I'm feeling SO blessed touched, and overwhelmed (in a good way) from all the emails that I've received from people sharing stories of their own battles with anxiety. At the same time, I can't help but find it a little bittersweet that so many of us are dealing with this and yet no one talks about it. I never even knew much about the disorder until now and yet I'm finding that almost everyone I know has either dealt with it themselves or knows someone who has.
I know it's not an easy thing to talk about. There's shame, guilt, and anger associated with the disorder--not to mention the lovely "Holy S***, am I going crazy?" fear that accompanies the attacks. These aren't exactly qualities people like to go bragging about.
I also understand that some people are just more private and I respect that. Yet, at the same time, I know how isolating and scary the darn thing is and knowing that other people are experiencing the same things and being able to talk about it together can be incredibly therapeutic. I'm hoping to help change some of that stigma and encourage us all to be more open and help each other. Hence the blog! : )
Some of you have written me and expressed interest in setting up our own support group and I promised I'd get the ball rolling. So, here it is. Ball. Rolling. Let's face it, therapy and support groups can be intimidating, and expensive as hell. So, why not join forces and beat the system by creating our own, FREE, group?! I'm up for trying it out if anyone else is. I'd even be happy to coordinate it; just let me know if you're in the MD area and would be interested. We can make it as formal/informal as we like. If you can't make the group, you can still post here and have an online support community. My disclaimer upfront though is this: there MUST be food! I'm not going to a meeting if there's not food! : ) So, who's in????!!!!
I know it's not an easy thing to talk about. There's shame, guilt, and anger associated with the disorder--not to mention the lovely "Holy S***, am I going crazy?" fear that accompanies the attacks. These aren't exactly qualities people like to go bragging about.
I also understand that some people are just more private and I respect that. Yet, at the same time, I know how isolating and scary the darn thing is and knowing that other people are experiencing the same things and being able to talk about it together can be incredibly therapeutic. I'm hoping to help change some of that stigma and encourage us all to be more open and help each other. Hence the blog! : )
Some of you have written me and expressed interest in setting up our own support group and I promised I'd get the ball rolling. So, here it is. Ball. Rolling. Let's face it, therapy and support groups can be intimidating, and expensive as hell. So, why not join forces and beat the system by creating our own, FREE, group?! I'm up for trying it out if anyone else is. I'd even be happy to coordinate it; just let me know if you're in the MD area and would be interested. We can make it as formal/informal as we like. If you can't make the group, you can still post here and have an online support community. My disclaimer upfront though is this: there MUST be food! I'm not going to a meeting if there's not food! : ) So, who's in????!!!!
Hey Dani, Tim here from the NZ adventure.
ReplyDeleteWell guess who thought they were having some sort of heart attack the other day only to be told their heart was fine?
**Am now going to vent all about it in attempt to self-therapy my ass, please skip to the end to the sentence beginning "Ahh" if you wish**
Yep, after being given very few clues as to what might have happened and having had a few more since, i kind of self diagnosed my self. It now seems i begin to stress out when ever im in an enclosed space (day to day this is some form of transport) Don't know why this has started now or how long they'll continue but after reading up on my symptoms online, the words "panic attack" keep cropping up. With these words in mind I then i remebered your blog. Previously meaningless to me and now the final piece in my diagnosis.
Some of the stories and write ups on there ring so true i know thats what they are, and now ive got some tips on how to approach it.
I must admit this is not a totally new situation for me but i thinks its the lastest manifestation. I've been prone to fainting my whole life and have done this in front of people a few times. Notable ones being when on a stationery horse, feinting, falling off, getting back on, feinting, falling off. Also on a plane for no apparent reason in front of my mates who then caned me about it from that day on.
For this reason i developed a fear of fainting. Partly because of the awful feeling preceding it but i think mainly because of the embarrasment. I faint in general if i havent eaten properly, so have always been mindful to avoid this as a result. Being hungover is when i feel particulary succeptible.
The perfect storm of the hungover panic feeling is 1) Feeling of low blood sugar 2) other people around who might see me faint 3) Being on a form of transport. Up until quite recently i thought i was only in danger of this feeling if i was hungover, but now it seems it can happen if just one of the three boxes is ticked. Mental association i guess. Dont know if the hangover thing for you was such a factor?
Reading about working out your "outs" when in a panic situation really rang true. For me an example would be, ok so im on the train, i don't want to faint in front of everyone, i can see the toilets free, i can go in there and faint if worst comes to worst. Or, theres a station coming up i could just get off. If youir outs get blocked (train packed) or too hard then that can add to the panic. Thats why flying is so hard i guess, when one of your outs is emergency landing your thinking "I cant do that! people will think im insane!"
I think they key phrase to repeat is "This is not a heart attack, you know what this is, you have the power to calm yourself down".
Ahh! thats better. Ok so in conclusion:
Thats whats happening to me, i feel i can deal with it.
Your blog has really helped me
I don't feel alone.
Thanks Dani
Hey Tim! Sorry it took me so long to reply (um over a year to be exact)....not sure what happened....I hope I did reply and am just not remembering it, but since I don't see a reply I'm going to reply now.SORRY! Anyway, how the heck are you? I miss traveling and NZ! Sorry to hear you have been experiencing this too but glad you reached out and glad the blog helped. Hope things are looking brighter for you and the holidays bring you much joy! : ) Dani
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