and never knowing who I am because I have a pill as a mask. SOrry for rambling, just wanted you to know, we are ALOT alike and I hope we find some answers and help on here!!!! :?

[becks xxx]

Sorry for the late reply, only saw this today!! And omg, feel sorry for you with work and everything aswell! I've just had easter half-term, go back 2 skl monday...and 2 weeks ago it ws going soo slow and i just kept finking ah wanna go back, now it's soo close im sooo anxious and worrying. Also i find myself like, when im in public, same thoughts run through my head like omg what if i faint infront of every1 and stuff like tht!?!?
That's what i do though, as soon as im in from skl or something, im straight back to my room. i eat dinner up there now and everything, if i have family round sometimes i dont even go down and say hello cos i just cant face it.
And same here!!! my main focus most of the time is my heart, wen i had my worst panic attack i was soo 100% sure i was dying it was unreal, so so scary! I have all those physical symptoms too! but if i was honest, i think ive had anxiety all my life
cos wen i was little i used to be up the doctors every week with chest pain and they was like its anxiety, then told me to be on my way, never did they try help cos it wasnt bad then
but now after like 10/11 years it's all built up n bam come out at it's worst :(
but i think i have something more serious, i can't help but to think that ! no doctors done tests or anything, altho i did have a blood test last yr cos i thought i ws anemic and they done a full blood count n everything was fine. few months back i was so sure i had bipolar, but i dont, my thoughts just get the better of me and i cant stop that.
good luck 2 u

[Charmbracelet81]

I don't know what more to say, because you summed it up nicely!! I have the same thought process and actions asyou do!

[palow]

Here's how I recovered:

Get into CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) or buy a do-it-yourself anxiety programme based on CBT. I used Linden and it worked well for me. If you get a CB therapist, make sure you get one who teaches you how to flip all your anxious thoughts (when you get down to it, there are only about a dozen that you repeat a hundred thousand times a day in your head) into positive thoughts. Avoid therapists who want you to talk about your past or keep you in therapy forever. CBT has a strict time limit.

Enroll into a yoga or qigong class to correct your posture and breathing. At the same time, enroll into an aerobics class to get some strength and power into your body. It will calm heart palpitations.

Give yourself a time limit to recover (so that you focus). 4 months is good. Experts say 4 months is the time it takes to programme any new habit into your subconscious. We are all Pavlov's Dogs. You are programming posture, deep breathing and a whole new calm and loving personality. For 4 months DO NOT listen to a word that your conscious minds says. It will tell you it is not working, you're wasting time, etc etc. Just keep going and have faith.

Patrick

[Anthony DiClementi]

All great suggestions. Along with almost everything mentioned above, I've also been going to a chiropractor that has helped a lot with my posture and avoiding "Forward Head Position" which can restrict circulation to the brain and make anxiety worse. I also take 4,000-6,000mg of omega 3s every day.