I'm Mark and 41. I have suffered with stress and anxiety for 20 years and am currently in a bad spell. I had a cornea transplant that had complications so was off work anyway and work and home but haven't done so since May. I tend to start with a bad spell and it just goes downhill from there. I have been known to use alcohol to ease this but of course it has ended up worsening issues and I have ended up in hospital due to this on a couple of occasions over the years. I have seen someone in the hospital and they say my main issue is stress and anxiety that needs to be controlled. Socially I am a normal drinker and it is only during these terrible spells that it gets out of control. I have had medication over the last 20 years but it has never appeared to work. I have lived on my own for the last 5 years and get tense and nervous about the slightest thing. This leads me to avoid situations, make excuses and I have lost contact with friends due to this over the years. I suffered panic attacks 20 years ago and have never been the same since with me always having a fear of these happening such were the scars from the original experiences. A typical day as I speak and symptoms are aching limbs, loss of appetite, constant feeling of worry, dry wretching in the morning, difficulty getting out of bed in the morning and general difficulty in wanting to do the simplest tasks. I have also not needed to leave the house so am not looking forward to having to do a task such as this.
Thanks for reading, any advice appreciated