Forgive my comparison, but....Anxiety is like gential warts....It comes and it goes. You may not see it for a while and then you may. You can take medicine to keep in under control but it stays with you. Everyday you must live your life the best that you can because it isn't just going to disappear like a bad dream.

I am 22 and I suffer from anxiety. When I was 12 I have a nervous breakdown in school because I was so apprehensive about passing a math test because I feared I would fail for the year. When I was 16 I got on a rollercoaster and nearly lost my mind because I could not deal with the ride. When I was 19 I lost it during a military training exercise and three people had to hold me just to get me into the car. At the age of 21 I locked myself in a bathroom stall at work crying and screaming to the top of my lungs and cursing out customers in a drugstore all because of anxiety.

I hate crowded hallways. I loathe carnivals. I hate weekends at the mall. I can't stand clubs. The thought of a concert turns my stomach and makes me ill. Yes, I have anxiety. It is my genital warts, it is not going away and I must deal with it the best I know how with prayer and help from friends and maybe even medicine.

But I will have this to deal with for the rest of my life, and I plan to manage it and deal with it the best I can so I can have a full life.

Hope this helps you.

Hi there

i have had anxiety for a about a year and yes you really should enjoy your life to the full, as after worry your still going to be alive!

I was really bad at the beginning but I do believe I have changed a corner and don`t ever give up hope. I know people who have got better and don`t have a second thought about being anxious ever again. Yes it has changed there pathway in life but it has always been for the better.

I have the surreal feeling you talk of and the best way to deal with it is ignore it, I know how hard this is but if you do something you love so much your mind should be occupied.

At one point I couldn`t walk out the house, now I go shopping, I drive my car, I go to bars with my friends, I go dancing, I walk the dog everything I never thought I could do ever again. Take it one little step at a time you will get better and I don`t believe it is necessarily a lifetime experience. The power of the mind is an amazing thing which can change how you feel. Anxiety is a learned behaviour, your doing the best thing seeing a psychologist.

Good luck with the future
debs

I agree, it comes and goes, I have times where I can go to shops like I did before it started and feel relaxed, other times I panic so much, I think I am going to faint, I am generally a very panicky person though!

Anxiety was around before you ever had an episode with it. You just didn't focus on it and now you do. It doesn't go away the same way it wasn't started.....Everyone's born with it. You let one bad time get to you and you're afraid of it. The fear of it and focus that you put on it are the only things that are keeping it scary and consuming. It never goes away otherwise you'd just stand there when someone points a gun at you. Anxiety has a purpose if you aren't afraid of it.

I agree, my life has changed considerably since I had my first panic attack, because I live in constant fear!

My life has changed immensely. Had my first panic attack a year ago at the age of 28.. Felt weird that I have done so many crazy things in my life, travelled to rough countries and taken lots of risky trains busses and cars but never had any problem until the panic started.

I live with anxietey. Some times I wake up thinking its going to be my last day, iwth a really bad premonition that I am about to die.. Othertimes I can go weeks without being affected too much.

Its just a matter of dealing with it when it comes and trying to ejoy every moment when you dont have it.

It does change your life, it changes your perspectives, it changes your priorities.. But sometimes thats not such a bad thing!

Anxiety is a weird deal. I've always had anxiety even as a child, not constantly though, usually it was something I was scared of seeing or doing when I was a kid. My parents got divorced when I was young and having to go visit him on the weekends and be around my wicked step mother made me very anxious. Over time, I basically shut myself out of the world as much as I could. I did this to avoid anything stressful. I spent alot of time being alone doing things alone. As I got older, I started to feel like I missed out on alot (which I did) but I started to have cravings for real life. Because I was in the real world, I had to deal with things I never had to deal with in the past. Work, money, driving, sex, relationships and so on.

Some things weren't so bad while other things stressed me out to the max. In 1998 I was totally stressed out to the max, my anxiety at the time (didn't even know I had it then) made me so sick, I thought I was going to die. My heart would skip beats and I would get chest pains. I couldn't sleep for more than 3 hours at a time, some days I wouldn't sleep at all. It was really scary, I even went to the doctors to have my heart checked because I thought I was going to die. The doctor couldn't even take my ecg because I was jumping around so much. (i couldn't hold still) but she gave me paxil. That night I got home from the doctors and was still feeling sick, I took one paxil pill and it made me feel sick (it wasn't paxil, it was my brain telling me this) anyways, I never took anymore paxil. About 1 week later I felt better. It's almost as if my anxiety just disapeared. I started to get sleep and felt alot better. Over the next 3 years I did fairly well. The anxiety came back from time to time, but in the fall of 2001 it hit me very hard again, about the same as it did in 1998. This time my anxiety was brought on because of the world trade center crap and my dad had a heart attack. Plus my sister was getting married only weeks away. Needless to say I was stressed out!

I suffered for about a month or so. Finally it went away like the other time. During the spring and summer of 2002 I started to feel like it was coming back again, but I tried my best relax and not let it happen again. Then something happened that changed everything...I met a really nice girl. It was almost like night and day. I had no stress, no anxiety and felt better than ever in my entire life. I also lost about 30 pounds (i was at 245 pounds before I met her) over the remainder of 2002 and the course of 2003 to 2004 I felt pretty damn awsome. Then something bad happened, I broke up with the girl. This caused me a great pain, however, I managed to get over it. Then in august of 2004 I started to feel anxious again, and slowly the anxiety started to come back. In january of 2005 I hurt my back and neck and lost my job, this caused me a great deal of stress and anxiety. Although the pain kinda took my mind off my worries to a degree. (sounds weird, but true) in june of this year my neck and back got better but the stress and anxiety has stuck around. I've been suffering with it all summer long, in the last two months I have never been so stressed out and anxious in my entire life. I haven't had much sleep lately and my health feels like it is failing. However, yesterday I went to see the doctor and he put me on celexa. (hope it works) last week my girlfriend gave me one of her xanax to try and it really helped too, in fact I slept like a baby the night I took it. She gave me 10 of them, but are now gone and she won't give me anymore..But that is understandable. But it's amazing how well they work. I was hoping that the doctor would have prescribed me some yesterday, but he didn't. It sure would be nice to have some just in case.


The story doesn't sound like it is going anywhere, but I will give you and others some honest to god tips on anxiety relief.

1. Fall in love with someone if you allready haven't (this is just to make you laugh) but hey, having someone does help. (don't be with someone just to make yourself feel better though)

2. Lose weight and exercise (this is one of the most important things you can do, if you can lose weight, you will lose the anxiety) trust me on this, i'm in the mess I am now because when I got hurt I gained lots of weight.
Just make sure you take it slow and think positive, if you're worried about exercising you'll fail. Relax!


3. Get out of the house and visit friends or family. If you can't do that, just go somewhere period.

4. Eat right, don't drink coffee, cola or anything with caffeine in it. Worst thing to do is smoke! You'll never ever get rid of the anxiety if you smoke. Trust me, I used to smoke myself. I could never figure out why I felt so crappy.

5. Get counseling and see a doctor, if you are really under alot of stress it requires a doctors visit.

You are probably thinking right now, boy this guy is talking bullcrap and he reccomends all this stuff, but is under anxiety himself. But the truth is, I let myself fail, I didn't take care of myself and I gained the weight back and did everthing I shouldn't have done. And here I am, sick.
Everything I have said really does work, I wouldn't have gotten better if it wasn't for those things. But in order to get better again, I need to shed some of the anxiety before I can get back to working out again. (kinda hard to exercise when you've only had 2 hours of sleep...Kinda scary too)

i just can't wait until I can get back to my old self again, I really miss the old and real me. It's like night and day.

Good luck!

By the way, I didn't mention it above, but i'm suffering with panic attacks and all that good stuff too. (all caused by damn anxiety!)

Anxiety is a learned behavior. It is not a mental illness. It is 100%
behavioral. Evrybody has it and the threshold can be starting from
shyness to panic attacks. In once life , you slide from the up and down.
You can get stuck at one point depending on how you perceiving
things external and internal (like thoughts). The more you over react
your bench mark will be high , if less (take it easy policy) then you
will be less. The imp thing is it is not the events in your life rather
how you reacting to it . Can you control the world and your mind
thoughts no, but we can how we react. This is the fundamental difference between anxious and non anxious people. It is the worry which fuels
or empowers the thoughts leading to anxious behavior. You need
to change the perception that something is wrong, researching.
That itself is anxiety. It is a not condition coming from outside. Infact
remember " if you do what you used ,you will get what you always got"

I don't really think that anxiety can go away, but you can learn to deal with it better and live your life without having to worry about anxiety. Its a vicious circle, e.G. You get a headache after a stressful days work and it takes you a while to unwind afterwards, you begin to get these headaches every evening due to stress and you begin to worry, this makes you symptoms worse, which makes you worry, and this makes your symptoms worse which makes you worry etc, etc, etc. Your thoughts have a massive impact on your physical symptoms. These are called nats (negative automatic thoughts) these occur sub-consciously and can just flash through one's mind, without them even knowing it. What needs to be done is for them to alter a part of this vicious circle for the better, turn negative thoughts into positive ones and challenge these nats. I.E. When you have a panic attack recognize it and say to yourself this is nothing, im not gonna die, and try to distract yourself on something positive. Easier said than done but nevertheless can be accomplished.

Hope this helps,

james

I suffered really bad panic and anxiety attacks after I had a seizure,
i was to scare to even leave my bedroom. But with the support of friends and family, I have come to cope with it, I know go to counciling sessions,a nd a anxiety managemnt course which has really helped. Yoga and pilates are very good at helping releave the syptoms of anixety.. It is a very slow process, but if you stick to it , you will acheieve the goals you want.
I know can go to pubs, and feel I could go to cubs, you do have your good days and bad days, but soon the good days take over the bad...

My friend adam had suffered from social anxiety. Due to reading a book called zhuan falun he was able to control his anxiety and he no longer uses anti-anxiety medication.

I thought his story might be useful to someone suffering out there.

im only 12 and i have aniexty. i know its kinda hard to believe but as a 12 year old there is a lot of stress in your life. I have had like one aniexty attack. I was scared!! I started feeling sick, i was shaking, sweating, my heart was beating fast! I had no idea what was happening. But one thing you can do if you ever feel scared or have a panic attack, just get a heating pad, lie down in bed, put the heating pad on your stomach, clear your mind, and close your eyes, eventually it will go away. I worry about things constantly and i get scared about like if i see something or feel something in my body i freak out just because ive never seen it before. but its been there all along. my mom just tells me not to worry and calm down. I try to and i feel better. Sometimes i get so worried, i loose my appetite. When i was younger i didnt have these problems, but as i got older i just started worrying because i was finally at an age where i understood things. but i just wish i wouldnt have to go through this its scary. I fret over everything. and Im only 12!!!


Does anyone has any suggestions to help me?

I too have had anxiety since i was young. i am now 18 and still suffer from anxiety, my parents put me on medication around your age for my panic attacks. it really helped me a lot throughout highschool. not until this year when i graduated did i start to have major anxiety symptoms like i did when i was younger. i'm still on medication but i'm switching to a different one because it's obviously not working anymore. but when it does work it's like i'm a completly different person. just because you're 12 doesn't mean you can't be stressed and have anxiety. i had it too at your age. when you're having those anxiety symptoms just remember to breathe really deep and realize it's only anxiety and nothing will happen to you. there's not much else you can do in the moment. talk to your parents about seeing a doctor for your anxiety. i'm sure it will help a lot so you won't have to worry. i hope i helped at least a little bit.

I have had anxiety symptoms for about 3 months now. I get really scared and I constantly feel like I cannot breath. So i always have to take in deep breaths, (or at least try). I am really scared of a lot of things. Some weeks I am fine others I am not. I cannot eat anything but liquids because I am afriad I am going to choke. My docter prescribed me zoloft but I dont take it cause I had a bad panic attack on it and thought that it was because of the meds.

The best ways I cope with this is by number 1 taking the xanex my dr prescirbed, number 2 talking to my boyfriend and family, number 3 eating a bowl of ice cream, number 4 occupying myself with a computer game, book, tv show etc. As long as I am completly occupied and comfortable I don't feel anything. Also I would try and avoid stressful situations at all costs. Anxiety sucks. big time. But I think that with a little determination and support from our loved ones we can overcome it. The biggest thing is having someone you can talk to that will listen to you and not look at you like your crazy. Good Luck everyone with anxiety I know exactly how you feel and want to get rid of it as well. God Bless You!!!

If anyone here has taken zolft with their anxiety please write me and let me know how it worked Thanks.

hi, i didnt get anxiety until last two weeks, when my friendship with a best friend started to break and i got really depressed and then started wondering what was wrong with me. Im trying my best not to think too much but it happens you know. Im scared then Im optimistic.. its a weird cycle

Hi i have been putting up with anxiety (I really hate that word)...i like to call it stress because thats what it is! for about a year now which started with panic attacks.

I had cbt and took beta blockers and the panic attacks stopped and my life went back to normal until the anxiety rerred its ugly head once more.

Im waiting to be referred again to cbt which i found really useful.Anyone who doesnt find this helps is just not ready yet. its takes time.

I am also training to be a mental health nurse so i know a thing or two about it and would love to use my knowledge to help people out there with this problem because i know how horrible it really is.

Some pointers:

Dont take medication for mild depression and anxiety it will only make things worse unless its something herbal (always check with your doctor) or beta blockers which help to ease the physical symptoms of panic and can get you through a rough patch.

Try excersising a bit...it releases happy hormones and really DOES work!

Diet is very important...cut out caffine as it is a stimulant and will stimulate your mind which will increase those negative thoughts.

Try reading up on it and try psychological therapies like cbt. They help you to learn to cope with negative thoughts and replace them with possitive ones..once learned you will get over the anxiety.

Write a daily diary, particularly when you have had a bad day. After a while you may start to see a pattern of how the anxiety starts and why.

BE POSSITIVE and remember anxiety is natural so its there to do you a favour. Dont let it get you down.

Routine is vital so no getting back into bed on a bad day...face your fear.

Dont be affraid... noone has ever died of anxiety!

Remember you are not alone.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with honey above on the medication issue. Everyone is different. I had anxiety problems because of some serious depression, feeling like my chest was collapsing, unable to breathe properly, feeling squeezed. I didn't realize what it was at the time, but I have since started taking Wellbutrin (one of the older antidepressants, it is not as strong as some of the more modern ones. Good for me because I have a high sensitivity to most meds). I feel much better now, although some days I can feel it sitting beneath the surface, like it is waiting to pop back out at any moment. I am using a journal as well to help me see where things get worse and why. So medication did help me, but it might not help you... talk to a doctor. And I know everyone else has suggested this, but EXERCISE! It really does work. Even just a walk around the block will bring you up a notch. Good luck...

After living with this my whole life, I would say it does not go away, but it can be controlled....It is just part of who I am...in my genes...

Caroline