So scared, so lost, so unmotivated, my mind can't handle it all

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I just don't even know where to begin with this really.  I just feel ultra lost in life and confused but most of all just terrified and I have long ago lost all motivation and any sense of hope or enjoyment in life.  I feel I have lost all direction and my life feels completely out of my control.  I am just existing and going along with whatever happens to me like a rag doll.  I feel helpless in life like a child who is scared and has lost its mother - just so terrified.  I am deeply embarrassed by this.  I feel no sense of self worth, my confidence and self esteem is at its lowest ever .... life has passed me by and almost all of this time has been as a pathetic and hopeless cas.  I have always been exceptionally sensitive and I always feel that I was not meant to be on this earth because somebody as weak as me just cannot survive here without self destructing or being destroyed by life's reality.  I feel deeply ashamed of myself and my anxiety and depression.  Completely pathetic and useless as a human being even though deep inside I also feel such a sense of sadness for myself like part of me still wants to reach deep and give me a big hug and save myself but I keep failing at this.  I imagine I would excel in another type of land or in another world where I am just able to be in peace and the way I am and be left alone.  I have already been through the days of finding small bursts of habits to keep me going - like playing computer games, or chatting online etc .... I have also been through under eating, over eating, binge eating, losing weight, gaining weight, not dressing, not washing, lying in bed - crying at the tiniest issues - worrying about worst case scenarios in life, and also feeling so completely  lost as to what to do with myself. I get scared in life to the point of paranoia.  I imagine the absolute worst will happen - getting into trouble, ending up in prison, ending up in a vulnerable situation, homeless, etc, etc, etc .... I find it really hard to trust myself, let alone other people because I feel I have no skills to cope in life.  I feel tense around others and only peaceful when I am all alone in solitude .... but this is also very lonely and isolating place to be.   I feel a source of guilt in terms of any relationship with my family - because they have not been able to help me - they have not been able to aid in my dysfunctional mind and circumstances.  I have felt trapped, hysterical and like a I am verging on psychotic at times - shouting, throwing things, anger, tears.  All this has already been and gone.  I have visited psychologists in the past as well as psychiatrists - but they have never diagnosed me with anything else besides general depression and anxiety.  And as I am particularly well able to articulate my feelings and problems lucidly and with intelligence then they do not realise the extent of my problem and the absolute unbearable sense of fears, paranoias, misery I feel inside I think.  It's as though I have never fallen into any 'categor'y. I think this is because I have quite a variety of psychological difficulties that all merge into each other sometimes and of course feed off one another. Because I have managed to hang on (to all outward appearances) to some kind of sanity, they do not see the real picture of the chaos in my mind and body.  I have suffered 3 strange 'episodes' in the last 15 years where I have lost sensation in my body and face and it has never returned.  This remained something of a mystery to doctors and I was eventually diagnosed with some kind of neuropathy or anxiety related bodily symptoms.  Physical manifestation of anxiety even though some of them argued my symptoms were not typical or fitting.  These reduced sensations have never resolved or returned and I now live with reduced and diminished sensation including not being able to sense pleasure sensations like massages or orgasms, pain.  I feel adverse to sex and always have - somehow I (sometimes) find it a bit dirty and repulsive and feel violated and I cannot live with how I feel because I feel like a freak to feel that way without any reason that I can recall.  I have no history of abuse that I can recall - just an anxious mother with some depression and negativity in her own thinking.  Apart from this I have just been scared since always and have never had the strength or courage to pull myself out and I am now at my worst point ever and have given up on life and am just existing.  I have tried within my very limitied mental means to pull myself out by attempting life changes in the past but have been crippled by my own anxieties and fears and these attempts have ultimately ended in the same patterns of failure.  I lack any sense of ability or life resources, no sense of strength and I am aimless in life - feeling as helpless as if I were a newborn.  I do not see the meaning or point in anything and feel it so diffiult to think of anything that would make me want to see a glimmer of light and really try again.  Been there, done that before.  Already too tired.   I feel like I want a parent figure to come guide me step by step and pull me out from this hole.  But that is just ridiculous and the more I think of how I should be able to manage my life, the more ashamed I feel of my bleak and fearful reality.  I now find myself in a very stressful situation in life currently.  And I arrived here through my own desperation and hysteria to escape my last situation and lack of seeing any other way out - an out of the frying pan into the fire situation.  I have tried in the past medication, cbt, citalopram medication ..... I am so sad that I have come to this point but I do not know how to get better or where to begin ..... so much seems to have happened inside my mind that I am genuinely afraid that I have gone quite mad (but am still managing to pretend to be sane) ... I cannot cope with the vast amount of emotions and their intense strength that I feel in terms of everything seeming so dark, desperate, scary, chaotic and my mind just can't process it all.  Particularly it just all feels a lot of thoughts for a tiny tiny mind to have.  I just thought I would write about it.  I have been through a lot of weird phases, living on baby food for a while, labelling the calories on everything, Obsessive tendencies to tidy everything to the extreme just to have an element of control in my life .... I have a problem with OCD where everything in my home has to be perfect and tidy and straight otherwise I feel very anxious and restless and as though things are dirty or that I have lost all control completely.  If I lose the ability to control even my home or food then I feel I will have absolutely nothing since the rest of my life is so far gone.  But the pressure this extreme thinking gives me is unbearable to live with and makes me tired and cry when I don't match up to my own pressure and standards.  I take ages to get ready every day on the days when I feel able to try and go out because I feel I have to put on a pretence of appearing respectable and 'ok' .... the reality is sometimes I cry, shout, like a toddler who can't handle adult life and who can't dress herself or manage her well-being and life.  Afraid.  Lost.  Unmotivated.  My mind wants it all to go blank.  I want peace.  Feel a complete loser in life.  Just want to float away quietly on a cloud or sleep and not wake up sometimes and just drift off into a haze where the last thing I think about is something uplifting and peaceful and far from the reality of this overwhelming life.  I feel guilty to myself and to the world for being this way.  The only way my stupid dreamy mind sometimes justifies it is to pretend I am a fairy from another world who was made perfectly but has come to an imperfect world and cannot hack it because it's too far from my own world.  And I imagine this particular thought in a sane way, not an insane way ... I realise I am not really this person but this is the best way I am able to get any comfort in how I feel in this life.

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  • Posted

    Hi Claire,

    What a write up.. 

    Claire you have expressed out what i am right now feeling, you really have articulated each feeling here.

    At one point while reading, a thought crossed my mind that this can be a good leaving note for me to address to all my near and dear ones. i feel like running away from all that i cant face, i cant express myself at all to them, as the things i have been in, cant be shared with my elders or even younger.  or to even anyone,  i have been a nice soul inside, then too i have a devil portrayed persona to all who see me. i can't mess any further. 

    one of the point i want to let you know is how i reached here to make an effort i chose to reply to you, i was asking the search engine that do i have any answers here to the problem stuck in my mind right now, i happened to then read your article thanks to google to connect with someone here who has written down exactly how i feel. each night is the same now. what could be the outcome of the time in near future.

    Well, i have been feeling very much demotivated with actions to pursue good life like we see in the society around us.

    i hope i have the same energy next time i come here to the discussion trails of comment and read and write like this time i am doing.  

    I am too feeling i have a heavy head for the things i my life has turned and round around i am getting worst in thoughts.   

    Thank you, 

    Hardeep Bhui.

  • Posted

    So many people relate to this, I've read every reply. I started to cry when I started reading the first post of Claire's. I too can relate to every word. This all started at the age of 12 and just got worse over the years, I'm 34 now. I too have a long story but I can't articulate my feelings as well as Claire. Claire, if you happen to read this, thank you for putting it into words, I feel like taking this to my doctor and saying "here! Read this. This is what I've been trying to say all these years".

  • Posted

    I relate so much to everything u wrote. Do u live alone, an if so how do u care for ur self. I'm scared I'm going to get evicted because I can't care for my self let alone my apartment. I'm to scared to leave my place, I'm scared what is going to happen to me

    R

  • Posted

    Oh Claire. I love the way you worded everything. Is "worded" even a word? Doesn't matter.

    I understand you. You feel worthless but at the same time you know, you so much more.

    We have to be greater than what we suffer. I know one day, everything will be alright. I just can't wait til it gets here. Please hold on, life is so precious.

  • Posted

    Hi Clair. You sound exactly how I feel. Although mine is somewhat “episodic”. (Oddly, my old email was Clair, which kind of freaked me out when I saw your name after reading and feeling like we are “twins”. Anyway, I’ve seen psychiatry and psychologists. I love had multiple diagnoses bandied about. I’ve been on antidepressants for years. My symptoms seem to be as bad now as they were when I was going through adolescence. Your numbness sounds like a neurological issue. (I’m also a nurse). I had similar symptoms a ways back. I, at one time, was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Eventually my blood work turned positive for RA and they started treating that. It took over a decade for it to “reveal itself” . I also have allergies and Asthma. Also diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome - hypermobility type due to weird symptoms I was  having and I am now convinced it is the chief problem that has caused all the others (“recipe” for collagen in the body is screwed up and affects everything since it’s found everywhere.) Anyway, due to cognitive difficulties making me think I had early oneself Alzheimer’s I saw Neurology who found some abnormalities and sent me to Neuro-Psych. They did all day testing and diagnosed ADHD-predom inattention type. (Common with the Ehler’s). Anyway. I am now planning to see psych cause I am on a rollercoaster and also can’t trust myself. One thing I have noticed is that if I am in a good med that controls my RA and or Prednisone, it clears my mind right up and I feel completely normal. So it makes me feel like there may be something linked between my immune system and my state of mind. The reason I  telling you all this so that there are SO many things that can cause your symptoms that can come from other sources and should be ruled out to ensure there isn’t something else going on that needs treatment. Autoimmune diseases are hard to diagnose and there are many. Lupus and MS both can cause primarily psych type symptoms. Lyme disease can cause encephalitis. Herpes (cold sores) can cause encephalitis. Early Parkinson’s can cause psych symptoms. Other neuro degenerative diseases can as well. Obstructive Sleep Apnea and other sleep disorders can cause symptoms as bad as psychosis if the interruptions and lack of oxygen at night are bad enough. Most people don’t know they have it. They have no sense of slight arousals during night because they don’t wake all the way up. I’ve had patients (kids labeled with ADHD and have sent them for sleep testing and they end up finding out it’s Sleep Apnea and they need tonsils and adenoids removed. Medicine is not an exact science and it’s not set up nowadays to allow clinicians the time they need to to a thorough job. You need to keep demanding testing and switch doctors if you must. (If you have any doubts, read “Brain on Fire” by Susan Calhoun and it will show how dangerous missed diagnosis can be). There aren’t a whole lot of cures but most conditions can be managed and treated. That includes the classics like Schizophrenia and BiPolar and Major depression. It just sadly can take a long time to get proper diagnosis and treatment. I just don’t give up until I am satisfied that my symptoms are under control enough for a decent quality of life. And I try to find support in groups of other people who share my conditions. Only they can understand what you go through. This ain’t just the case with mental health problems. It is the same for most medical issues that impact functioning and make you somehow “different” from your family and friends. I wish you well as a fellow traveler. Maybe we are from the same planet because I feel like planet Earth had been very inhospitable for both my mind and my body.
  • Posted

    Hi Claire.  I understand completely how you feel.  I am so scared all of the time and end up going to the pub to try and forget.  I have been diagnosed with ME and Fibromyalgia and I wonder if these conditions have been caused by being scared and stressed by life in this day and age.  This world is a very scary place and unless you are the type of person who doesn't worry then it’s extremely difficult to cope.  I know, without a doubt, that if the world was more peaceful and safe, I would be much better, mentally and probably physically too. I am so so scared and cannot stop thinking about innocent children suffering. How can we change the world?

  • Posted

    Hi Claire.  I understand completely how you feel.  I am so scared all of the time and end up going to the pub to try and forget.  I have been diagnosed with ME and Fibromyalgia and I wonder if these conditions have been caused by being scared and stressed by life in this day and age.  This world is a very scary place and unless you are the type of person who doesn't worry then it’s extremely difficult to cope.  I know, without a doubt, that if the world was more peaceful and safe, I would be much better, mentally and probably physically too. I am so so scared and cannot stop thinking about innocent children suffering. How can we change the world?

    • Posted

      Hi Linda. I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in the past too. And suffer from Depression/Bi Polar symptoms. I ended up being diagnosed with RA (ie. autoimmune) and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome hypermobility type. (genetic connective tissue disorder). That disorder causes issues with my Mast Cells and POTS. When my Mast Cell Problam and RA are treated with Prednisone or under control with autoimmune meds, my Depression/BiPolar responds as well. I firmly believe, after doing years worth of research,  that Fibromyalgia is linked to the immune system issues and so is my Depression/BiPolar. (This isn’t completely surprising since it’s believed that depression had an evolutionary role. Sick/I’ll people become at least moderately depressed. They tend to want to sleep. Have no energy. Appetite changes and they want to isolate away from others. This protected the rest of the tribe because they had less contact with the person isolating in their hut or cave and this less likely to pass on an infectious disease. I think there is a mix of genetic vulnerability and then something that sets off the immune system that leads to Depressive disorders and they are also thinking that this may be the case with Schizophrenia, Autism, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Depression makes it harder to deal with the stresses of the world. You are not to blame. and you are far from being the only one. I hope you can get some treatment and some relief. Research what you can. Make sure you get periodic testing for autoimmune disorders. (I was negative for over a decade before I turned positive for RA.) make sure doctors test and rule out other conditions as well such as Thyroid. Sleep disorders. Etc. these can also cause similar symptoms. Depression isn’t just a disease. It also is often a Symtom. 
    • Posted

      Go to the gym. Trust me it helps. It saved my life. I know it sounds silly but it helps with my depression. Been going for two years nows and i feel alot better physical and mental. You soon realize everybody who is a avid gym junkie was in the spot you were once in. And now they have a totally different outlook about life. It will be difficult but its worth it. You are not alone in this battle for your soul. Hang in there just a little bit longer. Just give a shot.
    • Posted

      Justin. It doesn’t sound silly at all.  Exercise reduces inflammation. In fact, there are lots of things we can do without needing doctors to reduce inflammation and I’m putting plan to action as we speak. I’m sending a link to a great article on inflammation and depression. There are tables/links in the article and exercise is mentioned. Good sleep hygiene, yoga and mediation. All mentioned as inflammation reducers. Conversely, stress increases inflammation. So does obesity. So does lack of sleep. Also mentions Cox 2 inhibitors c(antiinflmammatories which could be arc by regular doctor) can help. That might be an option for folks experiencing total lack of motivation to do other things like exercise. May be effective enough to at least be able to get you to go to a gym. That’s what Prednisone is doing for me. Giving me the energy and motovation Ineed to reduce this inflammation in natural ways.   They are also now doing clinical trials with Infliximab (Remicade) to treat depression, which is an autoimmune drug used for RA and, if I’m not mistaken, Lupus and some of the other autoimmune diseases. (http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/special-reports/five-things-know-about-inflammation-and-depression)

    • Posted

      Hi Jeane.  I also have Vitiligo which in itself is an auto immune illness. My daughter has the exact same problems as I do so I do believe it is all genetic. Can you tell me what RA is?
    • Posted

      Hi Justin, thank you for your reply.  I agree that going to the gym would help but unfortunately, my ME prevents me from doing excercise.  I have tried many times to do things such as walking or going to the swimming baths, only to have a relapse.
  • Posted

    Where do I start I have suffered with anxiety and depression for a while now and have only just recently admitted it and got help in the form of medication something I didn't want to do but it is helping a little, past couple of weeks has got quite bad again money problems are causing my 8 year relationship to crumble as my partner is the only worker in the relationship and not doing to well as hes a sales rep and and its commission only, it dosnt help he has anger problems and when hes in a mood he takes it out on me and any little thing bugs him, i get called all names under the sun alot of the time its f***ing slag , ugly dike ect and 9x out of 10 i dont get an apology its just like it never happed the one good thing i can say is he has never layed a hand on me but it still affects me alot and these things send me deeper in to depression i dont leave the house on my own i dont have any friends i dont have a life apart from my animals (snake,lizard,cat,dog,fish) and tbh i think there the things that are keeping me going i have always said i prefer animals to humans as they dont judge so they make me feel safe, sorry for my rant but i had to get it out also i have never written anything like this before thanks for taking the time to read

  • Posted

    Hi Claire,

    do you still feel like this? just been browsing the internet for anyone who might feel a similar way to me... and honestly, I could have written that myself. I realise it's been 3 years so you'll most likely never see this! Hope things are better for you. 

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