Topic : Fears, Phobias and Anxiety Disorders

YOU REALLY MDE M Y DAY!! I GREW UP IN CHAMPAIGN ILLINOIS.. IT WAS SO SO BLEAK!!I DID THE EXACT SMA E THING THINKING OF PEOPLE LIKE CAVES AN ANTS ... THE SAME... I MEAN I AM NMOT ALOE FINALLY SOIMEONE RESPONDED!!!! THANKYOU 

      I'm so, so  very glad that you read my post!  I wish I could give you a big hug!  ((((((((((KELLI))))))))))  You are not alone.  I would love to stay in contact with you and be of any help I could possibly offer.  I just remember how terribly painful it was!  I felt so alone and lonely.  I didn't have a clue how to deal with what I was feeling.  I just kept searching.  I read alot, and was forever in my mind trying to figure it out.  I joined AA and haven't had a drink in 20 years.  I did alot of therapy and counseling.  I clearly remember thinking and feeling that there was NO way out!  I was so lost and confused. I began thinking that perhaps I had a brain tumor or that I was going mentally ill.  My mother took rat poison when she was 5 months pregnat with me.  (My father didn't think I was his, so my mom tried to kill herself and me.)  I thought for sure that must have destroyed or had some terrible affect on my brain.  

     Anyway,  I'm not doing so bad today.  I still have my struggles, but nothing compared to what I've gone through.   I  know I'm a strong person to have survived that!  Like I said, I'm still on my journey to love myself.   

     I believe that we go through everything in our life for a reason.  I have learned alot about myself and what makes people tick.  Don't get me wrong, I still have issues.   

     Anyway, keep in touch Kelli....anytime.... 

    Oh, by the way,  I live in Illinois also.  Chicago area.         TAKE CARE!   Mary  

     Hi......I have anxieties/OCD.  I found a really good site that has a wonderful message board!  socialanxietysupport.com      95% who post there are teenagers and early 20's.  There is alot of activity on that site.  I think your son might enjoy posting there.  He wouldn't feel so alone and could get ideas on how other young people are dealing with their fears.  Good Luck......Mary 

Hello everyone.  This is my first post.  I am 26 years old and wrestle with GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder).  It hit me out of the blue one night 4 years ago.  It sounds like some of you deal with worse problems than me, but I know how hellacious GAD can be.  I always hoped that one day it would be a thing of the past, but I know after reading your posts that the problem doesn't go away by itself and unless I conquer the problem it will always be there. 

I have taken medication in the past, as well as gone to CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy).  These both helped, but didn't seem to completely fix the problem.  I took Effexor btw. 
Besides my treatment and confiding in a good friend, there is one thing that seems to bring a true relief, even if it is very hard sometimes and comes slowly.  That is my faith in God.  For several months I had overcome anxiety and gotten of meds, but a few weeks ago I had another attack and have been trying to stand up again.  It has caused me to really cry out to God every day and pray for His help. 

I believe God will help us, but it is also up to us to stand, as hard as it seems.  I believe God wants us to overcome life through faith in Him- not take away all of our problems, you know?  I will keep pushing forward and having faith as much as I can.

I sympathize with all of you and admire each of you for trying to fight this problem.  It seems our problem will not magically go away, but that we must face it.  I believe we can do it with the help of friends and family, treatment, and most importantly seeking God in the midst of our fears.  I believe we can overcome this with God.  It might take months, or years.  But each day we can move forward with God.  Bless all of you. 

Sorry it took so long to reply.  I had written you a long e-mail and sent it, but it didn't go through!  Really #*!!'ed me off!  These e-mails take me so long to write sometimes!   

Anyway, you sound like you're a wonderful mother!  Giving your children lots of hugs and kisses, letting them know that they are special and loved.  I can't think of anything more important to give your children.  A strong foundation.  It's especially wonderful considering the family you grew up in.  Thank God you had the insight. 

I too grew up in a similiar family.  I never remember my mom telling me she loved me.  Never any hugs, kisses or any type of affection.  She was always angry!  Always yelling at us.  Felt like a burden.  Couldn't do anything right.  There were 7 children, no father.  I understand today why she behaved the way she did, but that doesn't take away the damage it caused.  I realize that I have to give myself the love she wasn't able to.  (Not easy when you think you are nothing). 

So how do you feel when you do go "out"?  Do you ever have anxiety when you are home?  How are you if "people" come into your home?   

I'm making a strong attempt to defeat this thing.  I have to be honest and admit I've just been coasting for quite awile now.  I've arranged my life according to the fear.  I'm tired of it!   

Before I started taking prozac in 90, I worked VERY HARD on defeating this fear.  Therapy, 12 step groups, prayer, exercise, ate right, worked at McDonald's (in an attempt to overcome my fear by putting myself in a very public place), took classes and worked at a junior college.  I did all of this while my agoraphobia was full blown.  I don't know where I found the strenght.   

After 2 solid years of this, I gave up.  My counselor than suggested prozac.  I was very hesitant.  I finally took it, figuring "what do I have to loose?"  Prozac helped tremendiousely in reducing the symptons of anxiety!  I felt like I was let out of my prison, for at least awhile.  Then slowly the fears returned.  Nothing like they where before, but enough to stifle my life once again.  I was SO TIRED of fighting this fear, that I kinda gave up fighting.  The fear was more manageable.  So I guess I've been coasting ever since.  It makes me sad that I have wasted so much of my life.   

So I'm ready to take this fear on again!  I'm doing something about it!  I've started working on a workbook that deals with anxieties.  There's another guy that has posted on this sight (pinetree) that offers free handouts from a Dr. Richards.  I've been in contact with him and have recieved several "bits" of very useful ingormation.  We can beat this thing Kathy!  It all starts in our mind and all the negative things we tell ourselves!   Shall we do it together? 

Hope all is well with you and your family.  Take care....Mary 

Hi.. it been a week now,, an i will ssay , all a person can really do in this life at least.. is "create the iillusion.the way i feel now is that..it really is all in he brain.. when i read about you mom an the poison...wow.unreal...alot about how we feel in the "midwest" upbringing was telling us "always be nice"an just putting it bluntly.. i was a social misfit.. that whole midwestjust doesnt prepae people fo the "real" world...i  moved all over he country (by myself) since i was 16 .. like that song says"I been to paradise but never been to .ME" i mean that song nails it tata for now!!!!!! 

Hi all.  I'm a 33 y/o single mom of 1 who has been on disability for 3 years now because of chronic depression & acute anxiety attacks.  I've been on meds for it for 9 years. 

I've been to 2 therapists, neither of which would do anything except basically ask me 'How's it going'.  I'm on Medicaid because I'm poor, and I can't even find a doctor to treat me. 

I've lived the last 7 years raising my daughter and nothing else.  Dealing with a controlling mother, dealing with being broke every month,etc. 

I have no friends, haven't had a date in over 7 years (since I left my daughters' dad), and I'm to the end of my rope. 

Last winter, my doctor at the time said I needed light therapy, but of course the insurance wouldn't pay for it, and every winter I get into a major depression, no matter how hard I try not to. 

I've been sick for almost 2 weeks now, had to go to the ER because I was almost passing out and that was causing me to panic, so it was the most HORRIBLE feeling in the world.  Just when I was starting to feel better, today I'm nauseous and having diarreah.  I'm so TIRED, I'm sick of being sick, I'm sick of being alone, I'm sick of being broke.  I can't work and even if I could, because of the changes in the state Medicaid, any money I'd make would go straight to the state!  So I can't even get a job because they would take any money I made. 

I'm at the very end of trying to figure out what to do.  I can't get medical help, I have no friends or family that can offer emotional help, I don't know what to do. 

Lately I've had the lowest feelings washing over me and I'm tired of hanging on.  I almost just want to let go and let it take me.  I'm tired of fighting and I can't get better.  My daughter would be better off without me, but I'm afraid of who she'd be left with because her father has never been involved with her and he's a drunk and a drug user and he won't even pay child support, he hides his income, he abuses his girlfriends, and I don't want my baby living with him. 

I have nowhere and no one to turn to.  I need a miracle to save me.   

Hi,   

There is hope.  Anxiety disorders can be cured. It is a learned behavior and anything learned can be unlearned using CBT.  I am offering a FREE CBT course on line.  For information e-mail me at: rowdens@shaw.ca   Please do not give up  

Pat