Anxiety, Depression & Weight issues

[Imagine_That]

Hi. This is the first time I've opened up to anyone (other than family) about my personal battle with my Weight, General, Social & Panic Anxiety as well as Depression.

I suffer from all of the above which is apparently largely because of my weight (doctors statement) I agree with that to an extent. So I'm currently on medication to help with the weight loss, but losing weight doesn't seem to be doing anything with my anxiety or depression. I've lost 12kgs in a year! 😞 (Im 180kg+) it's been an huge up hill climb for me. I'm good for a few months then one day I'll wake up with self doubt & hating myself and go straight to comfort eating.

My panic attacks are so bad that even while on medication I'll still have minor attacks, but I don't have one attack and that's it. No I have a panic attacks for minimum 2 hours, light headedness, heart palpitations & sweats. My first panic attack was so scary I called an ambo as I thought I was having a heart attack, when the ambo arrived they hooked me up to the heart machine. My heart was 134bpm. I was diagnosed with everything 1 year ago, it was actually the mental health doctor in the emergency room that said it. My social anxiety is what causes most of the attacks. Just the thought of being in a heavly populated area, people judging me, if I was to trip over in public and the list goes on.

My depression is well.. depression. I lost my uncle 4 months ago, it was a long week in ICU and it was basically icing on the cake with everything else terrible going on. It's damaged me to the point that I've blocked all emotions and am so emotionally vonrable that anything could break me and I'm afford of it.

I'm not a huge talker/sharer I rather listen and try to help other people so I apologise if any of what I typed it short or weird but yeah...

I would just like to know if there is anyone else like me or if anyone has tips for anything I've typed.

I'd appreciate help/inputs.

[quirkywords]

Imagine_That

Welcome to the forum.

It is such a big step you have taken to open up and share your story here. I appreciate the effort it took and how difficult it would have been. This is a safe , friendly and non judgmental place.

You write very well and clearly and have spoken about topics that many people here can relate to.

I have struggled with weight issues at times because when I was depressed I would eat more because I felt bad about myself which then made me feel worse which then made me eat more. You know the cycle.

Have long have you dealt with weight issues ?

It must be hard having to cope with so many issues that can affect each other.

There are many threads here that may be able to help you, so have a look around the forum .

Are you seeing a counsellor at all to help with the anxiety/depression?

I am sorry about your uncle, that must have been very hard for you. Have you had any grief counselling?

Do you have support and understanding from your family and friends?

Thanks again for sharing your story.

Quirky

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Imagine_That,

A big welcome to the forums and thanks for sharing what's going on for you. You did it absolutely right and there's no such thing as a too short or a weird post here!

I'm really sorry that you're going through this and I'm also sorry for your loss of your Uncle. I imagine that this has been going on for a little while so it means a lot that you've decided to talk about it here.

I want to jump in though and say that I wholeheartedly disagree with your Doctor about how all of this stems from your weight. I think it can all go hand in hand but I don't think there's really one big cause here. If weight wasn't a concern I imagine you could still struggle with these things. People can still have social anxiety or be self-conscious regardless of their size.

I've been on here for a little while now and I have absolutely seen posts like yours (sorry I can't find them). But you aren't alone in all of this.

As for help/input, I think that it would be really helpful for you to talk to a therapist about how you're feeling and what's going on. I know that it's a big step but I think ideally it would be about having someone who can see both you, your anxiety, your depression, your weight, and everything else going on in your life as one big picture. Talking about things like how you spend your day and how your depression and social anxiety puts up barriers and how comfortable you feel trying to change this cycle. Is this something you would be open to?

Hope this helps a little