Hello and what am I doing here?

[catwoman2]

Hello, I'm 30 and a single working mum with no family and one week ago I had my first full on panic attack - I've had a bad childhood and a major family truma when I was 21 - I'm genuinely a normally optimistic person how ever this years my periods of feeling down have become more noticable and I have been ill alot with minor infections.My life has no major problems at the moment- I can pay my rent, have food in the fridge, jobs a bit stressful but not as stressful as being a doctor or a policeman, just your average 9-5 job, have a boyfriend who has commitment issues but apart from that is a very nice human being, I have a son who is 10 and great but since the panic attack (which was brought on by a being stuck in a comedy show where I found the material offensive) I seem to be able to no longer with lifes little annoyances without busting into tears, can't breathe , heart going fast etc etc. Went to the doctor today -asking what the first steps I should take for recovery - he gave me a questionaire - asking questions like do I feel worthless? etc. That certainly didn't help while I was trying to stop crying and explaining to him what I was feeling, told me to take time of work and go and see him in a weeks time. I was hoping he would refer me for therapy or something. But the best I got was take time off and do some excercise. Is it really that simple? (I won't get paid for taking time off by the way- work policy/politics - more stress) What are the first steps in dealing with this?

[yorkylover]

Hi and :welcome: you have come to an excellent site.There is lots of help and support here,and fab people.We all understand how you feel.:hugs:

[gtrgrl3369]

Welcome to nmp. It is a great place with people who rally care and understand what you are going through. I wish it was as easy as excersice and a week off of work to make this go away. It might work for you. It is alot of hard work to get control of panic and anxiety. Take a look at he forum and get a feel for it and know that we ar always here for you if yu need someone to talk to. Take care.

[Patty]

Hi Catwoman2,:)

:welcome: to NMP. It's great that you've joined. There is so much information & help here.

Best wishes xx :bighug1:

[catwoman2]

Thanks for your responses & support

[Veronica H]

:welcome:Catwoman. Glad you have found us. I would read the information from the links on the left as a starting point. There is a brilliant book by Dr Claire Weekes called 'Self help for your nerves' published by Thorsons ISBN 978-0-7225-3155-6. This is available from the NMP Shop. I cannot recommend this enough as it really explains what is happening to us, and how we can recover. Her recordings can be downloaded free to your MP3 from the NMP Shop too. If you are thinking about CBT, there is a very good free online course called www.livinglifetothefull.com (http://www.livinglifetothefull.com/). Thoughts become feelings with this illness, as your thoughts are making you produce adrenaline which then causes the physical Symptoms. This will get better.

Veronica

[catwoman2]

Thanks Veronica - this is what I was looking for - some practical advice

[lorac]

Hi Catwoman

Welcome to the site, I am sure you will get some good advice and support on here.

Take care

Carol

[weeble40]

Hi and a big welcome to NMP its great to have you here, hope to see you in chat sometime,

Take care

Emma xxx

[pooh]

Hi there and welcome along to NMP

Pooh x