stress, anxiety, poor economy and tons of symptoms

[Rikke]

I really need advice. because of anxiety I have been fired from my job, and due to lack of a job, my economy was very poor. That means we'll have to travel from the house and This gives a huge debt.

I have so much anxiety and stress in the body over it, and have read many articles that tell you can die from stress. My father had a heart attack due to stress, but it was physics stress he had, and not mental,. My mind is a chaos and I have tons of symptoms, and total breathlessness.

Last night I experienced a hard / electric shock in the middle of the chest, right after, pins and needles in my arms and fingers .. Now I'm sure the heart is damaged from all the stress in my life :-(

My doctor has holiday so I can not go to the doctor until 29/7. I've been in cognitive therapy for 6 years and nothing helps.

What can I do? Feel my world collapsing and I'm afraid to die.

[RLR]

Well the first point of change that you should take into account is that stress in of itself is not lethal, but rather certain physiological reactions to stress by persons so predisposed.

In other words, it's not stress but rather certain specific reactions to stressors that can increase morbidity and mortality risks. Having said that, I see nothing of your posting that would be worth sacrificing your life if you see my point. Life is rarely static and literally every human being experiences life challenges. The key to success is maintaining the proper perspective and using your life skills to work around the problem rather than lie in wait of a poor outcome.

When anxiety reaches certain levels, it can produce what is known as somatoform characteristics. These characteristics arise in the form of physiological manifestations that are universally misinterpreted by patients as symptoms of illness or disease, which is actually not the case. Excessive ruminations cause anxiety to become further elevated and with it, an increase in stress upon the central nervous system that causes exacerbation of the "symptoms." This cycle tends to unwittingly reinforce the belief that something serious is wrong and a general fear is established.

The electrical sensation you experienced with subsequent paresthesia, or "pins and needles" is actually a mere sensory disturbance and your heart has not been damaged.

The sensation is quite common among persons with intense anxiety and is known as DaCosta's syndrome, named for the civil war physician who observed the characteristic arising in a large number of soldiers who came to the infirmary complaining of symptoms which seemed vaguely similar to those of a cardiovascular incident. It was quickly deduced that masses of young infantry soldiers could not possibly be simultaneously suffering from heart attacks. Later studies into the phenomenon demonstrated that intense levels of anxiety and fear are actually capable of producing similar signs and symptoms in persons with good heart health.

Your heart is fine, so you need to take a breath and relax. It's important to keep your head about you in times of stress and learn to use the circumstances to enable strategic planning and logic to work around the life problem facing you. You merely hold the perspective that your world is collapsing because you are letting irrational fears become dominant, when if fact these fears are both inaccurate and entirely non-productive.

Remember that a man is plagued by the misfortune that he has no shoes until he meets the man with no feet.

This is but brief encounter you face, not the end of your world by any means whatsoever and you need stand firm against your fears to see beyond the crisis rather than merely within its boundaries.

You'll be fine and I see nothing of your health concerns which would suggest an actual problem to be at hand. Get a good night's rest and plan to rise in the morning fitted with your armor, for you have a battle to wage and a war to win.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)

[sallad]

I totally relate! My husband lost his job a year ago and has still not a new full time job. The stress of it all made me so sick and nervous that I made huge mistakes at work and then I had some female issues that I over reacted to and so I quit my job...but basically they would have fired me sooner rahter than later. So now both of us are out of work. AND we have four sons. It is so hard.
I have the worst anxiety of my life and cant' see a way out. I would love to see a study on what this economy has done to the increase in anxiety!! Hugs and we will get through it. You are not alone.
As the first poster said, stress itself isn't deadly. Think of all the people who live through so much worse and they often live to very old ages. My grandparents lived through the Great Depression and my grandmother is 93! All the best.

[Rikke]

1000 thanks for your reply, it gave peace of mind.

I totally panicked yesterday and I am forever grateful for you taking time to answer me.

I have started ... fight my fight and I expect to win it.

One last question: Should I take medicine so that all my symptoms may become less / fewer?

[RLR]

If you are referring to psychotropic medications, then I'd comment here that some therapeutic agents are beneficial while others not so helpful at all. The main point to remember with all such medications is that they are strictly designed for short-term use only, approximately 8 to 12 weeks at most in duration. It is during this period that you should use the opportunity to establish a firm, healthy perspective regarding your circumstances and create a realistic plan of action that is one you can both live with and that is successful.

So I'll say here that psychotropic medications aren't for everyone and certainly not necessary in all instances, but if you find that coping presents to much of a hurdle in the initial stages of attempting change to your predicament, then by all means speak with your primary care physician or specialist about a trial prescription to help you get a good head start.

Otherwise, you're going to be just fine. All people experience difficulty in life from time to time and it's far more critical how you respond that the nature of the problem itself.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)

[Rikke]

Thank you. Yes I meant antidepressant medications, maybe it can help me. If not, my heart is sick, then I have a lot of psychosomatic symptoms. Heart and blood was tested a year ago, but I still get new, different and frightening symptoms.

And I didn´t know if the heart can change in 1 year.

As written, I have been in cognitive therapy for 6 years, but it does not work, because I am still scared - every day, and I can no longer leave my house without companionship.


I know all have crises of life, mine just goes on

[RLR]

Well if you've been under active clinical therapy for 6 years and gained no benefit, then you need to seek a better therapist by all means. There are professionals who are very skilled at working with their clients and it's critical to locate one that demonstrates the ability to actually help you move forward with your life.

Again, psychotropic medications are strictly for short-term use and should not be contemplated as a substitute for ineffective psychotherapy. As mentioned previously, I see nothing of your postings to suggest that you are at any actual risk and your perception to the contrary quite naturally constitutes a major source of your difficulty.

Life circumstances indeed occur in everyone's life at some point in time, but the statement that yours in particular seem to be perpetual may well involve both perceptual problems and self-defeating patterns in daily life.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)