Malton Seadog
30-09-08, 10:41
I really don't want to tempt fate here, but I think I'm getting better.
Here are some of the causes of the anxiety in the first place:
1) Started with having to run off a concert stage to go to the toilet during our performance. This caused humiliation and embarassment which then caused my first panic attack a week later.
2) My mum and dad split up in the summer of 2007.
3) I got accused of plagiarism (copying) at University and got held back a year, so my 3 year degree became 4 years.
4) My girlfriend and I now live 60 miles apart after living four DOORS apart for two years.
5) My mum and her new partner have split up.
6) Like most students, I am £2000 overdrawn.
All those added up to a stressful time, and my body didn't know what to do with it all, so it caused me anxiety.
I have had the condition for around 5 months now, which is nothing really, but it's alot to me - a usually positive and outgoing sort of guy.
Anyway - I trundled along without too many problems UNTIL I moved home, and my girlfriend moved home from Uni too.
All of a sudden, I'd gone from seeing my girlfriend, my friends and my work colleagues to only being with my mum all day. Despite loving my mum to pieces, I missed everyone and was very lonely and bored. When I get bored, I think - and when I think, and anxiety occurs.
Anyway - my mum then went on holiday for 2 weeks and I was home alone. This was my lowest point. I started having horrible thoughts about my girlfriend and I splitting up, and was truly miserable. I couldn't eat and I lost 6 pounds in weight in just three days. I never broke down in tears, but I was close. I was edging on depression.
Anyway - my mum got home and I felt more at ease, but still wasn't right. I still had these thoughts about my girlfriend. It was at this point I started having meetings with a mental health specialist in my local town. These have helped, but haven't been the pure cause of me getting better.
Between her and I, I've diagnosed this as stress-related General Anxiety, with a bit of seperation anxiety thrown in for good measure!
Anyway - I went to my girlfriends last week and had a shocking two days. Why was I anxious when I was around her? Was it bittersweet because I knew I had to leave again in two days? Probably.
I came home and felt quite bad again. I couldn't eat and I phoned her to talk to her. This perked me up a little bit, but it didn't last.
The day after this - my life changed hopefully forever.
I got home, and received an email saying that an amateur magazine I edit was to be featured on television. As soon as I read this email, it was gone. The anxiety went.
Ever since that day, I've felt anxious still, but for no more than 30 minutes a day, and it's always very mild.
I've sat through a couple of two hour lectures without any problems whatsoever, whereas before I'd have really struggled. I sat on a busy train and felt fine, and I can go on buses and in big shops without any trouble.
I honestly think that ONE bit of good news and one bit of positivity in my life has turned things around.
My GP said that our head is like a bucket. We have small holes in the bottom to drain stress out, but if too much is poured in, it'll overflow and that's when symptoms occur.
So when you're feeling down, search for that ONE bit of positivity which could turn your life around.
It is now nearly a week since I got that email, and the most anxious I've felt was a brief hot flush of perhaps 30 seconds in a lecture. I ignored it.
Instead of thinking "I'm never with my girlfriend", I now text her every day saying "4 sleeps until I see you", and we've made it into a cute little countdown.
There are always people worse off than me, and I have such a bright future.
I've got a family that love me, I've got a wonderful girlfriend and I'm going to get a degree in less than 8 months. My entire life is ahead of me, so why the hell should I worry about anything?
Anxiety CAN be cured and it WILL be cured if you just change the way you think. It's so hard in the depths of despair to think positive, but you MUST. Please - I beg you all, get better. I know how hard anxiety is, but from personal experience I know it can get better. I've been low as low just a month ago, but now I'm so much better and I know I'm nearly there.
Don't worry about things you can't change. Worry about things you CAN, and they WILL make a difference.
All the very best to everyone on here. You all deserve to get better, and with hard work, you will.
Here are some of the causes of the anxiety in the first place:
1) Started with having to run off a concert stage to go to the toilet during our performance. This caused humiliation and embarassment which then caused my first panic attack a week later.
2) My mum and dad split up in the summer of 2007.
3) I got accused of plagiarism (copying) at University and got held back a year, so my 3 year degree became 4 years.
4) My girlfriend and I now live 60 miles apart after living four DOORS apart for two years.
5) My mum and her new partner have split up.
6) Like most students, I am £2000 overdrawn.
All those added up to a stressful time, and my body didn't know what to do with it all, so it caused me anxiety.
I have had the condition for around 5 months now, which is nothing really, but it's alot to me - a usually positive and outgoing sort of guy.
Anyway - I trundled along without too many problems UNTIL I moved home, and my girlfriend moved home from Uni too.
All of a sudden, I'd gone from seeing my girlfriend, my friends and my work colleagues to only being with my mum all day. Despite loving my mum to pieces, I missed everyone and was very lonely and bored. When I get bored, I think - and when I think, and anxiety occurs.
Anyway - my mum then went on holiday for 2 weeks and I was home alone. This was my lowest point. I started having horrible thoughts about my girlfriend and I splitting up, and was truly miserable. I couldn't eat and I lost 6 pounds in weight in just three days. I never broke down in tears, but I was close. I was edging on depression.
Anyway - my mum got home and I felt more at ease, but still wasn't right. I still had these thoughts about my girlfriend. It was at this point I started having meetings with a mental health specialist in my local town. These have helped, but haven't been the pure cause of me getting better.
Between her and I, I've diagnosed this as stress-related General Anxiety, with a bit of seperation anxiety thrown in for good measure!
Anyway - I went to my girlfriends last week and had a shocking two days. Why was I anxious when I was around her? Was it bittersweet because I knew I had to leave again in two days? Probably.
I came home and felt quite bad again. I couldn't eat and I phoned her to talk to her. This perked me up a little bit, but it didn't last.
The day after this - my life changed hopefully forever.
I got home, and received an email saying that an amateur magazine I edit was to be featured on television. As soon as I read this email, it was gone. The anxiety went.
Ever since that day, I've felt anxious still, but for no more than 30 minutes a day, and it's always very mild.
I've sat through a couple of two hour lectures without any problems whatsoever, whereas before I'd have really struggled. I sat on a busy train and felt fine, and I can go on buses and in big shops without any trouble.
I honestly think that ONE bit of good news and one bit of positivity in my life has turned things around.
My GP said that our head is like a bucket. We have small holes in the bottom to drain stress out, but if too much is poured in, it'll overflow and that's when symptoms occur.
So when you're feeling down, search for that ONE bit of positivity which could turn your life around.
It is now nearly a week since I got that email, and the most anxious I've felt was a brief hot flush of perhaps 30 seconds in a lecture. I ignored it.
Instead of thinking "I'm never with my girlfriend", I now text her every day saying "4 sleeps until I see you", and we've made it into a cute little countdown.
There are always people worse off than me, and I have such a bright future.
I've got a family that love me, I've got a wonderful girlfriend and I'm going to get a degree in less than 8 months. My entire life is ahead of me, so why the hell should I worry about anything?
Anxiety CAN be cured and it WILL be cured if you just change the way you think. It's so hard in the depths of despair to think positive, but you MUST. Please - I beg you all, get better. I know how hard anxiety is, but from personal experience I know it can get better. I've been low as low just a month ago, but now I'm so much better and I know I'm nearly there.
Don't worry about things you can't change. Worry about things you CAN, and they WILL make a difference.
All the very best to everyone on here. You all deserve to get better, and with hard work, you will.