stevieg
12-03-08, 13:16
Hi Everyone,
I am Steve a Yorkshireman and a newcomer to the site albeit not a newcomer to the challenges of living with stress & anxiety.
As an intro, which may sound familiar to a lot of you, my life radically changed last April when I started to get severe back problems. I had been unhappy for some time, under severe pressure in a highly paid executive job. I made the mistake of checking my symptoms on the internet and concluded that I had a serious illness - I then started the endless journeys to the GP (had hardly ever been before then) who on first visit advised that I was showing signs of stress & anxiety. As a start point I gave up my job to concentrate on my health, probably a mistake but I felt so bad.
Since then, I have had endless scans & blood tests & re-assurances (luckily for me I had BUPA cover for a while). My anxiety deepened following an embarassing A&E visit due to severe heart palpitations.
I am now trying to re-build my life and constantly striving to be myself again. I have faced some major challenges in my life but this has been like climbing Everest. I now live for each day and try not to reflect back or look too far forward - I try and get exercise every day whether my mind likes it or not and I constantly try and do things that I want to avoid.
One thing I would like to do one day in the future is to set up a centre to help fellow suffers (like the wonderful supportive work of this site) as my conclusion is that the NHS does not address the needs of Anxiety disorder sufferers. The problem is that in the early stages the longer you leave the condition to take hold the harder it is to get back to normal. It does not cater for the overwhelming experiences of panic and the need for instant support or early development of coping strategies. Medication is not always the answer!
Sorry if this is a bit long for an intro but I look forward to being a member and if I can help anyone that will make me feel better.
Living for today - StevieG
I am Steve a Yorkshireman and a newcomer to the site albeit not a newcomer to the challenges of living with stress & anxiety.
As an intro, which may sound familiar to a lot of you, my life radically changed last April when I started to get severe back problems. I had been unhappy for some time, under severe pressure in a highly paid executive job. I made the mistake of checking my symptoms on the internet and concluded that I had a serious illness - I then started the endless journeys to the GP (had hardly ever been before then) who on first visit advised that I was showing signs of stress & anxiety. As a start point I gave up my job to concentrate on my health, probably a mistake but I felt so bad.
Since then, I have had endless scans & blood tests & re-assurances (luckily for me I had BUPA cover for a while). My anxiety deepened following an embarassing A&E visit due to severe heart palpitations.
I am now trying to re-build my life and constantly striving to be myself again. I have faced some major challenges in my life but this has been like climbing Everest. I now live for each day and try not to reflect back or look too far forward - I try and get exercise every day whether my mind likes it or not and I constantly try and do things that I want to avoid.
One thing I would like to do one day in the future is to set up a centre to help fellow suffers (like the wonderful supportive work of this site) as my conclusion is that the NHS does not address the needs of Anxiety disorder sufferers. The problem is that in the early stages the longer you leave the condition to take hold the harder it is to get back to normal. It does not cater for the overwhelming experiences of panic and the need for instant support or early development of coping strategies. Medication is not always the answer!
Sorry if this is a bit long for an intro but I look forward to being a member and if I can help anyone that will make me feel better.
Living for today - StevieG