Really struggling with severe PTSD, Anxiety & Panic Attacks

[Istvan]

I’ve been fighting depression most of my life. The last 15 years PTSD and Anxiety/Panic Attacks. I am unable to take medication that affects serotonin and have suffered many hospitalisations due to serotonin syndrome. CBT over the years has little to no affect and I feel at best hopeless all of the time that there is very little that can be done to help me. I really don’t know where to turn or who to ask for help when my psychiatrist admitted he could not help me. There are so many different reasons for my conditions and outside of my doctors struggle greatly reaching out for help, advice or understanding. My biggest problem is my inability to talk to friends, family let alone strangers and I fear my future as my world has become extremely difficult to navigate. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I struggle to use the telephone to communicate.

[Katyonthehamsterwheel]

Hi Istvan

I'm sorry your post got missed, as sometimes happens, and I want to welcome you to the forums. That must be terrible difficult having struggled for so long. It's great that you've reached out here for support. You'll find like-minded souls trying to navigate life's challenges and support each other, so welcome.

When you say you have trouble talking to people, and using the telephone, I wonder if you might clarify what you mean by that, so we can best offer any ideas.

Hope to hear more from you, Katy

[Kat_]

Hi Istvan,

First of all, I just want to say how much I admire your bravery in posting here. It sounds like it would have been really really hard for you to do so, and I hope at one point you can acknowledge the incredible step you've made in reaching out and asking for help. I know how hard it can be to do something like this.

I'm so sorry for your experiences, it sounds like there's been a lot of hardships in your life and you've done really well to try and help yourself this entire time. I can imagine how endlessly tiring and frustrating it must be to get through these things in the day-to-day and to have people tell you they can't help you.

I know that you might not be up to going back to therapy right now, but I'm wondering - have you tried therapies other than CBT? I know of a lot of therapies that are far more effective for trauma, depression, and all of that than CBT specific things (e.g., narrative therapy, schema therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy) that can be insanely helpful.

I might make one more suggestion as well for you if that's okay - just trying to do one nice thing for yourself every day. It can be really small or really big, for me it might be something like drawing, or having my favourite dessert, or going for a walk, or dancing, or staying in and watching TV and not doing anything.

I hope you're doing okay and thinking of you, I'm here if you want to keep chatting.

Kat_

[LLaw]

I'm only a teen, so i don't have any amazing advice to offer but...

i wish you the best in your mental health journey!

it sounds like some rough stuff has happened to you. im proud of you for making it through every day until now!

please do not give up hope.

we're always here on this forum if you need someone to talk to. And remember, you are not alone.