View Full Version : Anybody have this
Hello too everyone ive been diagnosed with severe depression and gad.the thing is my anxiety is not really genral anymore it centers around mental illness completely now.I constantly monitor my thoughts and outlook on life too check im not getting delusional,hearing voices or loseing reality. This is a horrible obsession too have as you cant always help what pops in your head and you cant get a test done too check your not cracking up. my fears started the same as a lot of people worrying about life in genral money,family,work. Then it moved too my heart,chest, breathing and having a stroke.ive got over all that but this fears imense and just wont go. anyone have the same thing id really like too hear from you thanks
Hey DOM,
Heaps of people have extreme fears over mental illness around here. If you have a look in the phobias section and search for key terms like mental illness, or particuarly schizophrenia which seems to worry a lot of sufferers on here, you'll be able to get a lot of reassurance from the experiences of others with the same fears.
I'm actually studying to be a psychologist and I can guaruntee you that your anxiety is just anxiety and not something that's making you crazy or delusional. It's actually a very very common symptom of anxiety to feel these things. Even I've had worries about gettin paranoid and hallucinating and hearing things and I know all about this stuff. Anxiety just manages to make us worry about anything and everything no matter how irrational it is. The best advice I can give you is that you are definitely not going crazy because if you were suffering from something other than depression or anxiety and were getting hallucinations and such you wouldn't think that you were going crazy or seeing things, you wouldn't think there was anything wrong with you.
You are perfectly sane and you will be fine :) Try not to worry about these things because it'll only make you obsess over them more.
There's countless people here who have the whole chest, heart, breathing worry as well. It's just another joy of suffering with anxiety. I've suffered from everything you've mentioned and I am okay :) You'll be fine. Just trust that you are okay.
Funnily enough, I no longer worry about going mad. This used to bother me a lot at one time, but I think I decided that if I do go mad, I probably won't care about it by that time!
I had this really bad for ages too. It was so awfull and really pushed me to the edge.
Its gone now and I realise looking back it was the fear that kept it going.
I remember the sickening pertified feeling and when that wasnt there i had nothing but sadness and worry becuase i was so depressed.I couldnt function at all and had to rely on my friends and family for ages.
I was totally obsessed with being bipolar or having schitzophrenia. But in reality it wasnt even that , my obsession was not being in control I guess.
The main thing i remember was that my mind would latch onto something , either something i had thought...a way i behaved....something that happened when i was falling alseep....anything ...and then that would be it. It was turn into a whole panic that would result in me being petrified and monitoring my behaviour for days until something happened to take my mind from it...
I realise now that it was my mind almost 'sticking' over events or thoughts and telling me that they were really important when infact they werent.
The psychiatrist I demanded to see ( I know .....some folks actually have real problems!) assured me that when we are depressed our brain doesnt function properly and causes us to obsess over stuff likeits really important when its not....she said it was completely normal when we are depressed and that it happens to everyone.
This will go I promise
Lisa
xxxxxx
The thing is the people who are going mad don't know they're going mad. So the very reason you can rationalise stuff means that you re very sane indeed.
kaisersozay
07-12-10, 18:10
Hi DOM. I can assure you right here and now that you are not alone.
Last winter, at around this time of the year, I had a major setback and all my anxiety returned. It felt as though I was right back at square one! The source of my worries was 'do I have schizophrenia?'. It engulfed my entire being. I was constantly thrashing my mind hour after hour, minute after minute. I was just waiting for that elusive voice to manifest itself to confirm my downward spiral of mental decay. This may sound really stupid but one morning I woke up at 5am to the sound of the milk man stopping outside my house and the sound of his vehicle's brakes sounded to me like a voice. My rational mind was shot and all I could think about was how bad my life was to become if I did have schizophrenia. I remember googling and ticking the boxes... you know - schizophrenics have 'high levels of anxiety' was one of the things that worried me.
I'll tell you how I got around it, and it is not easy, but you must stick with it.
Each and every time this obsessive thought come sinto your head, replace it with one of your happiest moments in life. With myself, it was a summer a few years ago where me and my brother would drive to the off license and come back with loads of beer. That summer was the greatest. I took my dog on massive walks and the summer lasted forever - it was a heat wave and everybody seemed so happy. What is your happy memory?
I remember trying this for the first few times. It was very hard, but I still remember the feeling of strength and joy I had when I felt a huge weight come off my shoulders when, for the first time, my brain instantly, without trying, overrode my bad thought with my happy memory.
Trust me, it seems to hard now but the sense of empowerment you will feel is amazing. Keep at it. You can do this with all bad thoughts but it helped me when I was in your position. I used to say things to myself like 'nah, I'm gone' and 'this is me now'. Its because my mind had learned to be negative with so many years of grumpy, negative feelings and thoughts. Why shouldn't you think happy things? I am sure you used to. Keep in mind your happy memory each time this destructive thought comes into your mind and you will defeat it. I did.
Trust me, you are not going mad. schizophrenics have no idea of the world they are creating inside themselves and are diagnosed by others. You are simply worrying too much and diagnosing yourself.
Thankyou so much too everyone who responded. it definatley helps too know that other people have this same fear. it really is a hard one too get over but ill do it. Like a couple of you said i think its down too control. i recently was on citalopram which ive come off because they gave me sleep paralasis. i started hearing voices when falling asleep which made me jump up and have panic attacks and it just hightend my fear so i came off them and fingers crossed its stopped thanks again too all.
Thankyou so much too everyone who responded. it definatley helps too know that other people have this same fear. it really is a hard one too get over but ill do it. Like a couple of you said i think its down too control. i recently was on citalopram which ive come off because they gave me sleep paralasis. i started hearing voices when falling asleep which made me jump up and have panic attacks and it just hightend my fear so i came off them and fingers crossed its stopped thanks again too all.
Hey citalopram gave me that as well so i got put on trazadone which had a mild sedative effect as well, had to take tham at bed time. Then after that i took sertraline and still do. I was like you but looking back the scarey bit at the start is worth it to geth the releif and normality that the drugs bring after a few weeks.
Lisaxxxxxx
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