So I don't have a whole lot of time to write now, so I thought this would be a good time to share some general information on general anxiety disorder and panic disorder. Enjoy.
G.A.D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalized_anxiety_disorder
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad/index.shtml
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/generalized-anxiety-disorder/DS00502
http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/generalized-anxiety-disorder
Panic Disorder (this describes my situation almost to a T!)
Panic attacks cannot be predicted. At least in the early stages of the disorder, there is no cue or trigger that starts the attack. Recalling a past attack may trigger panic attacks. How often and in what pattern they occur can vary.
A person with panic disorder often lives in fear of another attack.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001922/
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/panic-disorder/index.shtml
http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/mental-health-panic-disorder
"Panic disorder can be successfully treated, and sufferers can go on to lead full and satisfying lives. With appropriate treatment, nearly 90% of people with panic disorder can find relief." (I hope this is true!)
Friday, April 8, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The college years
Junior year of college. I was voted in as the leader of a organization I was involved in. For me it was life changing. As someone growing up pretty shy and quite, I was now in a role where others were looking up to me to for advice and following my lead. I was getting ready to lead my first meeting, dinner had just ended, and the room was waiting for me to begin the meeting. I stood outside the door, when a feeling of panic overwhelmed me. Sick to my stomach, starting to sweat, my thoughts going 100 miles a minute. Could I do this? Was I going to be sick? What was going to happen if I couldn't go through with it? Our advisor for the meeting had just arrived, she looked at me and probably could tell right away by the look on my face that something was wrong. I told her something from dinner wasn't settling well with me. I stood there thinking to myself, I needed an answer to all my "what if" questions if I was going to go through with this meeting. She told me she could cover for me if I felt like i was going to be sick. With those words, I instantly started to feel better. I told her I was feeling better, opened the door, and started the meeting without a gliche. Having the unknown answered for me, instantly brought me back to reality and made feel like myself again. My first full blown panic attic came and went in just a few minutes. From that point on the meetings never bothered me...but the panic attacks still came for other reasons. I didn't know till much later on that I was developing full blown panic disorder, aka general anxiety disoder, GAD. More stories to come...
Friday, April 1, 2011
The beginning
Sooo blogging. Completely new to me, but I'm going to take a stab at it. Not the best at grammar, spelling, punctuation, but if you are reading this, you will get the point. I've started this blog for a variety of reasons. 1. I love reading them. 2. I'm battling an everyday occurrence with anxiety. 3. I'm done with it.
Our good friends from wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anxiety) suggest that anxiety is:
A generalized mood condition that can often occur without an identifiable triggering stimulus. As such, it is distinguished from fear, which is an emotional response to a perceived threat. Additionally, fear is related to the specific behaviors of escape and avoidance, whereas anxiety is related to situations perceived as uncontrollable or unavoidable.[6] An alternative view defines anxiety as "a future-oriented mood state in which one is ready or prepared to attempt to cope with upcoming negative events",[7] suggesting that it is a distinction between future vs. present dangers which divides anxiety and fear.
From all the research I've done, no one can really identify where it comes from or what causes it. I personally have been dealing with it all my life.
When I was elementary school, you could almost expect that the first day of school - from around 4-6 grade (1994-96), I would get myself so worked up about that first day that I would literally make myself sick, to the point of throwing up. Forget trying to eat breakfast those days, it wasn't happening. My parents would help the best they could by reinforcing the fact that everything was going to be ok, and that I had nothing to worry about BUT it wouldn't stop it from coming. It would only happen once and then I was done. I would feel better, get in the car, and make it to school just fine. So just a small case of the nerves and it was over, easy enough, so I thought. Also during the year of 1995 my mom got re-married and had a baby. Pretty life changing events - coincidence with my related anxiety episodes? The jury is still out on that. Some how I grew out it with no help from a doctor, meds, therapy, etc. With really no signs of it returning until college.
For this first post I'm going to leave it at that. I will pick back up this weekend. Stay tuned.
Our good friends from wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anxiety) suggest that anxiety is:
A generalized mood condition that can often occur without an identifiable triggering stimulus. As such, it is distinguished from fear, which is an emotional response to a perceived threat. Additionally, fear is related to the specific behaviors of escape and avoidance, whereas anxiety is related to situations perceived as uncontrollable or unavoidable.[6] An alternative view defines anxiety as "a future-oriented mood state in which one is ready or prepared to attempt to cope with upcoming negative events",[7] suggesting that it is a distinction between future vs. present dangers which divides anxiety and fear.
From all the research I've done, no one can really identify where it comes from or what causes it. I personally have been dealing with it all my life.
When I was elementary school, you could almost expect that the first day of school - from around 4-6 grade (1994-96), I would get myself so worked up about that first day that I would literally make myself sick, to the point of throwing up. Forget trying to eat breakfast those days, it wasn't happening. My parents would help the best they could by reinforcing the fact that everything was going to be ok, and that I had nothing to worry about BUT it wouldn't stop it from coming. It would only happen once and then I was done. I would feel better, get in the car, and make it to school just fine. So just a small case of the nerves and it was over, easy enough, so I thought. Also during the year of 1995 my mom got re-married and had a baby. Pretty life changing events - coincidence with my related anxiety episodes? The jury is still out on that. Some how I grew out it with no help from a doctor, meds, therapy, etc. With really no signs of it returning until college.
For this first post I'm going to leave it at that. I will pick back up this weekend. Stay tuned.
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