I've had anxiety for a few years now. I thought I had it beat with almost a year clean with manageable attacks in-between. Now it's back. And it's come with a vengeance. I feel emotionally drained. Scared that at any moment i can fall into a panic. I feel I have no one. I feel my family look at me as if I'm being dramatic. " Get a hold of yourself" "calm down" "it's all in your head"... As if I have a choice or am able to control it at the time. It makes me feel stupid. Dramatic. Weak. So I hide. Feeling alone. I hate to go to work. I hate feeling these feelings in public with people who don't understand. People who minimize my pain because they have no clue what it's like to feel trapped in your own body. Being attacked by your own mind. Decieved by your own thoughts. Anxiety has ruined me.
Hi Cogee,
I can offer you empathy my friend.
I have been suffering with Chronic Anxiety for six years and right at this moment I feel mentally drained.
It is often difficult for others to see someone who they love / care for going through bad Anxiety.
Discuss how you feel with your doctor who will be able to help with advice and meds if required.
All the best
Peace
Thank you for your time and for your words. It's good to hear back from anyone.
Hi Cogee,
I just want you to know you are not alone, I have had 20 years of anxiety with peaceful times then huge flare ups out of seemingly nowhere, I am in a flare up now and it's exhausting, living hell.
A good therapist once said to me that fighting anxiety is the worst thing you can do because it makes it worse, she said you should accept it and simply focus on coping with each moment as it happens, I appreciate that it's easier said than done though.
The flare up I am having at the moment is the worst in a long time but I did have one a few months ago and I got through that one by refusing to cope with anything except the next 5 minutes, that was all I had to do, my only job was to survive those 5 minutes, not the hours or days ahead because thinking of it that way made it seem too huge and overwhelming.
I am struggling with that approach at the moment because I have too many bad memories of a major breakdown I had at this exact same time last year but it has certainly helped a lot in the past.
I don't know what kind of help you have had in the past but it's always worth repeating things like therapy or adjustments to medication if you use it and feel it might help but most of all keep talking, post here every day if you need to, anxiety feeds off of those feelings of isolation and it's a very lonely feeling when you are suffering and amongst people who have no idea how awful it really is.
Take care.
You're not alone in this. I've had anxiety for...sheesh...15+ years but it recently resurfaced after years of managing it. And mine came back worse than ever. My family had a difficult time understanding it as well. My husband is a happy-go-lucky kind of guy so he would tell me to shake it off, or it's fine, blah blah blah. It was infuriating because it wasn't that easy. If it were I would've done it! It wasn't until I had a few sever attacks that led me into the ER and a month of leave from work that he finally started to understand. He also had some friends that have this condition so they helped shed some light on it as well. My treatment consists of one on one therapy, group therapy, and medication through a psychiatrist. It's been a struggle - won't lie, but I have made progress. I'm also looking into vitamins and supplements but I'll have to speak with my psychiatrist to make sure there's no conflict with my meds. You have options. Therapy, psychiatrist, or naturopath. The important part is to move forward with a treatment plan. Anxieties can be controlled. Heck you had it under control for a year so you know it's possible. But this condition can resurface, it's not uncommon. Probabaly not a bad idea to partake in group therapy. Its less expensive in some cases and I found it to be incredibly helpful. They teach you coping skills which are great even if it resurfaces and you amongst others that are in the same situation so no shame, no embarrassment, no judgement. Online also offers great suggestions. Mostly breathing exercises and vitamins/supplements. But if this is preventing you from regular daily functions like getting up, leaving the house, then I think you should see a psychiatrist sooner than later. Hang in there friend. I promise it'll get better. You're determined to get this under control so you will.