Sim's post regarding his schizophrenia has compelled me to post about the second psychological condition I have.

If you recall an earlier thread on EndWinterRomance, I have been diagnosed with Bipolar II, which is the typical mild type of the condition. However, I have a very distinct anxiety disorder that is wholly separate from my bipolarism.

It first manifested at the age of six with Separation Anxiety Disorder. This tends to be a first major sign that someone has what is medically classified as anxiety. While this can be a fear of separation of anything (often, some kind of security blanket) for me, it was my mother. I missed quite a lot of school, couldn't properly interact with my peers, got chronic nausea.

From this, I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, which general manifests itself most prominently in social situations, for which I take buspar, which, unlike other medications like Zoloft (the other main anxiety medication), isn't addictive. Minus a gap of a few years in middle school, I have taken buspar for about ten years, with no side effects.

Anxiety disorders are very common, and effect both introverts and extroverts. I am not 'shy', while I am an introvert I love to interact with others. My symptoms still manifest: last-minute decisions to avoid social activities, sweaty palms, blushing. However, I don't have anything terrible like panic attacks, hyperventilation, or the like.

I'm sure we have at least a view people with some kind of anxiety condition. Let's talk about it!

I've been diagnosed with this several times. As well as other things such as nymphomania. For me my safety blanket is Synyst. He's the only reason I'll be able to move down for college. I've tried Zoloft.. as well as a few other medications. They all caused hallucinations for me. Love is the best safety blanket. I know I can rely on him to keep everything bad away.

I dont "suffer" from any of the aforementioned issues. I'm actually rather cynical about disorders such as this. Personally I find it more of an excuse for laboratories to produce hysteria and medicate the world. In general I find people to be extreme Hypochondriacs and feel there is always a pill to correct their behavior.

But to each is own. Everyone has their issues and deals with them on their own terms.

When I was 22 I started having terrible panic attacks. The first time I got one I thought I was dying...I couldn't breathe and my heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was going to explode. The attacks started to get more and more frequent, most likely because I was afraid of them happening and therefore causing them to happen. I was put on Paxil, and that helped ease the panic attacks and the repetitive anxious thoughts. I was on that for around two years. At that point my anxiety seemed to be completely gone and I hadn't had a panic attack in ages, so I decided to stop taking it. I heard that there can be some serious withdrawal symptoms, but it was a pretty smooth transition for me. If I started to get dizzy I'd take half a pill to make it go away, and then after a couple of weeks I was completely off of the medication. I've been anxiety free since, thankfully. Those first few weeks of constant panic attacks were hell.

I'm glad you slipped that last sentence in there icegoat.

I have an anxiety disorder, it is in two stages. I take no medication for it as I cant.

If I take a tablet, even if it is a placebo or a simple vitamin supplement it would trigger an attack, that makes it a part of the problem and is the first part of the disorder, I am very restrained over what goes into my body and if I took a tablet or something that I was not 100% sure about(ie that is something foreign to nature>including foods>especially processed), my body would mentally and then physically reject it.

The second part is the more common social anxiety, it is quite complicated to describe other than some places are just no go areas for me, Im a 6ft well built male and I can find walking into a room full of people more terrifying than walking down a dark alley in the wrong part of town which I could do without fear.

When I refer to anxiety I do not mean apprehension or worry, they are human instinct and traits, these are full blown attacks of impending doom, like a heart attack without actually having the heart attack bit. They are something I would not wish on anybody and are certainly not symptoms conjured up by drug companies.


I am fortunate in that I know how to prevent them happening, some of it is mind over matter(or more correctly matter over mind) and some of it has to be avoidance. Without drugging me first, drugs would not be an option and thus that is my problem

I should also point out here that both of my parents have diagnosed anxiety disorders. My mother's side particularly has had issues with all kinds of psychological issues: clinical depression, addictive behavior, alcoholism. I do think that anxiety is somewhat overdiagnosed as anxiety can be manifested in kids by certain kinds of parenting (religious fundamentalists in particular have a tendency to make their children unable to function in normal society), I very likely inherited my condition.

yes and no. There are legitimate psychicatric disorders that are best treated with a combination of medication and therapy; however the prevalence rates are far far lower than the medication rate of the general public.

but you're right about excuses for big pharma to medicate the world - for example when Eli Lily's patent expired on Prozac, wouldn't you know there was a brand new disorder being considered for inclusion in the next edition of the DSM (the publication used for diagnosis of psychiatric disorders) called Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder. What's the treatment for PMDD? Why it's nothing other than fluoxetine - our good friend Prozac - but with a different name and packaged in a pretty pink pill! how convenient for Eli Lily.

I was never diagnosed with SAD, but I am pretty sure I had it as a child as well: It was very hard for me to be separated from my parents, they told me it was very difficult for them to get me stay at kindergarten in the first few weeks, because I would instantly freak out when they left. I also could not sleep over at friends, because I would get extreme homesickness and could not fall asleep.

When I was 10 years old, I was on a 14 day trip with school; the first four or five days were horrible, I could hardly fall asleep and was plagued by extreme homesickness, but suddenly, the next day, it was gone and never came back.

Some of the comorbid symptoms I am still facing are very similar, though: Especially in relationships, when there was trouble, or after a break-up, I would feel an intense anxiety again, very similar to this "homesickness" I felt as a kid when separated from my parents. Just that there was no place where I could go to make it go away -- no matter where I went or what I did, this horrible feeling would follow me, often becoming so extreme I was completely incapable of doing the necessary work.

When I was 17, what I think was a wrong diagnosis was made: The doctor assumed I had a clinical depression (while I think it actually was an anxiety disorder, as early symptom of schizophrenia). I was given chlomipramin ("Anafranil"). It made me feel a little better, in general, but did not really suppress the anxiety symptoms.

Last year, after a girlfriend had broken up with me, I had these symptoms again, very intense even. My doctor first prescribed me the tranquilizer lorazepam (similar to Valium), but even this very strong anxiolytic medication did not really help me, it just made falling asleep easier.

After two weeks, he said I should better switch to a non-addictive, but less potent medication, which is not addictive (unlike lorazepam, which is highly addictive) -- so I was prescribed promethazine. And it was almost like a wonder -- only 20 minutes after I had taken the first pill, the anxiety was completely gone!

And this although this promethazine is considered much less potent and harmless compared to benzodiazepines. But obviously, it perfectly addresses the specific kind of imbalance in my brain chemistry.

I am really glad I have promethazine, it really improves my life very much.

Thanks very much for sharing! I hope you're not suffering too much under this condition, and find ways to deal with it.

And it seems we have much in common. I am familiar with many of the symptoms you describe.

All my best wishes!
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Well it may be true that some people are hypochondriacs. And when you are diagnosed with a certain "illness", one which is affecting the soul or mind, maybe you are easily inclined to blame all kind of other, "normal" issues on that condition, thus making you a little more hypochondriac than warranted. Also, they may give up too easily to deal with the problem on their own, when they believe there might be a pill helping them.

Yet I think it would be very cynical and ignorant to brush people suffering from certain disorders as "hypochondriacs", all with the same brush alike. Healthy people who think that way are just lacking the necessary empathy and imagination; and while I hope they will never have to suffer from such a condition, maybe it would help them to develop a little more empathy.

Telling a clinically depressive person he has "just the wrong attitude", he should "get his act together" or "grit his teeth" is just like telling a guy with a broken leg he can still win the marathon if he "just develops the right attitude" or "grits his teeth" -- it would belittle his illness, condemn him to unnecessary suffering and also be disrespectful.

In case of many disorders, the reason is a chemical imbalance in the brain -- nothing they can overcome with mere willpower, much like a broken bone cannot be overcome with mere willpower.

You could as well tell someone on a LSD horror trip the only problem is his attitude, when he starts hallucinating or becoming anxious. But I doubt he can be reasonably expected to end the hallucination with mere willpower, no matter how hard he tries.

I don't really suffer that much under it. It has prevented me from doing a bunch of things in retrospect I wish I had, but it hasn't been medically dangerous or anything.

My bipolar II is far more devastating, however with medication I think my anxiety is probably worse than my mood swings in most cases.