PDA

View Full Version : how our anxiety started



leetbulldog
04-11-2012, 10:19 PM
Hey guys, we should get to know each other a little better on how our anxiety Disorder, Depression started. that way we share out thoughts and understand our disorder a little better..

Ok then I shall start then :)

my anxiety started in 2007 when I found this healthcare security guard position in my local hospital in bellflower,CA. was quite excited and eager to begin working.. never thought all those things I used to see every single night would light up my anxiety disorder. I seen people die in front of me, had to realease bodies to the mortuary people at one in the morning. Had to patrol the Emergency rooms and me seeing sick people was just getting to me.. I realize I didnt want to work there any longer because I used to take everything I seen at work home. my fellow security teammates used to tell me that if I couldn't handle this and if I thought of all the things i seen when you were in your house, the job wasn't for me. They were absolutely right, this job sure wasn't for me..I lasted just two months and I quite. Stayed at home for a while not feeling like working and not knowing that my anxiety disorder was coming.. my mind just kept seeing the sick and death everyday.every little thing that my body felt like pain and all the first thing that came to my head was the images of the sick and death at my work..me not knowing that I was triggering my own body to a world that I live today. I started with stomach pains.. I used to think the worse... That's when I was introduce to Dr. Google. I ended up in the ER like 6times before I had my first panic attack!! Dr. Google was to blame for feeding my anxiety even more. that's where the ER Docs told me there was nothing wrong with me after cat scans, MRI, blood work etc.they told me I had anxiety disorder.At first I thought they were crazy! .. I mean , I feel sick how can anxiety do all this .i lived with pain and I self diognosed muself with all the GI Problems you can find..from ulcers to colon cancer.. Lived three years with off and on pain with my stomach problems. On August of 2010, I was already feeling better and getting with my life. When my mother suffered a stroke. that there just destroyed me. Seeing your mom suffer and go through that just breaks your heart.. my mom went home a week after and now is 75percent recovered. What got to me was seeing your mom cry asking herself why that happend to her and thoughts of what if another stroke is on its way..those were all everyday thoughts for a year and a half.. well this is my story of where I believe why I have anxiety today..

laurandisorder
04-12-2012, 07:42 AM
Wow. You're an incredibly strong person!
I couldn't imagine working in that kind of environment. And the stuff about your Mum bought a tear to my eye - really sad to hear.

My story started 12 years ago. I was a normal 18 year old girl with no history of mental health problems. Until I was involved in an awful car accident. My sister and I were getting a lift to school with her friend, her Mum was driving us there. I fractured both my wrists and my thoracic vertebrae on impact. My sister was ok, her friend in the front seat face planted in the broken windscreen and had a lot of damage done to her face and her Mum took the brunt of the impact and fractured her femur.

It was a horrendous experience, I was in hospital for a week or so and for about 5 days I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything because they needed to operate on my wrists, which were smashed up, but had to make sure I had no internal injuries before they did.

Considering I was in my final year of school, I coped ok, but I started to lose weight. A lot of weight and alarm bells started to ring about eating disorders. By the end of 2002, I had spent 10 weeks in patient being treated for major depression, anorexia and bulimia.

I got my life back on track and started university and met a nice guy. The anxiety really started after my partner was involved in a minor car accident. It hit me like a truck and I was essentially agoraphobic for 6 months, a day where I could get out of the house was a good day. I got treatment and got through it and landed an amazing job.

Things were all good until last year when I went through a minor glitch. I persevered and got better.

This year has been more of a grueling experience. I lost a friend, aged 29 to a heart attack. It was sudden and unexpected. I didn't really grieve properly and now, 6 months later I am still battling anxiety and persistent panic attacks on a day to day basis.

leetbulldog
04-12-2012, 02:56 PM
Wow what a story..so the car crash sure did damage huh..

laurandisorder
04-12-2012, 11:49 PM
Yeah. I thought I was ok, but just being 18, I was really naive and refused counseling afterwards. Pretty much all of my mental health problems were attributed to PTSD from the accident.

It also led me to discover that I am possibly biologically predisposed to depression and anxiety. My mother also developed PTSD from the accident - understandably so - she nearly lost both of her kids. It turns out that there is a very strong genetic predisposition to depression on her side of the family. Her mother and sister are also dealing with mental health issues.

So with me, it's part biology, part circumstance. It makes me no less determined to get my life back!!

sparkler
04-13-2012, 12:31 AM
I think with me anxiety is something of a character trait that I have had forever. As a young baby my Mum and Dad took me to see a specialist when I was about a year old because I would cry and get so upset that I would forget to breathe until I almost passed out. So from being diagnosed as an extremely sensitive and emotional being at such a young age, I think with me it is very much a personality trait, more than the result of life events.

leetbulldog
04-13-2012, 03:59 AM
@laura wow now that you say that your mom got anxiety after your accident I share the same story... my mom got her depression/anxiety after her stroke as well. in her situation it's quite understandable.. her life was threaten ..my anxiety/stress/depression came hard after her stroke.. can u believe I'm not on any medication for it.. I think it's time I consider it... :/

leetbulldog
04-13-2012, 04:00 AM
@sparkler so since birth huh...

laurandisorder
04-13-2012, 04:16 AM
I was also a highly sensitive child. I'd worry myself sick over things like misplaced library books and went through a phase of being scared of the dark aged about 9.

There is a website on highly sensitive people - or HSPs and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of our anxiety sufferers weren't in that category.

Medication can be most beneficial depending on the individual. I'm currently warning off Valium, which has been a nightmare because I have suffered rebound panic attacks from reducing my dosage too fast. I'd also recommend counseling.

My psychiatrist has referred me to a psychologist, but it's going to be a 3 month wait to get in I'm looking into other options at the moment because I need some strategies to get through my life on a day to say basis that don't require medication.