topic panic attack at seeing people i know in Anxiety

panic attack at seeing people i know

jacques — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 00:18:35 GMT

hi there,

i am trying to leave my home more regularly as part of CBT to try to overcome my arophobia as well as other anxiety related problems, yesterday i when down the street with my mother to pay some bills, while sitting in the car i saw someone i knew from highschool 15 years ago and had a full panic attack, (fast breathing, full body shaking, seating, wanting to vomit, wanting to get out of the car and run to the safty of home), i don't know if this person even recognised me because it was so long ago, i am always so frightened to see anyone i know, this is partly the reason i do not leave my home, it is made even harder by the fact i live in a small town.

i seem to find it harder and harder to want to go out, even just to sit in the car.

panic attack at seeing people i know

geoff — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 17:04:23 GMT

dear Jacque, I am just checking on a few posts that haven't been answered to, but my concern is whether you are still checking up on this site, and if so please contact us, so that your comment can be addressed. Thanks. Geoff.

panic attack at seeing people i know

jacques — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 05:34:28 GMT

yesterday my mother had a surprise visit from friends that she hasn't seen in 20 years, i immediately had a severe panic attack and went to my room and locked myself in. I was so distressed I could not even turn the pages of a magazine because my hands were shaking so much.

When they were about to leave they asked to say hello to me, and my mother told them I had agoraphobia and invited them in to say hello to me.

I was so petrified I cold only say hello and was unable to say anything else they all did the talking and I just nodded.

What is wrong with me, why can't I be like everyone else!!!

I am unable to leave the house.

I am unable to leave my parents.

I am unable to have any sort of fun.

I am a prisoner in my own home.

panic attack at seeing people i know

Struggler — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 06:13:41 GMT

Hi Jacques

From what you described, it seems you're suffering from extreme form of anxiety. You can't live like this. You mentioned CBT, is a psychologist treating you or you self administer? Do you have GP?

I hope you're still around and please post again with more information in regards to your current treatment so we can give better advice.

Struggler

panic attack at seeing people i know

AGrace — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 06:55:49 GMT

Hi Jacques,

"Why cant you be like everyone else?" ...You are just like millions of others, including myself, who experience severe anxiety. So please dont feel like you are alone, there are plenty of us that contribute to the forums who can relate to how you feel.

CBT can be a very useful tool to help us challenge our thinking patterns. I personally find that when my anxiety gets out of control, or what I refer to as "crisis" stage, there are other forms of therapy that I turn to first, quite simply because my brain cant deal with the steps of CBT when im in absolute distress. Im not sure if you are seeing a Psychologist or other treatment professional but you may want to start by practicing some distress tolerance skills first. A psychologist should be able to help you with this. It can be as simple as focussing on your breathing, taking deep inhalations and slowly increasing your exhalations. You could also try listening to music that helps calm you, or visualising a place where you feel safe.

If you're not seeing anyone yet it would be my suggestion to get some assistance with how you're feeling. A psychologist/ psychiatrist can also eventually help with gradual exposure therapy to get you feeling more confident with social situations.

Let us know how you get on, I really do hope you will seek some support.

AGrace

panic attack at seeing people i know

jacques — Sun, 22 Jun 2014 09:09:37 GMT

hi struggler and agrace

thankyou for responding to my post, i have lived like this for 14 years, i have no friends at all in that time and the only outside contact i have with people is anyone who comes to the house, or the shops which i try to avoid as much as possible, i have very rarly talked to anyone about this and still often wonder weather i should or if i should shut out the outside world all together.

Ii do have a gp who i see every 6 months to renew my script for anit-anxiety medication, he would like me to go there every month but i find it to traumatic to go there so i only go when i run out of medication.

I have seen a psychiatrist and psychologist both for one session about 2 years ago,i could not afford to see the psychologist and the psychiatrist made me feel as though i was just wasting his time, so i never went back, i have read a large number of books on CBT and what anxiety and depression is and as much information as i can get my hands on.

so much time has gone past i often wonder if i will be like this in 20 years time and if i will ever be able to have any contact with the outside world. people are nice to me in the shops, and i often wonder why i do not try to socialise, maybe i have just become use to being on my own and have become set in my ways....

panic attack at seeing people i know

AGrace — Sun, 22 Jun 2014 10:55:31 GMT

Hi Jacques,

One of the things that is common for those of us who experience anxiety is that we spend a great deal of time in the future. Lots of what if's. There's every chance that in 20 years time you will be fully functioning and getting out and about socialising. Just imagine!!

There are plenty of services provided in the mental health sector whereby the professional will come to you. This could be worthwhile investigating. If finance is an issue there are also professionals who are completely covered by medicare. (I'm making the assumption that you're an Australian Citizen.) Have you tried researching your local community health service? Beyondblue also has a list of professionals that specialise in mental health that you can access on their website. Can your GP make house calls? Or are you able to see another GP that does?

It sounds like you've done a whole heap of research about some of the things that can help with your condition and now could be a good time to seek some extra support. Life is too precious to stay indoors.

Good luck, and let us know what you find.

AGrace

panic attack at seeing people i know

jacques — Sun, 22 Jun 2014 23:24:56 GMT

hi there AGrace,

Thank you for responding so promptly, due to living in a small remote town in central west NSW it does not have a lot of services to offer, the services they offer are of excellent quality though, but if you do not feel comfortable with on psychologist/psychiatrist you do not have a lot of other options.

I had a Councillor come to the house 2 years ago trying to help me overcome the anxiety, but i found it more frightening thinking about going out than to not get any treatment at all, it has been so long since i have had a proper conversation with anyone that it is incredibly difficult to speak to people face to face, because i have been isolated for so long i do not know what to say to people.

Ii have found that on the rare occasion that i do have to talk to people, they feel intimidated because of my body language and my direct answers to their questions, because of the anxiety i become very unwelcoming, and do not want to talk for too long.

when i see someone that i used to go to school with , they talk about their job, partners, kids and things they own (cars, Houses, etc...) and when they ask me what i have been up to since school i have to reply nothing, because i have not left the house since high school.

i apologize if i have offended you about my comment about being normal like everyone else, what i meant was why can't i be like the majority of the population who can function in society without problems.

panic attack at seeing people i know

dom86 — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 11:36:16 GMT

Hello to Everybody 🙂

To Jacques

I just signed up and I am new to BeyondBlue, but I am not new to the symptoms you are experiencing. Let me tell you from my experience how things are.

The only way I have reduced my anxiety and depression symptoms is to accept that I might have this for the rest of my life. Once I stopped struggling with it and excepted it things started to change for me.

Im not saying that im anxiety and depression free, but it has reduced slightly.

I recommend for not just you but EVERYBODY in this forum to read a book called (Beyond the power of your subconscious mind) Author C.J. JENSON.

My god did this book help me out. It changed my whole perspective of my anxiety/depression and helped me get my life closer on the right track.

You need to stop saying negative things and try and turn into a positive thinker. No matter how hard it is, you have to do it. Visualise everything positive. Where so used to looking into the future and picturing negative things happening, why not say stuff that! instead of the situation becoming negative , picture yourself in that event being confident! I GUARENTEE YOU IF YOU DO THIS YOU WILL SLOWLY GAIN CONFIDENCE! But you have to do it.

There will be times my friend where you struggle but that's how it is for us, its just how it is don't beat your self up 🙂 .

READ THAT BOOK I CANT STRESS THAT ENOUGH.

FLOOD YOUR MIND WITH POSITIVE THOUGHTS.

TALK TO PEOPLE AND TALK TO YOURSELF POSITIVE

NO NEGATIVE CRAP!!!!

i know its hard, but you have to do it, you got no choice 🙂

panic attack at seeing people i know

jacques — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 09:12:40 GMT

hi dom86

i have always been a negative thinker, for as far back as i can remember, i have suffered from anxiety since the age of 5 and now that i am 32, this way of thinking has become so engrained that it is almost my default state, i have cut contact with all of my friends about 10 years ago and cut contact with family about 7 years ago, i found my life was a lot more less complicated this way.

a lot of my friends and family always commented about me being a "Dole Bludger, and being useless" and over time i have become to belive that i am partly lazy but i do understand that i have serious mental problems.

it is easier to hide away from life and society instead of facing it, and as unfortunate as this is it is the path i have chosen.

i even find the government targeting people like me as being a "dole Bludger" and "A burden on society" so it makes it incredably difficult to think any other way, being useless is all i hear.

unless i cut off all outside communication eg radio, tv, etc this is the only way i will be able to get away from all of the negativity.

sorry if this is sounding like a sob story, but this is how it is.

i will find the book you refered to a read it, reading and music is my only escape from reality, so i am looking forward to this book.

thank you once again for your kind comments.

panic attack at seeing people i know

AGrace — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 23:02:17 GMT

Hi Jacques,

Reading your most recent post made me think of a quote that I used to share with my sales consultants in my previous job...

"Always do what you've always done and you'll always get what you've always got"

Essentially it states that without change there will be no change. You've made one step towards change by posting on these forums and I cant help but think the underlying reason you find yourself here at Beyondblue is that you're desperate to get some help in trying to make changes to your circumstances.

We are geared to think negatively, and recall negative events from our past. It's our brains way of trying to prevent us from getting into similar negative situations again, which the brain predicts could be life threatening. Its why we have the "fight, flight, freeze" response mechanism. The part of the brain responsible for this reaction is very animalistic and was more beneficial for us back in the caveman days, and less helpful now.

Since you commented that you enjoy reading, have you read "The Brain That Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge? Its an interesting and light hearted book about neuroplasticity. In other words we used to think the brain was hard wired and once neural pathways were set there was no possibility of change. There has since been too much evidence that demonstrates that on the contrary neural pathways can be rewritten. Our thinking patterns and actions can be changed.

My point in this post is it doesnt matter whether you've thought a certain way, or felt a certain way for 20 or 50 years, your brain still has the potential to do things differently with time and practice.

Im not sure what you will take from this but I hope it is something like possibility.

AGrace

panic attack at seeing people i know

jacques — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 09:17:52 GMT

Hi AGrace

i thank you for suggesting the book, i will buy a copy and read it.

i do not know what i want, i know the brain is excellent at reprogramming it's self to change, but it is having the will to change, and i don't know wether i have it?

i often wonder if i am on this forum looking for change, or to talk to people with the same condition going through the same sort of things, or if i am looking for a reason to keep going.

i have lost any intrest in being alive a long time ago and have also given up on having any sort of "normal" life.

i just find it comforting in talking to people who do not make fun of me or who do not judge my curcumstances of situation because of my mental condition, all i have left in my life is my mother who is the only thing keeping me going.

just surviving as best i can hope for, for the short to medium term, everytime i think about making a change and try to overcome my anxiety i have severe panic attacks, (which is most nights).

it has been such a long time since i have had a day without panic attacks i bearly remember them.

panic attack at seeing people i know

jacques — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 08:36:39 GMT

hello everyone

i have just been watching the news and i find it odd that mental heath professionals keep saying that anxiety and depression can be cured and your situation is only temporary?

i have lived with anxiety and depression all of my life and have had no face to face contact with anybody for 13 years, i would be homeless if my mother was not so kind as to let me live in her place, and i have no future prospects.

i have been waiting for a long time for things to get better, and the lesson i have learnt time and time again is things can always get worse.

i apologise if people find this post upsetting but i just wish mental health professionals can take into account that for some people with mental illness thing will never get better.........

panic attack at seeing people i know

AGrace — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 13:36:48 GMT

Hi Jacques,

I just reread some of your earlir posts in this thread to check the information so far.

Ok so youve sufferedcwith Anxiety for many years, you dont know if seeing a therapist is worthwhile, yet you've only really tried this on a hand full of occasions. It can be expensive to see a Psychologist, so I suggest you ask your Dr for a Mental Health Care Plan, whivh will give you 10 Psychologist appts free. It will be difficult to get there, your symptoms and thought will tell you not to. But you've already admitted that you dont want to live like this anymore!

In terms of seeing your GP for meds, when did he last alter the type or dose? Do you have medication to take during the day?

I empathise with your struggles, I know how much effort it takes,

panic attack at seeing people i know

jacques — Sat, 05 Jul 2014 09:11:35 GMT

Hi AGrace

you are right i have only seen a psyciatrist once for 30min and it was a disaster, when i first went to my doctor about my anxiety 2 years ago he automatically gave me a mental health care plan, but at the time i was unable to complete what the councillor expected of me so i put a stop to the councilling, i was never informed about the 10 free therapist visits, but this would make no difference as the psyciatrist i saw thought i was "Faking" the anxiety because he sees so many people trying to get on dissabiltiy pension and thought i was too.

i do not know what i want, most days i spend sleeping to try and make the days and misery go by quicker, hoping most days that i will never wake up, most nights i spend in absolute panic.

my doctor has never in the two years changed my medication i only take 1 maximum dose of sertraline per day, he medication only takes the edge off the anxiety, and makes life for mum bearable, as before i started on the medication mum could not invite anyone to the house.

now she can, as long as i am in another room and do not have to speak to them, which seems to work, for the time being.

discussing this has triggered another panic attack so i will go now.

thankyou for your concern.

panic attack at seeing people i know

jacques — Sun, 13 Jul 2014 09:11:18 GMT

hi everyone,

i have had a very couple of days, my aunty came to visit my mum for her birthday, it triggered a severe anxiety attack, and to to it off my uncle invited mum and i to his place for christmas, great i haven't left the house in 7 years and everyone thinks i can just up and travel across the country without any problems. sometimes i wish i was an orphan so i did not hav eto deal with family, i wish everyone would just leave me alone. my ultimate wish would be to lock myself away in my home and have no contact with anyone, which is ironic considering i am posting this message.

Looks like i will get not much sleep in the next six months worrying about this trip, it has already started i have been in a bad mood all day and have had to distract myself all day to hold off the panic, but now it is starting and i will focus on it until i become exausted tonight and fall asleep.

why is it so hard for people to understand what it is like to suffer anxiety........

panic attack at seeing people i know

AGrace — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 00:07:48 GMT

Hi Jacques,

Sorry to hear that you've had a tough week.

I'm really concerned that from your posts I get the impression that there's a lack of willingness to seek some help. I understand severe anxiety, as I'm sure many others here do. It's hard work just to live with it let alone try to recover from it.

I hear what your ultimate wish is I just wonder what you picture life will be like in 10 years time when you are still within the confines of your bedroom? It doesn't sound like it would be such a happy outcome.

I know you're talking medication, and I know you've had the run around with Psychiatrists and counsellors, but it doesnt stop there. You need to find an alternate Psychiatrist, one who believes you and is willing to work with you on your problems. Your medication needs to be reviewed and some gradual exposure therapy would be so beneficial. I don't normally force advice on to others but I can't stand the thought of you not getting to participate in life as a result of something that IS TREATABLE.

Christmas could be a good goal to work towards. I don't think you're family don't understand the anxiety, I think they struggle seeing you suffer on a daily basis without getting help. Are you taking anti anxiety medication during the day when panic attacks come on?

Jacques, there are so many of us who have spent so many years in your shoes, and if only you could see us now. Slowly coming out of our shells and engaging in life again. You deserve this too, despite what your thoughts and fears tell you. Have you ever considered going into hospital to get some full time support?

I guess this post is a plea for you to be willing to get some help.

AGrace

panic attack at seeing people i know

jacques — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 09:25:16 GMT

hi AGrace,

thank you for your concern, i am very humbled by it, but i think you should focus your attention on others on this web site who are willing and able to get treatment, as i will probebly never be able to get treatment because my problems are complex, i know it sounds silly but it is just something i will not be able and wiling to talk to anyone about.

i apologise if i have given anone the wrong idea about what i am hoping to achieve, i just thought it might help me talking to others that understand, but it seems to give me more anxiety talking and reading other peoples posts and i am starting to wonder wether i should have started speaking here at all.

maybe i should have just kept my thoughts to myself.......

Jacques

panic attack at seeing people i know

jacques — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 11:46:32 GMT

Hi AGrace,

Sorry for the secnd post, but for the past 24 hours i have been trying to decide wether to say this or not, so here goes, no i could not get full time hospital treatment because of my seperation anxiety, i have not spent a night away frm my parents since 1994, i was 12 and it was a disaster, i cried all night and was histarical, and from the age of 5, everytime i had to spend a night away from my parents (2-3 times that can remember) was the same other times i tried to go away for the night my parents had to pick me up late at night because i became too histarical, i have not tried to have a night away from my parents since 1994. and even the thought now makes me anxious........

The close friends i had during school used to make fun of me because of this and from that point on i always made other excuses because of the embaressment of it, as far as i know i am one of only a handfull of people with this type of anxiety...

sometimes i wish my parents would have tried to get treatment for me when this started back in preschool so maybe things would have turned out differently for me and my life outlook and aspirations...

once again thank you for listening....

jacques

panic attack at seeing people i know

AGrace — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 12:10:56 GMT

Hi Jacques,

The forums are for everyone, you can take from them what you wish. If just venting to others is all you want/need at the moment that's perfectly fine. I do apologise if I made you feel like the only option is to seek help, this wasn't my intention. I think you've taken some very courageous steps by speaking out. Your thoughts are just as valid and valued as anyone else's on the forum. I can understand how anxiety can often take over.

I hope you will choose to stay with us, we're happy just to listen whenever you need.