Your positive story... please share

[Lind779]

Hi everyone,

I would love to hear your stories on how you overcome your anxiety or improved life with anxiety...

I know majority of us don't refer to these online forums when feeling great but if there are some, like myself that stay on here to help support others, please share. 😊

[imbadwithnames]

Hi! I thought I would share my story of how I met who was one of my closest friends through a panic attack (why we aren't close friends anymore is a whole other can of worms).

I was watching a sports broadcast and after every day they had a Q&A from a set team that played that day after every game. I thought, just for fun, I would submit a question. They would never read my question instead of the hundreds of other ones... right? (It should be noted I have crippling social anxiety, so if they had read my name and question to this professional player and he had to answer my question, I may have died).

The games for the day finished and I decided to go for a walk, I had been sitting down for a while. When I came back, the Q&A had finished, no big deal. What WAS a big deal, however, was the fact that I had a few messages asking me about my question. OH NO DID THEY READ IT OH NO OHNOOHNOOHNO. I felt the all too familiar symptoms of anxiety coming through, getting hot and sweaty, my throat completely closing so I couldnt breathe. I started frantically searching the internet like a madman for the Q&A but due to it being too recent it hadn't been posted yet.

Then I realised that I knew someone very remotely (a friend of a friend of a friend) that I had spoken to once or twice very briefly was a fan of the team that the Q&A player came from. Great, she HAD to have seen it, right? I reached out to her (a big move in itself, social anxiety, remember), and as they say, the rest is history.

Funny thing is, SHE DIDN'T WATCH IT EITHER!! But we ended up talking about my question, and from there realised we had a lot in common and started talking almost every day from there. She was one of the best friends I ever had and we both really supported each other, and without my panic that day, I would have probably never spoken to her.

I commonly call it "the best thing my anxiety ever did for me"

[Petal22]

I have recovered from OCD..... I consider myself very grateful that I had the privilege of attending an 8 week therapy for OCD at a specialised clinic that specialise in OCD...

I was given a lot of tools at this clinic.... I have now mastered my OCD.... it took time and practice to learn these tools but I have now perfected it 😊

I’m on this forum to help others going through OCD or anxiety in general..., I feel I went through what I went through to learn and to come out the other side so I can help others with their mental health 😊 please know if you are struggling there is HOPE and you can learn to overcome your mental illness with the correct help 😊

[quirkywords]

I have had a difficult year due to fires but I have found that by reading and answering posts here it has helped me.

I try to listen to others and learn many people have a traumatic story that needs to be heard.

[Guest_245]

Can you please read my recent post in the anxiety section. I would really like someone's opinion

[Petal22]

I’ve just replied 😊

[Guest_245]

I feel I recognised it finally at 25 years old and I feel like I am in a neverending cycle of staying at home, going on drives, going to local shops for groceries and working alot and not including anything fun socially in my life. I am sick of it but it is so hard for me to put myself out there and because of this I am having added worry and pressure of missed opportunities. What would you recommend?

[Gonetroppo]

Therapy has been a revolving door for me. I'd go through a crushing depressive episode, go to a GP who would diagnose depression and refer me to a psychiatrist. I'd be put on antidepressants which would trigger a manic episode. I'd feel great, stop medication and stop seeing the psych. There would be the inevitable crash and after a long period of depression, I'd go to the GP and the whole cycle would start again. This went on for years.

Some time ago, I went through a major depressive episode and went back to a GP. This time, I made a commitment to stick with the treatment and see where it took me. There was the inevitable manic episode and 3 months later, I was still bouncing off every planet in the solar system. I went back to the GP who organised an emergency appointment with a psychiatrist who diagnosed bipolar disorder. He took me off the antidepressants and put me on mood stabilisers. It took 9 months to get the medications right but it changed my life. My life is completely different now. I still get depressed from time-to-time and sometimes a little bit manic but nothing like it used to be. I've been able to do things I have never done before, like take overseas trips, enjoy work, enjoy hobbies and so forth.

[posvibe]

Hi Guest_245,

I think the main question here is not what you should be worried about having missed in the past BUT what opportunities lay ahead for you in the future- which you have total control of!

Break the cycle if you can by starting small, just the fact that you are reaching out here is a huge step in itself.

This time four years ago when I was 16, I could not walk out of my house physically, let alone do the things you are already achieving. My biggest tip for you would be to take pride in what you are already doing but also look forward and be excited about what you can do.

Life is no race, and everyone goes at the speed they are comfortable with. Stop stressing about what your missing because you haven't missed out on anything if you were to compare yourself to yourself- which I would advise you do going forward.

Do you have any old friends/extended family you could get in touch with? One message to just see how they are going, and maybe even organise to catch up with them with if you have time. Its all about small steps, which when you take a few- you will look back and see what big steps they actually were!

Keep positive and look after yourself.

[Guest_1643]

my positive story was not too long ago.
I'd suffered with really bad anxiety which turns out was CPTSD.
My Gp meant well, or maybe didn't, but kept delaying me getting hospital assistance. She told me I'd meet confronting people there and maybe (Shock horror!) get more upset than helped.
Basically, her stigma was showing.
Hospitals aren't always perfect places, but I was really unwell and needed support. Crises support. I was suicidal and very unwell. Sure I tried to call Lifeline, try self-care etc, I was just trying to keep myself okay but it was exhausting. I needed badly that extra support.

After not getting anywhere with my self-care, and continually telling the GP who dismissed my concerns and scared me away from hospital treatment, instead of giving up on myself - I did something different, which changed the course of the next chapter.

Instead of lgiving up on myself, I gave up on her. I decided to get a second opinion, found a new doctor, and was sent very very promptly (that day!) to the mental health hospital where I received excellent support, care, and got my strength back.
When mental health support was spoken of in stigmatising, scary ways, it held me back a lot.
I just want to clarify I went to a PARC (recovery/wellness centre run by hospital) and not a psych ward and I know that hospitals can be rough for many people.

But for me getting a second opinion and getting an opportunity to get my needs met was a game changer. I didn't really know you could just flat-out reject what your doctor says, and find someone who truly supports mental health. If someone makes you feel badly because of your struggle and is patronising you - they can't help.

[Not_Batman]

Sleepy21, what a great decision you made. To be so strong, to want to fight, well done.

there was a time when my mind and body had completely given up, leading into ideation and other things. But there was a part of me that was not ready to give up, a part that just kept getting up after every beat down.
i mustered the strength to get myself back inside and phone lifeline, but couldn't get through.

The weekend passes, and come monday i go to work, thinking all the way what will i face today. I get through the morning, and decided enough is enough, i need help.

i took myself straight to the Local medical centre, asked to see the nurses. When asked by One of the nurses, who i can only describe as an angel sent from heaven, what the problem was, i said “im having trouble with my anxiety”. She was the first person i told about being suicidal, and then i broke down in tears.

this nurse...no, angel, calmly spoke to me, reassured me, said and did all the right Things. Called my mum, and comforted me until the doctor came back from lunch.

I had had previous diagnosis, meds, CBT, a few years before all of this, so that was the restart of my journey.

mental health plan, psych services, a bunch of support.

the doctors i saw - amazing

the nurse - amazing

my psychologist - amazing

psych services - amazing

its not the full story, its the abridged version, but like a lot of people 2500 characters wont be enough.

Not_Batman