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health Do you suffer from anxiety?


Kyoshi Frost Wolf

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Yes, I've been diagnosed with general anxiety disorder for a while, since I was sixteen. It goes along with my depression problems and having Asperger's Syndrome. I didn't know I had AS until I was diagnosed at 29, but a lot of my social anxiety stems from the fact I have trouble reading social cues such as change in voice tone, nonverbal gestures, and facial cues. It's very difficult for me to be in social settings and not feel exhausted afterward as if I've run a marathon!

That being said, if I start to have an anxiety attack the first thing I remind myself is to breathe. You really would be amazed how shallow your breathing becomes when you're anxious so I have to remind myself to breathe in deeply and breathe out. I am a Christian, so I pray and it helps me feel better and remind myself that I am committed to finding something I am thankful for, no matter how small each day.

I am on meds and have worked with a psychiatrist.

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@Lucky Bolt, at least you have your anxiety under control. Not so much in my case where its ruining my college life along with depression (please be hopeful this doesn't happen to you nor to your BF).

 

Plus, I get somewhat anxious when posting anything online (including MLP Forums). Sometimes I post what some might perceive as rude, insensitive, and just straight up losing my sanity. But, I don't intend for that to happen soo... yeah... awkward. Nevertheless, I have to seek psychiatric therapy to overcome it.

 

I would not wish anyone to have anxiety and depression, not even to my worst enemy.

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I wouldn't say I have social anxiety. I have been trained out of any of that sort of thing by my job, where I interact with people all day. I do get very anxious and even sick to my stomach over odd, seemingly insignificant things like calling someone on the phone, waiting to do a certain task; basically anticipation of anything that I have to do or think about is what really gets me messed up and nauseous. I'm always fine once I get down to doing what I have to do; it's the anticipation that kills me, especially when it involves others.  

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having anxiety problems is part of becoming adult just like getting grey hairs or keeping candy on you for kids(yes when i was a kid it was ok for adults to give kids candy. If they were OLD people it was really ok)

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  • 1 month later...
On 30/07/2017 at 4:34 PM, Lucky Bolt said:

one thing that really works me up is watching NASCAR races, mostly whenever my favorite driver is leading. Sometimes it actually gets bad enough where I feel like I have to turn off the tv and go somewhere alone until it's over.

I have similar issues regarding watching things, but unfortunately, on a much larger level to the point where it inhibits my ability to really enjoy a lot of 'scripted' media (something that I spend a lot of my time doing).

I'm a person who likes making good first impressions when meeting people, because I don't want them to think bad of me and cause a potential issue or conflict. This causes me a lot of anxiety overthinking it and judging people too much... while I've managed to section that area of my anxiety for the most part, it has bled into fictional characters too, and the severity of it remains as intense as ever. No matter the genre of media, if characters do something that could potentially cause a conflict through their words or actions it causes me to do one of or a multitude of reactionary things. I either fast forward if it's on DVD or a streaming service, mute the TV, change channel at a moments notice (something that really annoyed my flatmate at University), hide in another room, or if I'm in a cinema where I have no chance of escaping, I shut my eyes and plug my ears up with my fingers waiting for that part to end. It might be quite a severe reaction, but the sensory overload is quite pronounced for something that I don't want to see happen, even if it is part of the course in narrative storytelling. This happens watching just about anything to where I even while watching I sometimes go online and look up the transcript or spoilers to tell myself that my fears aren't worth fretting over... which of course ruins it for me.

Funnily, my social anxiety is surprisingly low as I love talking to people... but when the talking 'matters'... dear god, it will hit me upside the head like a brick. Although once I'm comfortable with a group or a person, there are no issues.

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1 hour ago, Vocal Analyst said:

I have similar issues regarding watching things, but unfortunately, on a much larger level to the point where it inhibits my ability to really enjoy a lot of 'scripted' media (something that I spend a lot of my time doing).

I'm a person who likes making good first impressions when meeting people, because I don't want them to think bad of me and cause a potential issue or conflict. This causes me a lot of anxiety overthinking it and judging people too much... while I've managed to section that area of my anxiety for the most part, it has bled into fictional characters too, and the severity of it remains as intense as ever. No matter the genre of media, if characters do something that could potentially cause a conflict through their words or actions it causes me to do one of or a multitude of reactionary things. I either fast forward if it's on DVD or a streaming service, mute the TV, change channel at a moments notice (something that really annoyed my flatmate at University), hide in another room, or if I'm in a cinema where I have no chance of escaping, I shut my eyes and plug my ears up with my fingers waiting for that part to end. It might be quite a severe reaction, but the sensory overload is quite pronounced for something that I don't want to see happen, even if it is part of the course in narrative storytelling. This happens watching just about anything to where I even while watching I sometimes go online and look up the transcript or spoilers to tell myself that my fears aren't worth fretting over... which of course ruins it for me.

Funnily, my social anxiety is surprisingly low as I love talking to people... but when the talking 'matters'... dear god, it will hit me upside the head like a brick. Although once I'm comfortable with a group or a person, there are no issues.

Okay - you and Lucky Bolt are similar here. And both of you need to calm down and breathe. I wouldn't be surprised if the both of you are shallow breathers, and probably get headaches and tense muscle pains along with it.

There is no easy way over this, but there is a simple way. You must not avoid things that stress you out. Face it. Suffer through it. Allow yourself to experience it. Once it is over and you realize you are completely fine, take deep breathes and calm down.

These feelings are uncomfortable, and that is it. You are not being harmed. Avoiding anxious feelings will make the problem worse because you are weakening yourself to its effects.

Another way to look at it is this - the feelings are coming from your body, not your mind. Your mind responds to the adrenaline and other stimuli, and your imagination just goes crazy. So just stand back and watch it happen. Say, 'I am feeling really bad and anxious right now'. Acknowledge it. Let it come, and then let it go. Breath through the process and focus on calming down and relax.

By not avoiding it, by acknowledging it, by dealing with it, you will get stronger, and with more strength, anxiety will have less and less of a 'bite' on you.

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I have been told by my psychiatrists that I had experienced anxiety, though not as a disorder such as social anxiety but rather a symptom of another problem.  Though in my personal opinion I would probably compare it more to stress due to the feeling of slowly driven to madness, the cause of which most often happens to be other students from my high school, possibly not helped by my high-functioning autism and schizoaffective disorder.  I believe the closest thing to true anxiety I have experienced was my frequent panic attacks from when I was nine to twelve years old, during a period where I was gravely bullied and harassed in a school before I moved to my current one in the middle of sixth grade.  After that the panic attacks seemed to have stopped.

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*Slides in awkwardly* Hey guys. I have severe anxiety, though I only recently got on meds. It was actually so bad that it messed with the serotonin levels in my stomach to the point where there was a solid 2 or 3 week period where, no matter how little I ate, I never felt hungry. When we went to go check it out, the doctor could only hear air in my stomach. There was literally nothing else in there. They put me on meds and after a week or so my stomach adjusted itself and I actually have a bigger appetite than I did before, which is really good for me since I've always been super underweight. If my anxiety ever gets too bad, or if I feel a panic attack coming on, I usually just call my older sister and she helps me calm down. So, having someone close to you who understands what you're going through and who is willing to help is probably the best medicine for anxiety disorders.

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I do not inherently have anxiety, but I have been through some "traumatic experiences" along with having my trust taken on a ride, being stolen from, lied to, betrayed, even jumped... the way i see things is the way i see things inherently, but people have taken advantage always of how non anxious, and over trusting I always was because I was neive to the world... now people would like to ignore what has always been because of what has to be... I have nothing to hide from individuals, but now large social enviroments make me anxious people standing beside me while i sit down, and certain scenarios have ALWAYS made me anxious, I have uncontrollable OCD with certain things in my life, and I really wish I did not, but I am differed on what it is I REALLY have to put up with while they would rather pivot and try to be all whiny about thinking I have it out for them...  (some people must not know what really having it out for someone means....) I have a paranoid side of me now, bc people purposefully try to make me anxious because they feel they are pulling on it, but really what they are doing is making me angry and upset, and I am already very distrusting... I am VERY anxious about jobs, and it effects my preformance in ways that I cant focus right, or ways where I cant stop focusing... people have chose a wanted perspective on what plights me psychologically and it irritates me greatly... they have no idea how anxious I am without any suppression(from prior drug use) and I already have an anxious nature because of the things I have been through, when you mix that into a situation where you are having a hard time doing things in a routine oriented way and other variables of anxiety are in the same playing field, it makes things EXTREMELY difficult.

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Ye, I have social anxiety. Though it's pretty mild compared to other people, and it's slowly dying through force of will and the incredible support I get from my colleagues.

Now, some background/important info before getting to my situation:

I hate people in general. I have huge trust issues, not to mention being around other people drain my energy. The more people the faster my energy gets drained. I have Aspergers too, which makes it no easier to understand people. In fact, it's a fucking pain in the ass to put myself in someone elses shoes. I have problems keeping eye contact for extended periods. It's just too damn AWKWARD. I am also a B-person, aka someone who will not do any human contact unless it's needed, or more rarely, wanted. In other words, an introvert, basically.

I do however, almost always give people the benefit of the doubt. To prove whether or not they are worthy to stick around with. So far, It's sitting at a 90% rate of success(yes, my "people senses" can be wrong). It's solved through conversation in the vast majority of cases. I can quite easily see how someone are based upon topics, how they react to certain ideas/topics, etc.

It's easy to avoid/ignore people for me. I usually always have my headset on my ears with music. Makes it easy to focus on where I am going, what I will be doing there, and for how long I will be there.

Now, onto my situation:

I have work practice at an electronics store, in a support department. I've been there for 17 weeks now(this is my 17th), and will continue for now until the 23rd of December. Customer contact for Isac and I are meant to be tertiary, but it very often becomes primary due to the two others being either busy with other shit or done for the day. The two of us are meant to be in the back, preparing laptops, transferring people's garbage from old to new phone(iPhones too. And boy does EVERYONE hate Apple and their shit), checking out and repairing(if possible) used wares, and other stuff. On contract, I am meant to be present from 15.00 to 20.00 on Tuesdays to Thursdays, 15 hours a week. Considering I will have to pretty much waste an hour from 14.00 to 15.00 due to the train arriving at the city at 13.00, I decided to just say "Fuck it. Just fuck it", and give them one extra hour a day, to 6 hours a day, 18 hours a week.

Now, here's the thing: Never in my entire frickin' life did I ever imagine working in a god damn store sellin' and fixing shit, let alone have this level of contact with people. A bit of ergophobia isn't fun either, though that one's mild too. It's going to take a little while to explain, so please bare with me. I guess I should start at the beginning.

At first, I didn't have much customer contact. I had more of a supportive role, doing small talk with customers so they others could finish their stuff. I were being taught what we're doing, how we do it, and in what order. It was pretty easy, but the anxiety were knocking on the door. I've only had two "attacks" when it comes to my anxiety these past 17 weeks. Quite honestly, I'd expect a lot more. In a way, I'm glad I had them. Both times I took the day after off in order to think, ponder, wonder and just.. Feel as much as possible on the issues. And ask questions. Lots of questions. Why do I feel like this? Why did I react like that? What can I do in order to reduce/lessen the anxiety? Should I just be honest and say I may need help, or grow some balls and do this on my own? I consider myself a logical and thinking being, with feelings and emotions coming as second.

Time slowly went by, and I got slowly more accustomed to sudden customers in need of help. First anxiety attack came in a rather obvious way. Way too much customer contact and just sheer pressure from customers pretty much just made me crack for a day, not to mention standing there incredibly awkwardly, alone, and without the knowledge to do my job. It's.. Awkward, not to mention insane levels of pressure on you to do a job where your knowledge and understanding is lacking. The second attack came abruptly and completely took me by surprise. Again I took the next day off. This one were milder, but still strong enough for my emotional state to be unstable enough for the day. After that one it really allowed me to dig deeper into my emotional and psychological states. The day after I were considering implementing a couple of ideas I had of combating this shit. But alas, I didn't need to. I guess I met the right customers the day after. Spent half an hour just.. Talking. About World War II. The customers' grandfather fought in the war during the occupation of Norway, fighting the Germans however he could. Was fun, listening to the stories. We also ended up talking about technologies used, the German magnetic mines used to royally screw over the Royal British fleet, the German stealth fighter designs at the end of the war, etc. For once, just once, I thought "...Customer contact ain't so bad. It's damn FUN". The next customer weren't so different either, but we only talked for about 5 minutes as we sorted out her phone. Damn charming and friendly older lady who for some reason came back the day after. Heard she asked about me for some reason. I honestly have no fucking clue why.

After she had left, I had some time for myself to do what I am supposed to be doing. About like 10 minutes before closing, an older couple came in, royally pissed. Pissed because they wouldn't be able to watch the football match between I think Germany and France or something, but the TV were being a moron. Rule number one: Always blame the customer unless there are problems with the hardware/software. So I just calmly asked what's wrong with the TV, plugged it in, and they had set it to the wrong fucking input on the TV(go figure why I always apply Rule number 1 xD). I went over how to change inputs in an easy to understand manner, allowing them both to do it as well. I told them "If these instructions doesn't work, I will personally find a recording of the match and hand it to you on your doorstep on a DVD in 4k HD. If everything is in place, it's only a matter of changing to the correct input. After that, it's just a matter of changing channels on your decoder". Their red faces turned to slight smiles, then to full smiles as we talked some more on what they might have done to change the input settings. Ended up spending the rest of the time left talking about airplanes, as the older guy is a huge plane enthusiast. Since then I have no longer had negative thoughts about customer contact. It's either been neutral or positive. I will judge AFTER I've dealt with the customer, and on an individual basis. And the vast majority are positive responses. I have more positive thoughts than negative. In fact, I'd say I barely have any negative thoughts at all now. At worst now, it's just "...meh".

By working there I am pretty much beating the everliving shit out of my anxiety directly with a baseball bat. Jumping straight into the fray with all my guts. I have no intention of letting this shit control or even be able to manipulate my life. I want to be in full control of my emotional and psychological state. For me at least, it has worked wonders to jump straight into it, pushing my limits every day. You have no idea how much relief I am feeling now, considering how I were only back in May. I am against using anti-depressants and/or other medication to change moods/body chemistry, as it will often fuck up how you perceive the world and how you interact with it. I want to interact and deal with it in a clear-minded way, no matter how harsh it may be. Having a clear mind is important.

For me and for me alone, it works to deal with the problem directly, by jumping straight into it. I won't say it will work for anyone else. Everyone are different, and anxieties can and will be different. If you try out a more direct approach and it works, good for you. You should always try different options and ways, see which one(s) are best for you.

TL;DR: I beat my anxiety with a baseball bat. How cool is that?

Edited by Yakamaru
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i must say that i had anxiety when I was a teen - I was a very shy child too. it wasnt until I was 16/17 did I start breaking out of it, but the anxiety still remained with me for years. I was scared to go anywhere on my own, had a fear of using phones to call/actually talk to someone and it screwed up my first job and relationships. Mainly its from my parents - my Mum especially from her upbringing. Her family were very business driven when she was growing up, we had a chain of shops back in the day and she was just landed with being in charge of it all from her teens pretty much. My anxiety comes from her and how failing grades or giving up anything is the biggest failure ever. I have a fear of failure and just stepping out against my Mum (tatoos is the big issue we're arguing over at this time actually). 

I've 98% broken through any anxiety I had now, new home, travel, new friends, new job and new partner really did help me just "grow up" and get on with my life. I now have no issues in asking for pool cues behind the bar (that was one thing I was never able to do before and my ex used to always bring it up and say how pathetic I was about it). I also now work as a secretary answering phones and making calls. The making calls to strangers still bugs me a little if i dont know what im even really phoning for. 

I did however get an anxiety attack in front of my current partner over a simple thing =/ I insisted on paying the parking meter, but my brain cant function maths very well and whilst I was trying to work out what change I needed, I started panicking and just broke down as a small queue formed at the machine. It was horrible. That happened early this year in fact, but has bene the only time recently ive felt anxiety try to bring be back down. 

My personality has done well to hide anxiety by just being the over confident loud Rainbow Dash type person, because it works. Its like compensating personality traits vs flaws. 

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I don't get anxious around others, I just have a hard time understanding their intentions or communicating with them in general. I have no friends irl kek

I don't know, I stopped worrying about what others thought of me to the point where I became apathetic. I'm not a very empathetic person so I scare people away. Someone always tells me about the news and how so and so died, and I reply with "I don't care, I never met him or her, so I don't care." Seems like a waste getting sad over nothing.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've struggled with anxiety since I was 15. I'm currently on buspirone, 5mgs 3 times a day for it.

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yes, i have been diagnosed with social anxiety and GAD (general anxiety disorder). i've had social anxiety for..practically my whole life i'd think, but i didn't get diagnosed until i was 13. i didn't realize i was diagnosed with GAD but apparently i have also had it since i was 13, but it comes hand in hand with my depression i guess. i never took medication for it, i tried to but was allergic to the one i took and was scared to try any others. but i did take medicine for my depression, i tried many until i took lexapro and fit with that and took that for almost 6 years. i think i..manage to have it under control for the most part, somewhat. except i also tend to worry over the littlest things sadly, but.. anyways. point is. yes, i do have it. i don't see anyone for it and cant as i dont have the money, but i hope that i can start seeing a therapist again sometime soon.

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On 30-7-2017 at 6:04 PM, Mirage77 said:

Yes. I am a professional worryer. In fact, I'm worrying about how people might view this post. Will they think I'm acting like a know it all? Does admitting this make me look weak and uninteresting?

But here's the thing - you don't have to believe what you worry about. Without getting too complicated, your brain is pre-wired to alert you with 'images' that evoke emotions to help keep you from harm. For example, if you're out in the woods by yourself and you hear snapping twigs behind you, your brain says, 'hey, the body hears something...it could be dangerous, get ready' and so adrenaline gets pumped out to get you ready to run or fight. And you're totally convinced you need to act because you're seeing images of a bear or a murderer. This makes your heart race and your senses get heightened, and thus, you get either aggressive and/or submissive as a result. This is what worry is, however, you and me, like many people, apply this kind of reaction to many, many things in life. We want to be safe and secure, and comfortable. so when things happen around us that make us feel threatened, the mind and body go to work to prepare you to run or fight - anxiety is a survival instinct that is often misapplied.

So you turn around after hearing the twigs snapping and look to see that it is a harmless bunny. And now you feel relieved. So you take a deep breath and just relax a bit, then you're back to normal. The breathing and taking a time out after a 'worry episode' is very important.

Anyway, same with worry - just calm down and know that your perception of a threat or danger could be wrong. Get facts. Talk to people openly. Be honest about your feelings with those close to you. Don't be afraid to fail, and don't be afraid of what people think of you.

I feel ya. I always worry how my appearence is, how I should react, What I should say, To lose people and go on...

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@TheTopic

Look, I really find it hard to believe there is such a thing as 'anxiety disorder' as if it is like a disease or deformity one can't do anything about. Anxiety, like I and others have been pointing out, is a behavior pattern. It is a behavior that you can overcome simply by not doing it - or at the very least, reframing your perception of the discomfort.

If as human beings we can't adjust our behavior then there is simply no meaning whatsoever to education, punishment, social adjustment or even entertainment. Obviously, such a notion is absurd, which means we do have control over most of what we think. Consider all of the media out there, all the propaganda to change the way we think. Propaganda works, that is why it is everywhere. So consider this - if music and movies and memes and ads and monologues by celebrities can influence people - then you can influence yourself by changing your thought patterns. Your mind is designed to learn, to change and to adjust. You are not stuck in your behaviors.

"I created my own prison." - Creed

Very simply - stress is a natural response to risk and danger. All animals have this response. That's why deer run like hell and dog bark and growl. Anxiety however, is the mind going into a feedback loop of worry over feeling that way in the first place. Doesn't that sound silly? It should, because it is. Anxiety is an illusion. It is an addiction to non-action, even laziness or fear. Stress is uncomfortable enough - but to dwell on it - over and over and tell yourself completely false information that paralyzes you and causes you to worry even more - this is preventable tragedy of a beautiful mind.

Try this vid for instance. It's pretty short, but hopefully it will help some of you realize some things about how you think.

 

 

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