I work , go places, seem normal on the outside (don't we all) but realise I have put a restriction in where I go and what I do incase of panic. It has slowly got worse and I want it to get better. Want to do holidays and overnighters and have fun. Life has sooo much to offer and I want to get out and enjoy it more, but struggle with doing so. It's like that dam chatterbox "yes you can , no you can't, I'm ok, oh no you're not " seriously !! . Has anyone found this to become an add on to their condition ?
Its like being on a yoyo, hit me 17 years ago because of stress, have had low low times since , but last 7 years pretty okish. I often imagine what it would be like to just wake up and not have the worries and anxiety that we do, and to be able to challenge and succeed , what a buzz .
Why do so many of us have this ? Is it upbringing ? Personality traits? Trauma trigger ?
Just a side note anyone going through the exhausting continual physical symptoms of anxiety attacks, a worthwhile read is the two books written by Dr Claire Weekes, when I came out of hospital it helped hugely and has got me through some really rough times.
Sorry now I'm rambling 🙊
Agoraphobia is a characteristic of anxiety. Yes its normal.
Can really relate to this post. I will reply properly when I finish work!
Dr. Claire Weekes book helped me, I thought I was losing my mind until I read her book. As she writes, all of these physical manifestations are the results of your mind bluffing your body. It took me a while to truly accept this fact. As I have written before I dated 2 psychologists, I was not seeing any of them professionally, I mentioned my panic attacks, and the book I had been reading, they said it was unusual I was progressing without professional help.
The bottom line, I read her book many times, I conditioned myself to accept what this is, something that I created, in that respect i'm lucky because I know what triggered these feelings.
This was in the 70's, since then I've had minimal episodes, the most important thing to understand, we change, all of us, this anxiety thing will pass, but it will not be forgotten, we can't erase it from our minds, but we can control it, I did, so can you..
Hi i was extremely agrophobic about 9 years ago. Been better inbetween but now again, my world is shrinking. I'm trying to just accept everything as a feeling and while it is uncomfortable and exhausting, ALWAYS passes, No we don't want to feel these things but its almost as if we have to so that we have the evidence that nothing really terrible happens. I'm great at giving advice but not taking it! When i was really bad i had CBT which really helped but i wasn't working then so had the time. Sounds like you're a functioning anxiety sufferer, like me, people who don't know me wouldn't know. I think now for me its learned behaviour and stress just brings everything back again. I too want to have fun and not waste my life. Its hard i know. xxx
My original post is being moderated, probably because i mentioned a book you made reference to, I can identify with what you are going through, Fortunately I found the answer to my problem, it took some time, but I came to realize that my mind was playing tricks on my body, this panic is our defense mechanism that we all have, fight, or run which I've posted before. What I went through was giving access to this inborn feeling. I opened a door by reliving an event I went through after eating a big meal, then hyperventilating. I thought this was it when it happened, and had my ffirst panic attack.
I lived with these episodes for some time until I read a book that explained what was happening, it was like a feel good pill. I kept rereading the passages that I identified with, and after a while I managed to recondition myself. That's the key, to recondition, over come the habit, it can be done.