Things do get easier

[hannah86]

Hello Everyone!
I am new to this site and i think that this forum is a great idea because i think when you are suffering with anxiety you can often feel like you are the only person in the world suffering.
I suffer with anxiety and i think it all started when i was diagnosed with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)- this totally knocked my confidence and caused me to panic in situations where i never would have felt anxious before.
At one stage my anxiety had got so worse that i felt i couldnt leave the house, i couldnt sleep, i couldnt attend my exams and it was putting a real strain on my relationship with my boyfriend.
I personally dont agree with taking drugs to treat anxiety because i feel they address the symptoms and not the cause.
I have tried acupuncture and client centred counselling both which helped a small amount but i still felt completely lost and helpless.
My mum booked a holiday for me and my boyfriend and i was so scared about getting on the plane incase i had a panic attack and couldnt get off (i've never been scared of flying in the past).
I told myself that i would get on the plane but when i got off at the other end i wouldnt take my anxiety with me- i know this might sound silly but i see my anxiety as this ugly little creature inside me and i CAN control it and this horrible creature was going to STAY on the plane.
The first couple of days i still felt some anxiety but slowly i started to feel better. I had left my anxiety behind and i think a good change of scenery really helped.
Now i am back off holiday i have never felt better, it has been three weeks now and i feel so free. I had allowed my anxiety to consume me, my whole life and i thought i would never feel any relief.
If you can afford to do it then i think a week away somewhere really helps- tell yourself that the anxiety is NOT coming back with you and really mean it. Its TOTALLY in your control.
My method might seem a little mad but i honestly felt so bad before and just couldnt see any light at the end of the tunnel, i think i was even scared of my own shadow.
Sorry this is a long post but i just wanted people to know that it does get easier and there is hope, although i still sometimes feel a little bit anxious i quickly stop it before it comes back.
My dad once said to me "its your body, its totally in your control, so be strong and take control now" and he was so right.
Hope this might help someone. Thanks for reading.
Hannah

[hannah86]

I know what you mean about convincing yourself that you are crazy.
When i was feeling really bad i was convinced that i must be going mad and that i was going to end up in a mental institute. I think that unless the doctor says its depression or really is a mental illness then i think it is within our minds control it just really doesn't feel like it at times!
I know it doesn't sound much help but just give it time.

[shiftleft]

reading these posts just stopped my anxiety attack that i was going through, it truly is all in your mind.

[Robbed]

hmm i too excperience anxiety massively ....it all started after taking the drugs LSD.....my doctors say that what im experiencing now is just post traumatic anxiety,,,,in my head i some how convinced myself that im crazy and things are never gonna let up...your story really inspires me, i guess its true that we do own our boddies, but do we really , eventually they will leave us , and so will our minds, i guess its safe to say while we we own em for a while.....so i understand your point in taking control and focusing forwardly on controling that ugly troll in our minds!!! all the best

LSD is one EVIL SOB of a drug! I made the mistake of trying LSD over 13 years ago. And I felt only one thing after trying it - sorry! I felt anxious for quite some time after trying it. After about a year, though, things were quite a bit better (alhough I still felt somewhat 'off'). And after about 2.5 years, I was completely back to normal. You may fare better than I did, as I spent ALOT of that time living in intense fear of never getting better again (yet I still recovered without therapy or meds).

Of course, my current anxiety started many years later (last October) over stress and personal issues. And it is somewhat different. I just hope that the fact that I recovered years ago is a good sign.


I know what you mean about convincing yourself that you are crazy.
When i was feeling really bad i was convinced that i must be going mad and that i was going to end up in a mental institute. I think that unless the doctor says its depression or really is a mental illness then i think it is within our minds control it just really doesn't feel like it at times!
I know it doesn't sound much help but just give it time.

A couple of things about this. First of all, MOST forms of depression are actually cognitively-based emotional disorders like anxiety (unlike true psychiatric disorders like bipolar disorder or psychosis). So they can be treated using the same techniques used for the treatment of anxiety. Secondly, be careful of what doctors say. Doctors (especially psychiatrists) typically buy into the notion that emotional disorders like depression and anxiety are permanent conditions you are doomed to suffer with for life, and which REQUIRE long-term medication. In the vast majority of cases, this is not true.

As for it being within yourself to control depression and anxiety, this is true. BUT keep in mind that, at the same time, you CAN'T just snap out of it no matter how hard you try. When in an anxiety state, your brain actually IS chemically imbalanced. And recovery consists of your brain chemistry returning to its normal state. This takes time - and lots of it. Realize that while you can (and probably will) recover, it won't happen overnight. Or possibly even within several months. Expect recovery to take a long time.

[hannah86]

Is it not a bit harsh to suggest that most psychiatrists think that people are doomed to spend the rest of their life suffering stuck on medication?
I have just completed a psychology degree and the evidence i have seen and studied doesn't suggest this.

[Robbed]

Is it not a bit harsh to suggest that most psychiatrists think that people are doomed to spend the rest of their life suffering stuck on medication?
I have just completed a psychology degree and the evidence i have seen and studied doesn't suggest this.

Just go look at just about ANY website that is intended to inform about anxiety (as opposed to a forum like this one) and you will see that it is considered 'incurable'. Also, keep in mind that it is the livelihood of a psychiatist to medicate people. As for your degree, remember that psychiatrist = MD = perscribing meds. Psychology is a completely different profession altogether, although even many psychoogists either believe this as well or just don't have a clue about anxiety. Believe me, I know.

[Foxfire]

Hannah, if you've just completed a psychology degree, then you are now in the almost unique position of being one of the only psychologists capable of empathising with people with this disorder. Please, give us all hope and go out and become proficient in dealing with this from the insiders perspective. I think nearly all of us have had negative experiences with people who are supposed to be able to help with this condition. Sounds like it could be a good specialty for you and would immediately set you apart from the competition!

[TWYI]

Is it not a bit harsh to suggest that most psychiatrists think that people are doomed to spend the rest of their life suffering stuck on medication?
I have just completed a psychology degree and the evidence i have seen and studied doesn't suggest this.

Psychology and psychiatry are totally different though :?

[hannah86]

Thanks, i do think that it will be a great help for me in my future job that i myself have suffered with anxiety and i will be able to understand how people are feeling.
I find it hard because my family never understand how im feeling and i think they sometimes think i am maybe just putting it all on for the attention. Does anyone else have family that find it difficult to understand?