Anxiety sufferer? have your chance to voice your opinion.

Hey Nicole

Up until a year ago, I didn't even know anxiety existed. I'd heard of people owl being anxious for an exam and what not, but didn't know it was a medical condition. A year ago I had my first panic attack out of the blue and since then I have been in a dream like state , and have depersonalisation and derealistion. I was diagnosed with generalised anxiety, eventually, but I went to about 5 doctors and I explained all my symptoms, and they all said "hmmmm sounds like could be anxiety maybe" to me that sounded like maybe you're abit nervous for exams. It was only until I did my own intense research I found it was an actual medical condition. The doctors didn't explain to me that my numb fingers, blurred vision, and my tingling legs were all down to anxiety, I had to research is all and go through the worst few months of my life because I thought I was going to die and no one knew what was wrong with me, I finally got a doctor who was amazing, and sat down and explained to me about all the physical symptoms are , and referred me for therapy and put me on medication. She restored my faith in the profession. She was the one who diagnosed me with generalised anxiety disorder, and since then, my anxiety has actually got a lot better. When I told my friends and family what was finally wrong with me the reaction I got was "only anxiety?" No one understands the pain you go through, the symptoms are so severe you believe you're dying. No one seems to know anything about anxiety, I've learnt so much on it from all the books I've read and research, but this time last year I never knew anxiety existed. I really wish more people were aware of it. I'm embarrassed to say I have GAD, but I wouldn't be embarrassed to say I have a broken leg, both affect your life, just one you can see and one you can't see.

Hi Nicole. anxiety is widespread and seems epidemic amongst young ppl., possibly coz of the societal/peer pressures, uncertainity & other pressures they have to endure. furthermore thay have no prior education on the subject. also, anxiety is considered a 'mental health' issue & we are not comfortable here in the UK with this label. consequently u hadn't heard of it untill it hit u. it all goes on behind closed doors. no-body says anything about it so nothing gets done about it. it's just the few honest/couragious ppl like urself that works at raising awareness in the hope that'll it'll get parity with other health issues.

well done you & good luck with ur college course & assignment.

Caitlin

I had no idea how much anxiety could affect someone until I experienced a severe episode myself. I think even if you are a very open minded person it's difficult to put yourself in the shoes of someone suffering from this until you have been there. A lot of people will just roll their eyes and assume your not trying hard enough. They don't realise how physical and debilitating it can be. I'll admit I was a bit like that myself before Id been there. Because of this I think people feel ashamed and find it difficult to talk about, and this makes the situation worse. I don't feel like I could ever talk openly at work about my anxiety issues. Sometimes I think to myself I bet there are others on the team that have been through it and would understand but it's just its just never going to get brought up! Its great to have a safe forum like this where people who are going through the same thing can get together and discuss. It's honestly helped me no end just to know it's not just me! I do think the situations getting slowly better and more people are talking about it, but it's still very much a taboo. Good luck with your project and well done for speaking out its a tough thing to do I think x

Hi Nicole. i'd reinforce what the others commentators have said on here, especially the comments about ppl who are open mined but had no 'experiential' idea of how it is for anxiety sufferers until they experienced it themselves. as a health professional, i had the utmost empathy/compassion for ppl with anxiety, but didn't really understand it until i suddenly started having panic attack myself during a very stressful period in my life. i, therefore, feel that ppl in general, may be comapssionate & understanding of the condition, however, they possible have little clue of how debilitating & incarcerating it can be. there's no let up, few moments of spontaneous peace. one has to litterally be always alert to not allowing it to rule one's life. a major problem with the Medics/experts in respect of anxiety diagnosis is: once someone gets the label, it's just pills, pills, CBT & dismissal. they rarely look for a PHYSICAL underlying cause of which there are many & which if corrected the anxiety would ameliorate or/and disappear. examples include: anomalies with the electrical system of the heart, low levels of EFA, vitamin/mineral deficiencies, especially vit b12 of which there's currently a silent epidemic or even something as seemingly innocous as allergies/ food senstivities etc. the medical approach to treatment is, sadly, one dimentional & V. fragmented. we need a more integrated approach to health care in general, instead of the one dimentional 'specialist' approach. and 'yes' it IS largely a silent disease coz society is scared of mental health issues and the majority of those with the condition are ashamed of it.

all good luck with your project & thanks for taking up this v. neglected 'cause'.

Caitlin