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Sometimes I worry that my anxiety and panic might be symptoms of some other serious mental illness, schizophrenia for example. I'm terrified that I may start hallucinating, hearing voices, etc. I don't want to become a schizophrenic. :( Today I was cleaning my room, and I found a magazine with an article on schizophrenia, and it said that some of the earliest signs of the illness are depression and anxiety. I'm really scared. The DP/DR, the brain fog and the obsessive thoughts make me feel really weird, and I'm worried that they may develop into a complete loss of reality. Do you ever have such worries? And if you do, how do you cope?
I'm new! (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3739)
http://www.nomorepanic.org.uk/lounge/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1299
Madness (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5154)
Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com
Your anxiety is the human representation of the pictures that you paint using your many vivid colours of revolving and reoccurring thoughts.
How big is your gallery ?
Meg, thank you for the links.
I tried to use the "search" facility in order to see if there were any topics already posted on the subject, but it gave me an error, and I couldn't find any results.
Thanks.
Hi Indie
I think Meg has provided a link to a message posted by me.I had exactly the same thoughts as you.My physical symptoms were gone(or so i thought) and i was SURE i was going to end up schizophrenic.I genuinely thought i was going mad,i could see no way out of the feelings i had.
I used to look at pictures of animals or people and think they were going to jump out and get me,i saw things out of the corner of my eye that werent there and i heard noises that noone else seemed to.I was really frightened.
However that worry seems to have gone and i am suffering physically now!!
You cant win eh?
Anyway,this was supposed to reassure you!!These feelings WILL PASS,you do not and will not have schizophrenia.Pm me any time
Hugs,Hunny x
Hello Indie
i know exactly how you feel, i had these fears for years and it was awful. please be reasured that your not going mad. i coonstantly worried that i had shhizophrenia and that i would all of a sudden start hearing voices. it got so bad that in the end i felt that i was completely petrified of my own thoughts, i found it difficult to be alone and needed constant distraction from my own mind, i ended up visiting everyone i knew all day everyday and would rush out as quickly as i could in the morning!! i suffered for about 4 years with this and it was dreadful until i had CBT and individual psychtherapy that i realised that i was afraid for nothing. i also worried that if i stayed anxious for long periods it would trigger schizophrenia but please be reasured that i have been told on numerous occasions but my therapist that this WILL NOT HAPPEN!!.
I hope you feel a little better knowing that.
Michelle.
~i can relate to the feelings that u feel as if u may be Schizophenic.but tell ur self u r not! because "chances are" that u r just a little stressed and have panic attacks telling u you have to relax and take things day-by-day.
And even if u DID have Schizophernia, it CAN be treated.~
LOVE YA, FEEL BETTER SOON~aMaNdA
I also have had this fear at times in the past. All of us anxiety sufferers think there must be something more serious wrong with us but that's just part of the anxiety..:D
"Life is too important to take seriously" Corky Siegal
I can definately relate to these feelings as well, I'm absolutely convinced I'm going completely mad but as someone pointed out to me, if you are worried about it you can't be going mad as if you really were going mad you wouldn't care. Sorry to use the mad word but that's the word that goes on in my head! You're not alone with this. Have you had any reassurance from your doctor or anyone?
Take care,
Roz xx
'All I want is to be normally insane' Marlon Brando
hey i thaught i was going schizophrenic, mad. i was absolutly certain i was schizophrenic, all my thaughts in my head spinning round, the depersonalization etc. for months i was thinking it, i couldnt sleep and when i did i woke and that the first thing i thaught of. all thos negative and petrefying thaughts just fed my anxiety and panics. i even visited my doctor every day for about a week once, i was so scared.
If your wondering why im telling you this.....
well now im ok, Im a SUCSESS story on this site. Yeah it was hard, it took along time to not think like that but i did it. I started having panics etc last may 04. I have found out my triggers such as foods, sugery stuff etc. I was always confussed why foods i always used to eat, now make me twitch (thats what i call it, a bit of humer to it) but the tthing is once you have been sensitized to it, its like when your immune systems down and ther bugs can get in easier,
Now a year and a half later, i feel god, yeah some days i think is it back and stupid stuff, but i just except that it hasnt done it to me yet etc and i forget it.
I KNOW how hard it is at the moment but it will get easier, justy take note, so many of us have had theses thaughts and havent yet cracked up. Try not to read things about schizophrenics etc, it can make you worse. Scizophrenics rarely realize they are ill, you know what your feeling is diffrent than normal. thats makes you even more normal.
feel free to pm me or if your messenger kim_wilkinson487@hotmail.com
eeyorelover
17-09-05, 22:43
You are definitely not alone in this Indie. The fact is that most of us are worriers. I know I worry about everything and if I have nothing to worry about I start finding new things. the what ifs are the worst part. I know that I have thought , what if I am going crazy? and what if I go into a fog (u know what I mean) and never come back out of it?
But please just keep telling yourself that this panic thing can't hurt you. You're not mad and you will make it through it.
If you need to talk just let me know.
Sandy
(eeyorelover)
If the world didn't suck... we'd all fall off :)
Im having a really bad morning today, Im feeling so scared and have just cried for 20 mins non stop. I feel like I can hear voices though my head that I just cant stop, I have a docs appointment this morning. I think I read too much, I mean I saw a post earlier that said her mum was schizophrenic but that she was asking her questions about it, now I thought if you were mad then you couldnt communicate or live a 'normal' life and talk to people, so how could this ladies mum be giving her daughter advice on the illness??, thats what makes me think, well maybe I am developing it?? please help..........
Joney,
Distuingish carefully between voices and your thoughts coming through various chater lines.. There is an almighty difference.
Most schizophrenics can be controlled on medication and go on to lead healthy and productive lives, holding down good jobs and contributing well to society.
You have the media image of the illness in your mind.
Neuroses disorders like anxiety do not progress to psychoses disorders such as schizophrenia.
They are completely different illness pathways.
Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com
Your anxiety is the human representation of the pictures that you paint using your many vivid colours of revolving and reoccurring thoughts.
How big is your gallery ?
Thanks Meg - I am so frightened right now, its untrue, I think I have possibly had the worst day of my life. At least with a physical illness you get a blood test etc, with the mind, its just you! I saw the doc this morning, and they said I am not showing any signes of schizophrenia and also it usually runs in families. But I am still v. scared even if they are my thought processes I cant stop them and I dont know how long I can go on for with them. I hope they end soon and the tabs kick in! I have been on them for 3 weeks
hi joney,
when you are very anxious its really hard to keep your feet on the ground and think straight. try and stick to the facts, if your not pre-disposed family wise, your not showing signs and the doctor doesnt think your mad - then theres a high posibility that your not mad, start telling yourself that.
personally i struggled with this for years, thinking that you are mad, i cant remember what it is, but its got its own little phobia name. basic advice to try and help you get through this - dont bottle up your feelings, talk about this situation, post here about it, keep yourself positive about it - you will get over this .. tc andrew
munchkin555
01-05-08, 21:35
hi
my doc gave me a really good piece of advice, crazy people dont fear going crazy and think there is nothing wrong with them.
you are obviously not going crazy as you are worried about going crazy (does this make sense)
anyway just thought id share that with u
xxx
whitbywitchuk
02-05-08, 03:12
physical illness you get a blood test etc
This is terrible I know, and you know, you should also get tested for things which can cause this type of thing, at least to rule it out.
Don't worry I did exactly the same thing as you, thought I was going to be 'gone' in a land of nightmares, I had a lot of better years. So please don't even go there. We have all probably done it for you in the past no need for you to even bother about it lol :yesyes:
I hope you can relax a little, every relaxing moment is precious isn't it?
God bless you
Dawnx
Hey
I've wondered this too. I was walking along the coast with family the other day, and something in my brain kept telling me to run off the edge of the cliff. I felt like I wanted to hold on to the edge to stop myself running off!
Something just kept telling me to run off the cliff, so then I started to panic thinking I was gonna lose control and run off the cliff.
And like, if I can see a razor, or pair of scissors near me, I have to move them out of my sight, coz PART of me starts thinking about stabbing myself, cutting my throat etc. I have to move the offending object away, and try to concentrate on something else.
Please tell me honestly if you don't get this!!!
Thanks
Katex
I also worry about that. i also took some lsd when i was younger and sometimes i fear i fried my brain .sometimes i get extremely blurry vision. i worry taht i will halucinate but it usaully passes. let me put it this way. hallucinating is not really hallucinating until you get the feeling that your vision is shifting and like you have to move your eyes because they itch and then your vision will start changing. distancing or feeling distant is a very mild sedATIVE AFECT WHICH COULD BE YOUR MEDICATION. I GUESS.
KEVEV
I had exactly the same as you. I was convinced i was schizophrenic. I was obsessed with every thought i had and analyzed it. im not so bad now. I just reasurrd myself that i wasnt mad and things seemed to get better. I have got other issues mind but they not as scary as that one was.
Your not alone.
hey got same issues now, i get tripped out dnt know what to do. sometimes i feel im fine but cant get the thought out of my mind that im gona go nut, and end up at the mental hospital. started with a panic attack, i went to emergency, got a ct scan done of my brain and of my heart, they said i was fine, so now im scared im goin crazy
Thanks Meg - I am so frightened right now, its untrue, I think I have possibly had the worst day of my life. At least with a physical illness you get a blood test etc, with the mind, its just you! I saw the doc this morning, and they said I am not showing any signes of schizophrenia and also it usually runs in families. But I am still v. scared even if they are my thought processes I cant stop them and I dont know how long I can go on for with them. I hope they end soon and the tabs kick in! I have been on them for 3 weeks
if he puts u xanax like he did to me, its best not to take them. the side effects are worst
Hi Everyone
The last time I my panic attacks/anxiety got bad in April this year I started to worry that I was suffering from some form of other mental illness and started to worry I was hearing voices (there was a documentary advertised on TV about a woman who hears voices) but my CBT councellor reassured me that it was just a symptom of the panic to fear such things. I think you are highly suggestable when you are panicky or anxious and can worry yourself even more, like a vicious cycle. I managed to cope by exercising and eating well but eventualy started on the meds again and now I am weaning myself off again.
When I am feeling bad I find I have thoughts like "I could drive my car into that tree" whilst driving or "I could stab myself with those scissors" so I make sure I put things away out of sight. I now deal with that by thinking "well i could, but I won't". I like to remember that they are just thoughts, not instructions and that helps alot.
I am thinking of going back on the meds properly for a bit longer as my symptoms have stared to come back as I have moved 200 miles from home for a new job (the councelling and meds have obviously worked a bit as a year ago the thought of moving was terrifying).
Keep going everyone and I think we learn more and more coping strategies as we go on and get used to this part of ourselves.
Sarah
im so glad i found this bit bout the voices n stuff. i have anxiety n panic attacks n with that cums the fears that i have every illness goin. the fear of goin mad is takin over my life, i go thru wee fazes wer im convinced i have sumit, the most recent 1 which is scaring the life outa me is the fear that im gona start hearin voices or seein things, i listen out 4 every wee noise n wonder has every1 else heard it or amn i imaginin it. its gets bad a night time in bed wen everything is sooo quiet n my thinkin goes in2 overdrive, n cuz its so quiet my thinkin seems 2 b a bit more louder.im nat hearin big scary voices or anythin i no its just my thoughts but i just think maybe this cud b the start of voices. its all i think about.i cant b happy about anythin cuz wen i do the thought of this creeps in2 my head again n messes me up. also i was just readin the other posts on this thread n i read sum1s bout anxirty bein the strart of schziophrenia, so now i have sumthin else 2 completley freak out about n torture my other half with.
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