Hi, new here

[Carrie]

Hi! I'm Carrie, and I've just found this site. I'm a 22 year old student (or rather ex-student - I had a bit of a breakdown in November and have been on a sick note ever since) from Scotland.
I have depression and insomnia. I'm also certain I have social anxiety, but despite suggesting this to several doctors, they have disregarded my opinion completely.
I am currently on antidepressants and sleeping tablets, and am seeing a CPN regualrly. I am also on waiting lists to see a psychologist and a psychiatrist, but it's taking a long time..

Anyway, that's my current situation in a nutshell! I'm sure you'll be seeing me around!

Carrie

[vernon]

Hi Carrie and welcome to the site, hope you will find some help here. Yws it does take so long to se specialist dosn't it, I have been waiting ages too. What a strange doctor you got lol he seems to know other peoples minds? How can he say you dont have a social anxiety lol I would have thought you would know that. anyway hope you get to feel better soon. Vernon

[trac67]

Hi Carrie,

Welcome to the form, you will get a lot of good advice here and make some new friends.

Try this link about social anxiety see if it helps :

FEAR OF MESSAGES (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6303)

Take care

Trac xx

'Live your life with arms wide open, today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten'

[sal]

Hi Carrie

Pleased you have joined us. The time scale does seem to take forever waiting to be referred but do persevere hun and we are all her to support you.

Love Sal xx


Dont mess up the best things in your life, just because at present you are unsure who you are.


"Life is a distance and to travel that distance you were given the strength and guidance to do so".

[Alexandra]

Hi Carrie

Welcome to the forum.

You will find lots of help & support on here.

Take Care

Alex

Many People Will Walk
In & Out Of Your Life
But Only True Friends
Will Leave Footprints
In Your Heart

[Karen]

Hi Carrie

Welcome to the forum.

You might find the following information helpful:

First Steps (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/default.asp?t=cms&c=firststeps)

Symptoms (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/default.asp?t=cms&c=symptoms)

Links post: Links to posts about Common Problems (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7784)

Try these posts for help with insomnia:

Sleep zzzzz (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5413)
insomnia, insomnia, insomnia etc.... (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6002)
Sleep problems (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6260)
HELP! Problems with sleeping. (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7144)

You will find a lot of help and support here. I hope you get the appointments through soon.


Karen



Happiness is not a state to arrive at but a manner of travelling.

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough ~ Christine Cagney, Cagney & Lacey

[Robertc160882]

Hi Carrie,

Welcome to another fellow Scot, I’m glad you found the site it took me ages to find something like this and it is a great help and all people are a great help. I’m sure you will find people on the site who have suffered the same as you and also people who have the same symptoms.

As a sufferer of depression, I can relate to you and I know it is very hard I did have a very bad period of insomnia but that is now starting to away although I did wake up at 6:30am today. At the start of taking most anti depressants you find your sleep is disturbed but long term they do help your sleep, (“well I hope so anyway”).

If you ever need anyone to rant to feel free to pm anyway were in Scotland you from?

Robert

[Paddington]

wecome carrie,sorry to hear you havin a bad time.You have come to the right place for support ,as 4 that dr.ooh they make me mad they really do.you know your own mind ,take no notice,the social anxiety may be the root cause of your other problems??I s that possible?if so then he should be dealin with it,tell him i said so!!!love mary-rose.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

we are all in the same boat and can guide each other ashore

[Meg]

Hello carrie

..and meanwhile what are you doing for self help till the big guns of help arrive ?

Have a good read of the First Steps article and lets see if you can't get yourself on the up meanwhile

Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

proactiveness, positivity, persistence, perseverance and practice = progress

[Carrie]

Thanks for all the replies! (I live near Inverness btw).

I've had a really bad day today. For some reason my mood has just plumeted these last few days. I thought I might be getting on top of the whole insomnia thing last week, when I actually managed to get 3 nights of fairly good sleep, but since then it has all gone backwards. I was still awake at 7am this morning, so tonight I'm going to take a sleeping tablet. I've been trying to come off them gradually before the doc takes them away completely.

I think my depression has come from having social anxiety and not the other way around. I was in my second year of college (local college - since I'm too afraid to leave home) when I had to leave. By that stage I just couldn't do any work. I couldn't even stay awake during classes. I managed to struggle through the first year, but was miserable. I can't talk to people. I feel as though everyone is judging me, and no one likes me. I'm afraid to talk for fear of saying something wrong. And after everything I say and everything I do, I go over it in my head and pick out all the stupid things I've done/said. This is then added to the HUGE store of memories in my head of everything I have ever done that is stupid. It sounds rediculous, and I know it is too - I know no one listens to a thing I say - but I can't help it. This thing on it's own has been enough to ruin my life.

Everything else has seemed to come from there: always hating myself, starving myself, lately even injuring myself. I get so nervous around a lot of people, especially in situations such as sitting in the doctor's waiting room, or in a classroom. I started getting panic attacks - light headedness, pounding heart, shortness of breath, tingily hands, and a weird sort of sensation that feels as though I'm in a bubble, cut off from everyone around me. Time seems to go really slow and I just feel like I have to get out.

I also get prolonged attacks that can go on for a very long time - recently I had one that lasted all night and all the next day.

At the moment I'm just exhausted. I can't do anything. It's so hard to get up in the morning, it takes me hours to get up and dressed etc, and by that time all I can think about is going back to sleep.

My whole future seems like a big black pit, and any effort of mine to control it is absoloutely futile. There is no point.

[clickaway]

Carrie,

First of all welcome to the site. There is such a wealth of information here, coupled with a great deal of lovely support given by friendly and understanding people.

I can relate to quite a bit of what you say. I too take ages to get ready in the morning and have suffered insomnia too. I'm 52 now, but at your age I felt very excluded and frightened in social situations, although with age my confidence has grown there.

It will help by being involved in the forums here - there are so many people of your age like you on here.

There is an online group called social anxiety UK that may interest you. They do have meet-ups in various towns, of people like yourself, although I'm aware of your location. http://www.social-anxiety.org.uk/

Take Care



Ray
http://www.anxietyrelease.org.uk/

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.
~Mark Sanders and Tia Sillers

[MrsCluggy]

Welcome Carrie,

You couldn't have picked a better website to use. This really is one big happy family. A place where you can tell your woes and fears to. There is always someone to talk to, someone who will listen. You can also get a wealth of medical advice which I find helps.

I suffer from anxiety and I too am taking anti-depressants. I take the odd Diazepam too on extremely bad stressful days and I find that they do take the edge off my panic attacks. I only use those now as a last resort and am trying to use an alternative herbal remedy, because I know that my GP wants me off these tablets a.s.a.p. I'm not ready by any means and he will be told that on Monday !!!! So, we'll see what happens.

I have also had CBT for 8 weeks and the tools I came away with from that are proving to be extremely useful.

Can I also recommend the books by CLAIRE WEEKES. They are available on Amazon and have proven to be extremely useful for nervous/anxiety problems. Give them a go. If anything, they may ease your insomnia.

Keep safe and well and best wishes. If you want to PM me, please feel free to do at anytime. I am always available to lend an ear and you can just type and type and type and I won't mind one bit.

Okay. Bye then. Jackie xx

If the opportunity doesn't knock .... build a door.

[sal]

Hi Carrie

Sorry things are not going too well for you at the moment. Here if you want to talk and thinking about you.

Love Sal xx


Dont mess up the best things in your life, just because at present you are unsure who you are.


"Life is a distance and to travel that distance you were given the strength and guidance to do so".

[april tones]

hi carrie, welcome! any thing you want to ask go ahead x

fibrochat) http://apriltones.proboards54.com