Why isn't this more of a big deal??

[TheRookX1]

I'm new to this forum, but have been dealing with full-blown anxiety disorder and symtoms for about a year and a half. I have been helped a lot by visiting online sites and forums like this, and while I still worry about symptoms and struggle with anxiety and the effects all the time, I am definitely a LOT better off than I was when it first started happening.

But it just really hit me, looking through this forum, and seeing how there are SO many people out there that all have this symptoms, that used to scare me to death and make me think I had a hundred different diseases, and then you look here and see how many people all have the same things happening to them, every day....it struck me, WHY ISN'T THIS MORE WIDELY KNOWN? Why is it that the only place for people like us to get some comfort and explanation for everything that's happening to us is from other people who are struggling just like us? Why isn't there more out there for people regarding stress and anxiety? Why is this such a little-known or cared about issue in the health community??

[coops025]

Fully agree with you Anxiety is very underestimated indeed, the problem is people would have to suffer from this to respect how difficult life can be with it.

I tell people its not like a cold that goes after a week or so its constant and takes months to years to fix. Have you ever stood up too fast and your dizzy? "yes" well imagine feeling like that all the time with no way of stopping it. Just one symtom that they can relate too a guess.

Doctors seem to cower away on Anxiety also as they just dont understand alot about it. My Doctor had his head in his hands saying "what is wrong with you"?? Well hmmm thats why im here Mr Doctor. Unfortunalty its down to us the suffers to find our own solution on other peoples events and solutions, thats why we are all here :)

If i didnt find this site im almost certain my sytoms would still be here grinding me into the floor.

[Captain Deep Breath]

I think the only people who truly understand how big a deal it is are the people who have it. And these people have too much anxiety to tell the world. We'd rather just keep to ourselves and focus on our breathing ;)

[Topcat]

I think the only people who truly understand how big a deal it is are the people who have it. And these people have too much anxiety to tell the world. We'd rather just keep to ourselves and focus on our breathing ;)


I think you are so right, unless you have suffered from anxiety or the terror you feel during a panic attack you will never understand how debilitating it can be. Most people's reaction is to say "pull yourself together" or "just dont worry about it".

I openly talk about the way I am too people and if they dont like it then tough I am the way I am and haven't got time to worry about what others think of me.

[coops025]

Yep so basicly we all need to band together and share our experiances to help one another.

I came here a few months back and Topcat came to my aid giving me a better way of life along with Northstar :) I cant thank you enough for your help.

[Robbed]

I think the only people who truly understand how big a deal it is are the people who have it. And these people have too much anxiety to tell the world. We'd rather just keep to ourselves and focus on our breathing ;)

This brings me to another group of people who understand what anxiety disorder is all about: those who have had anxiety disorder and completely recovered. Since the lion's share of people with anxiety disorder eventually WILL recover completely without any intervention, there are actually plenty of these people out there. But for these people, there is typically a sense of shame of having suffered from anxiety disorder. This is often exacerbated by the fact that we as a society have been programmed to believe that mental health problems like anxiety disorder are lifelong illnesses that will NEVER go away (ironically, this happened mainly in an effort to get people to realize that anxiety disorder IS real and not imagined). The result is that there is a general reluctance among those who have suffered anxiety disorder at some point to actually admit that they did or to talk about it. As a result, former anxiety sufferers keep quiet and just try to put it all behind them.

[JSS]

I think people think that we're trying to get attention. I'm certain I have some form of anxiety problem. I worry about EVERYTHING, even things that aren't a problem. Like the original poster said, I've also thought I've had every disease in the world at some point too. But people only seem to say 'pull yourself together' or 'stop worrying', or something equally unhelpful. To me it's like telling someone with cancer to take some aspirin and walk it off.

[(HAWK)]

All Doctors do is give you Meds,there should be more put into finding out how to treat anxiety BETTER and anxiety should be addressed more!

[Nikkie04]

I suffered with full blown anxiety in the northern territory in a remote town called Katherine. I could not get the help i needed there, the doctors (even ambos and hospital staff) kept treating me for dehydration and hooking me up to a saline drip and then sending me home. I cracked the shits and said well if aint physical then it has to be mental, so i booked myself an appointment with community mental health and said what had been happening and wham! i was diagnosed. I went back to my doctor and told him what the brain doctor (psychologist) said and then i was put on meds, anti depressants, Valium, anti vomit meds etc. I was diagnosed 11 months after the onset of symptoms, i went into hospital for my tonsils to be removed, and as an ex ambo i decided to amuse myself by reading my charts, (i never had heard of anxiety before i was diagnosed) and low and behold but when i was FIRST brought in to hospital, one of the ambos had actually written "possible anxiety attack???" in the notes. 11 months i could have been getting the right treatment. I then had to move back to Tasmania to get the correct long term treatment. I refuse to take the drugs now except for the daily anti depressant one.

[Iridisis]

Bold, confident risk-taking people are often over-confident by nature and thus judgmental by nature. Their small minds cannot conceive of a problem they've never actually experienced. I've had plenty of them try to "fix" me and I'm just amazed at how totally CLUELESS they are.

[silentcheese24]

I think people think that we're trying to get attention. I'm certain I have some form of anxiety problem. I worry about EVERYTHING, even things that aren't a problem. Like the original poster said, I've also thought I've had every disease in the world at some point too. But people only seem to say 'pull yourself together' or 'stop worrying', or something equally unhelpful. To me it's like telling someone with cancer to take some aspirin and walk it off.

your right JSS im tired of hearing "stop worrying" or "get over it". people dont understand what we panicky peoples go through. i hav had a lot of people say that im doing it for attention. if those people had to be any one of us they wouldnt last a day.

[Iridisis]

if those people had to be any one of us they wouldnt last a day.

AMEN TO THAT!!!

Isn't there an old indian proverb that goes something like, "may I not judge a man until I walked many miles in his moccassins."

[jemmalou1992]

I think its shocking the way ppl talk about anxiety, like say pull yrself together and stop being stupid. ITS HARD! if u think about it, anxiety is fear and the thing thts going to be more fearful in life is fear itself? fear is a scary thing and when the doctors cant explain the way u are feeling, it creates even more fear! lol x

[bethann11374]

I totally, totally agree!! My husband use to say to me "It's mind over matter" and "Just don't think about it"...I was so tired of hearing that and finally when I ended up in the hospital my doctor told him that Anxiety/Depression was a disease just like cancer and ya cant just not think about it and it will vanish. He somewhat understands better now and trys harder to talk me out of an attack but its so hard to explain to someone who has never experienced them.

[dtrotter]

actually, most of the cases trigger by the fear of failure/ fear of hitting rock bottom on certain things.

In reality, there's nothing fear about. Even if you are dying, what to be fear about? Well, let's just say it's human nature to indulge in negativity.

I was no exceptional, i did the same thing and that's what got me into depression/panic attack and ADD. LOL, it seems i had the cocktail of disorder but i managed to get out of it 8 months ago :)

[Robbed]

Bold, confident risk-taking people are often over-confident by nature and thus judgmental by nature. Their small minds cannot conceive of a problem they've never actually experienced. I've had plenty of them try to "fix" me and I'm just amazed at how totally CLUELESS they are.

Then again, anxiety sufferers can be judgemental, too. For instance, a friend of mine has problems when it comes to driving (among other things). He looks at exceeding the speed limit (or, in MANY cases, even driving AT the speed limit) as blatantly endangering lives. He has gotten on my case about my driving for this very reason. And he has even talked about getting a gun and shooting at speeding cars (I personally don't believe this is something you even JOKE about!). My mom can be anxious at times, too. And she likes to make a big deal about my tendency to hike alone in the mountains, and the fact that I don't consider doing so after dark to be a big deal. She even talks about it like it is such a strange, deviant sort of thing to do. If these folks are not passing judgement, then I don't know what 'passing judgement' means.

One more thing. Being 'anxious' vs 'bold, confident, and risk-taking' is not NEARLY as black and white as this post suggests. Rather, it is really more of an issue of degree and the situation. Even most people with somewhat severe anxiety disorder have things that they are not afraid of. And, in this sense, can be 'bold, confident, and risk-taking'. Those people who you might consider 'confident' do have their fears as well. A good example might be the aforementioned hiking alone in the mountains. MANY 'normal' people fear this. Yet, there are probably more than a few folks here who would feel more comfortable doing this than trying to mingle in social situations.