Friend hospitalised with anxiety

[UpToYou]

Hi all,

I just joined this forum to get some understanding and advice as to what is going on with my friend.

He was admitted to hospital with 'severe anxiety' around a week ago. I've not heard from him since and apparently visiting at this stage is unsuitable.

I'm not really sure what could have caused this. He's quite successful in most areas of life, however he did/does have a few stressful (but not what I'd consider overwhelming) events coming up in his life. He's certainly not someone I'd describe as happy-go-lucky and he takes a fairly cautious approach to most things but then again he's not a huge introvert either.

How long do people in his kind of situation generally remain as inpatients, and is he likely to return to his usual self soon after being discharged.

Also, is it something I should talk to him about in the future, or just resume our friendship as if this event didn't happen. It would feel a bit weird just ignoring it in the future, but if this is part of getting back to normality...

Thanks for any help you can give,

Concerned friend

[mrslizzyg]

Hey there!

I think it is really nice of you to try to learn more about what you friend is going through. Anxiety and other mental illnesses are severely misunderstood and people lack education about them. They seem to think it is something we can just "get over" when in fact it is not. Your friend is really having a hard time dealing with the stress in his life, and to him it is very, VERY real.

Referring to your quote about him having a few stressful events but not ones that you yourself would consider overwhelming:
Anxiety disorders trigger our fight or flight response faster than it would occur in most individuals. Say you are in front of a bear- likely your anxiety triggers a response that is significant. Well, with someone who has anxiety, ours would trigger a similar response (as if we were infront of a bear) EXCEPT the issue at hand is a lot less significant, like a lot of paperwork to due from work, issues with family life, etc..


There are also many different TYPES of anxiety. Generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety, OCD...
It is different for every person.

Rarely do I say to use a website like WebMD, but they actually have a lot of valuable information about anxiety disorders and would be a good read for you. :)

Yes, PLEASE treat your friend the same as you did before. Speaking from my own personal experience I hate when people treat me differently because I have anxiety. I am still a completely normal and capable human being, I just struggle with stress more than you average person. For some people it is so bad that it is crippling or requires hospitalization.. But if you make them feel different afterwards this really could make things worse.

He may or may not continue to struggle after the fact. It is different for each person. He may need to be on medications, go to therapy, etc.. He might come out changed. There is really no way to tell. =/

Let them come to you to talk about it. Some people don't even like to admit they struggle with anxiety let alone have a full blown conversation about it.

You are a good friend for coming here. There are a lot of other people here who can give you some great insight as well. :)

[JohnC]

I would ask him if he would like to talk about it. Are you not allowed to see him or does he just not want visitors?

[NixonRulz]

Hey there!

I think it is really nice of you to try to learn more about what you friend is going through. Anxiety and other mental illnesses are severely misunderstood and people lack education about them. They seem to think it is something we can just "get over" when in fact it is not. Your friend is really having a hard time dealing with the stress in his life, and to him it is very, VERY real.

Referring to your quote about him having a few stressful events but not ones that you yourself would consider overwhelming:
Anxiety disorders trigger our fight or flight response faster than it would occur in most individuals. Say you are in front of a bear- likely your anxiety triggers a response that is significant. Well, with someone who has anxiety, ours would trigger a similar response (as if we were infront of a bear) EXCEPT the issue at hand is a lot less significant, like a lot of paperwork to due from work, issues with family life, etc..


There are also many different TYPES of anxiety. Generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety, OCD...
It is different for every person.

Rarely do I say to use a website like WebMD, but they actually have a lot of valuable information about anxiety disorders and would be a good read for you. :)

Yes, PLEASE treat your friend the same as you did before. Speaking from my own personal experience I hate when people treat me differently because I have anxiety. I am still a completely normal and capable human being, I just struggle with stress more than you average person. For some people it is so bad that it is crippling or requires hospitalization.. But if you make them feel different afterwards this really could make things worse.

He may or may not continue to struggle after the fact. It is different for each person. He may need to be on medications, go to therapy, etc.. He might come out changed. There is really no way to tell. =/

Let them come to you to talk about it. Some people don't even like to admit they struggle with anxiety let alone have a full blown conversation about it.

You are a good friend for coming here. There are a lot of other people here who can give you some great insight as well. :)

The above is a perfect answer. Great that you are so concerned about him to come on in here