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Maggie May
12-20-2005, 01:08 AM
Hi Everyone,

I'm so excited to have found this forum. I have wanted to join one for a long time and it just occurred to me tonight to do a search for one. :)

I have had various anxiety disorders since I was about 5. I have been diagnosed with panic disorder, OCD and phobias. I went without treatment until I was 26 because I had no idea what a phobia or anxiety was. I knew how I felt but I didn't know that those words described how I felt. Does that make sense? I love my parents but they never really got how anxious I was as a kid, so after awhile I stopped telling them.

It wasn't until I had a panic attack on a 4.5 hour flight from Chicago to San Francisco and spent 4 hours locked in the airplane bathroom that I finally vowed to figure out what was wrong and to do whatever it took to fix it.

I've had some luck with meds, exercise and CBT. I'm not all the way there, but I try to measure my progress in months and years, not days and weeks.

I am in my first year in graduate school to get a doctorate in Clinical Psychology. I love it and so far I'm doing well.

I'm looking to give and get support through this forum. It's hard to find people who understand who are also close by geographically, but I am a member of another unrelated forum and it has been a great source of comfort to me.

Anyway, that's what I'm all about. :wink:

Maggie

brickyard_red
12-20-2005, 05:49 AM
Welcome Maggie May! I'm so glad you decided to do a search for anxiety forums and it led you here. :) Also, I'm glad to hear that you found out there is a name for what you are feeling. That in itself should help make you feel a little better.

You are not alone and I'm sure you will find that there are many here with the same feelings and fears as you. Welcome to the family. :)

Cath :)

shoe
12-20-2005, 07:35 AM
Hi Maggie May, welcome to the forum. That's cool you are seeking a degree in the field of psychology, its certainly a fascinating subject. I've taken two courses in psychology, one of which I really enjoyed (Abnormal Psychology) probably because it discusses anxiety and other disorders hehe.

good to have you on board
shoe