What caused your anxiety?

[jen2503]

I wasnt sure where to put this so i hope its in the right place.

They say (whoever 'they' are!) that anxiety is usually caused by something. something triggers it. i was just wondering if you know what caused yours?

i think what caused mine was one week before my daughter was born (nine months ago) i had a massive fall out with my mother and the rest of the family due to my mother refusing to give my son back after she had him stay for a holiday. we fell out,she turned everyone against me, and then a week later my baby was born and i wads told not to do too much in case i hemorraged (sp) which made my first days with my new baby stressful and frightening.

it wasnt just the fall out and having my duahgter either. it was the harrassing phonecalls from my family for the first few weeks. the back stabbing, the abuse from strangers that knew my mother!

It all added up and caused a major kick in the guts which i think must have triggered my anxiety. ive never had anxiety before then but i think the fact there was so much in one little week, it was too much. i havent had councelling for it and nine months later i am still not in contact with my mother but she still harrasses me,abuses me and causes as much trouble as she can so getting through that it quite hard.

what i hate is that i think im doing ok with my anxiety, i think im overcoming it slowly but then i have a phonecall or she turns up and then i feel like im back to square one! she knocks me back ten paces just by being there. i need to move far away i think!!

sorry ive rambled again! i keep doing that dont i. im sorry.

i just find it helps me to talk about what caused my anxiety. it helps me see theres a reason and im not going mad. so i though maybe it may help you all to discuss what triggered your anxiety maybe.

dont reply if you dont want to though x

[supersezza]

boys! lol!

i think it triggers a vunerability within me...

i've always been better by myself but then on the other hand i'd like a bloke deep down...put too much pressure on it all and turn myself into an anxious mess and then get depressed....sure it's self esteem and confidence too.

it's hard to stop as i'm almost expecting the worries now which makes me worry! lol!

sometimes knowing doesn't really help it's learning to live with it and not letting it take over i guess..

[Louize]

Hi, Jen... Sorry to hear about your fallout and no you're definately not going mad!!

My trigger is a bit of a weird one, to be honest... I had my first flutter after a fainting spell - or what i thought was a fainting spell- right after having some blood tests done, it turns out it was a panic attack, i brushed it to the side and didn't have anything more for just over a year, then one night, out of the blue, me and my then partner were in bed together, and i had a panic attack, no explained reason at all other than i started to feel anxious about my body...

It was scary to say the least, and my partner didn't know what to do with themselves either, so was not good at all...

The only thing i can think of is that my mind conjured up an illness of some sort and turned it into a panic attack... I'm dealing with it now a lot better than i was a was late last year, though, which i'm happy about.

We all suffer set backs, and certain things can send me right back to square one, but with each panic attack you learn something more in the after math, i do hope you find a way to help yourself cope with yours...

And as cliché as it sounds -- What doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger!!!

Thanks for sharing, Jen :)

[Jumpy]

Hi

I may have suffered from 2 very small episodes of anxiety once in my first pregnancy and again when my hubby had a brain tummor removed. Lasting a couple of days.

My trigger was an overactive thyroid 3 years ago and I have not had a good week since.

[jen2503]

Aw im so glad youve all replied, thank you. and again sorry for rambling lol i do find it helps me to talk about things instead of keeping it quiet. i know im making good progress so i just need to not forget it. thank you guys, you all have such interesing stories and your all so kind. we will all make a full recovery soon enough and then we'll all be here helping other sufferers to overcome it too.

Le, i tried to read your reply with an Aussie accent but im pants at doing accents lol i did try though. i sounded a little irish! lol

:hugs::)

[Chem]

I think most of us, looking back, would agree that it wasn't one thing that caused our anxiety, but a slow build up that became too much when one final incident occurred.

[oneofus]

Since we have someone from the colonies I must ask how's the anxiety levels nationwide? Rugby (Aus 20- Eng 21) and Cricket (2 - 1 to England so far in the one day matches) is surely enough to get the entire population stressed :)

[gabbyevs]

hi jen

intersting topic-of course it helps maybe to write it down

i can honestly say though i have no idea what started mine all those years ago i cant honeslty remember not being anxious anymore which is quite sad

maybe i need to look into this further and i am trying to get my meds sorted out maybe i need to get therapy aswell to finally work out wht started all this

[happycamper]

Hey Jen,
Good to read your thread, thought I'd reply also as my poor relationship with my mum as with you I think is a major factor in my anxiety problems.
There have been a series of cancers in my parents over the last 5 years or so and after chatting for the 1st time to a clinical psychologist last week it seems apparent that my mum has caused 'transference' of her anxieties onto me over the last 3 years, I had to look it up to fully understand what it means, but makes complete sense. We still don't get on and it's hard, I started on citalopram about 3 weeks ago so fingers x'd!
Best of luck with your recovery. XXX

[Shimakora]

It all started when I got depressed and anxious about my scars. This caused me to get chronic tension headaches. My life became a struggle as a teenager, since it's not easy dealing with school while having constant headaches. I then started to worry about everything I did, since I couldnt enjoy anything.

Despite my pain I struggled as much as I could to get top grades. I didnt do anything on my spair time in the end, nearly didnt have any friends. When secondary school was over, it really was game over for me. I got top grades, but I became concerned about my health. I devloped panic anxiety and was hospitalized.

I'm free from panic anxiety now, and only have general anxiety. All of this could have been prevented if someone in my family had told me some commons sense, but they said that "they never noticed anything". I caused my own stigma for sure though.

Claire Weekes and Mindfulness is the cure for me I believe. Claire has helped me realize that the tensions are just a bluff, when I look at them this way they sometimes dissapear. It definately doesnt always work though. Mindfulness makes me feel calm in a general way and also helps me feel happier, I think I'm a buddhist soon lol. I'm also facing the fear of my scars at the moment. Its not easy though being alone in this tough society with troubles like these. I have one friend though who I talk to. I am looking for a part time job too.

Therapy just feels.... I don't know. I've been to one therapist, we just talked about my symptoms. This made me just feel depressed. There are so many kinds of therapists too, they all have their own answers. I would really like to try like mindfulness based cbt. Its not available anywhere near I think though. Do anyone know if it is available online/by phone or something?

[sequeena]

Sexual abuse between 11-20 :weep:
Also before that I was physically abused by my father :weep:

[kirsty74]

My relationship was really stressful (drug addict partner), seperated in 2004 for 2yrs after 12yrs together (although now he's mainly sorted himself out, he is now my husband!!), I started a stressful new job and started university. I also started suffering with IBS, which was sressful. Would like to usse a different describing word, but stressful covers it!! After all that, anxiety & panic attacks followed!!