hi everyone

[dee]

hiya, my name is dee, i am 37, female and have had agoraphobia and social anxiety since i was seventeen[:I].

[sarah]

Hiya Dee

Welcome to the site!
I hope you find some useful information on here for you.
Its a great site that has been a great support to me and loads of others.

feel free to post any problems or questions! :)

love Sarah
xx

[nomorepanic]

Hi Dee

Welcome to the site.

Ask us any questions you want to and you can also use the search facility to find posts.

I hope that we can help you with your problems so welcome aboard.

Nicola

[Meg]

Hi Dee,

Welcome aboard.

Tell us a little about how restricted you are and how you manage .

Do have a good hunt around the home pages of this site too


Meg

[kate]

Hi Dee,

Just wanted to say welcome to the site.

Kate x

[Brownie]

Hi Dee,

Welcome to the site. Horrible to hear about how long you've suffered....I have also suffered for a very long time. I have to say though youve come to the right place:) Everyone here is very friendly and will be here to help ya out. Have a good look around there is lots to read!
Hope to see you around

-Christie[:I]

[G-Man6]

Hi everyone,
I responded to Kate R. yesterday as a new member person to this forum without giving many personal details. My name is Greg (also known as the G-Man6). I live in the Northeast part of the USA. I am 43. I have suffered from anxiety since my early teens. I started to get help during my late teens. I started with private counseling which seemed to help. I found myself starting to feel a great deal of anxiety in my mid 20's during a serious relationship which ended on a bad note. After seeing a counselor at the local mental health center for a while, a mutual decision was made to have me start on medication. I have been on a few different medication since that time. Currently the amount I take is much less than what I was taking during my toughest period. In my late 20's I had progessed to having an anxiety disorder. By my early 30's, I had developed OCD and had reached a real low point in my life in early 1993. I ended up being hospitalized for a few weeks. Up to this time, I had seen various counselors at the local Mental Health Center. Some were helpful, other were not. After talking with other friends, it seems most of them were not impressed with the place I was going and the treatment I was receiving. As I look back at that time, part of the problem was that I did not advocate enough more myself. I have learned over time I need to do a better job of that. At this point my anxiety and ocd are more manageable, because I have realized I needed to change the way I think about things as well as how I react to different situations. Also I needed to lower my expectations toward my self and others. I find that positive self-talk is very important in combatting anxiety and fears. The changes that are necessary for each individual have to come from within. Other people can support you, but each person has to their own work on them self. I have a couple of support groups I attend which help a great deal. Well, I guess that is it for an introduction. I look forward to hearing from all of you. Greg.

[dee]

thanks to all of you, i cant tell you the excitement i felt when i found replies, i'm not exactly a good example to anyone having had agoraphobia for 20 yrs. I get out with someone i trust (my mother or sisters) but only locally, i mainly have crippling social anxiety. its really nice to read about others with the same problems. thanks again for replying.

[sarah]

Hiya Greg

Good to have you on board.
You sound like you have had it rough but are making good progress. Thats great to hear!
You have a great attitude. Look foreward to some great advice from you.
Feel free to post any problems/questions you may have.
Once again, welcome :)

love Sarah
xx

[Meg]

Dear Dee and Greg

Good to hear a little bit more about each of you.

Dee are you working on extending this 'local' that you refer and are you getting any help ?

Greg- well done for helping yourself so much . We look forward to hearing more from you. There are often queries from OCD sufferers and it would be good to have someone on board who has been there and got that Tshirt.





Meg

"Come to the edge."
"We can't. We're afraid."
"Come to the edge."
"We can't. We will fall!"
"Come to the edge."
And they came.
And he pushed them.
And they flew.

- Guillaume Apollinaire

[sal]

Hi Greg & Dee Its good to hear from both of you. I have just joined hear and its already given me a lot of strength. I agree with Greg it is great to have support but youve got to fight it from with in. I know that is so much easier said than done. I suffer from anxiety, panic attacks and depression, i have for nearly five years now, but at present its come back with a vengence. My biggest fear that i really cant get my head round it that i am going mad and going to lose control. Yesterday was a particularly bad day and i used 8 mg of diazepam, but i also managed to go to bed without my usual bottle of wine, the first time i havent drank on a night for months. I know it early days but i did it, didnt sleep but thats another disability of anxiety. I am signed of work at the moment and due back at the doctors tomorrow, which cant come soon enough as i only have one diazepam left, i might not even need it but just the thought of not having enough if i have a bad day is enough to send me into a panic attack. As you know its the school holidays so i have my daughter on my own for 2 weeks and thats a real struggle but i keep trying and hope one day ill wake up and want to get out of bed. It was good to read your story and the reply you got for Greg. Im sorry to hear you are having such a hard time but a last youve come here and that in itself is a big help. Keep in touch Love Sal xx

[Meg]

Sal - well done for not drinking last night .

You do know within that you're not going mad and it's just these dreadful feelings of being totally overwhelmed and you trying to find an explanation for them.

Please keep alcohol away, especially if you have your daughter with you .





Meg

"Come to the edge."
"We can't. We're afraid."
"Come to the edge."
"We can't. We will fall!"
"Come to the edge."
And they came.
And he pushed them.
And they flew.

- Guillaume Apollinaire

[me]

hello dee welcome to this wonderful site its full of great infomation and lovely people keep intouch from mary

[me]

hello greg, as ive just said to dee welcome to this wonderful site its so so helpful keep in touch from mary