I suffer from panic disorder..anxiety and depression. I keep thinking i have some lung disease even though the doctor did a checkup and a cbc and fiund nothing wrong. Im 55 years old and have distanced myself from everyone. I live like a recluse with my husband and my 2 dogs. I dont leave my house..i basically stay in my bedroom...Im always sad...im not alive im just a shell existing.
I think of things to do but then im to exhausted to do it.
Its like im living in my own world and i get irritable when my thoughts are interupted.
Ive lost 18kgs weight..unexplained...but physically no reason can be found. Im afraid most of the time..i don't really know of what. I live being awake when its dark and sleep during the day..my curtains are always drawn...am I crazy
I might mention that im menopausal and that ive been like this for about...3 years....although the panic disorder has been life long...the past year has been the worst..or is it 2 years...
Written by
Plz_save_me
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
No...the doctor started me off on an antidepressant but I stopped taking them after 2 weeks..I got feelings of anger ..violent anger and im not a violent person at all. i do however use a calming pill for anxiety and a sleeping pill for insomnia..
If your Stuck in your room isolated just thinking negative stuff behind closed curtains thats deep depression and scary you deserve better-for yourself and maybe need to talk to your doctor about trying different anti depressants as your stuck in a rut,p.s.your not crazy.
There’s only you who can help yourself,I’ve been there and I understand you have to get out and renew the license and get some meds to help lift your mood so you can function,dogs are good value ✌🏼....we hear you
Ask yourself what it was/is that is causing your anxiety and distress. Is it still causing you stress? If so you must remove it from your life and be as ruthless as you like.
Or maybe you have just got into a circular process of fear causing anxiety followed by anxiety causing fear followed by fear causing anxiety and so on?
Your reluctance to leave your house is because your mind senses you are anxious and wrongfully thinks that dangers await you outside. So your mind keeps you in your comfort zone. Your mind is trying to help - but it isn't. There are no sabre toothing tigers outside waiting to gobble you up. Isn't it time for you to reclaim the great outdoors, denied to you for so long?
You can break the vicious circle of fear causing anxiety causing more fear etc. You can give your nervous system a break from fear, a nice long break, and if you do your nerves will recover from their over sensitivity.
Simply accept your bad feelings for the moment. Agree to live with them for a little longer without constantly fighting them. Fighting only causes more tension and stress.
So I say accept all the bad feelings and symptoms for the time being. Anxiety is a fraud any way, it makes us feel terrible and fear the worst but it can't do us any permanent damage.
Decide today to go for a walk to a park or supermarket. Your legs may feel like jelly but jelly legs will still carry you there and back. Just imagine you are floating along the side walk propelled forward by some invisible force.
Agree to accept the bad feelings as you go. If you can accept them then you can't fear them, you can't both fear and accept at the same time. So just go with the flow as they say. Reclaim the great outdoors and your victory over fear will feel like a tonic in itself. If you feel panic then pass through it, don't try to go round it, go straight for it. Panic isn't nice but it's time to show panic who's the boss around here. Just let your body go limp if you feel it coming, don't clench your jaw just feel every muscle in your body relaxing. Let the panic wash over you even as the sea crashes over a rock on the shore and then recedes.
If you can master your fear then you give your hyper sensitive nervous system a rest - and with enough rest it will recover. And when your nervous system recovers it no longer sends you those bad feelings and panic attacks and in the fullness of time they will trouble you no more. Why not do it?
I'm so glad that someone else thinks we have to learn to live with our problems! By that I don't mean we should all roll over and admit defeat, just that they are a part of us. Not a pleasant part that we would choose to have given the option but I totally agree that fighting is not the way forward. Fighting is exhausting and destructive, far better to stand your ground. Thankyou for saying that, I feel less alone now and more hopeful x
Rach1402, when I use the word 'acceptance' I don't mean for people to just accept their anxiety for ever. I use the term as Claire Weekes uses it in her Acceptance method for recovery from anxiety disorder. Which means adopting acceptance as a temporary measure to bring respite and recovery. That is why I usually add 'for the moment' or 'for the time being' after the word 'acceptance'.
As we frame our minds towards Acceptance it reduces and eventually extinguishes fear which is what fuels our over sensitised nervous system and all its symptoms.
The late Doctor Claire Weekes first set out her plan for recovery (based on 4 imperitives: Face, Accept, Float and Let time pass) more than 50 years ago in her first book 'Self help for your nerves' (u.k. edition) also titled 'Hope and help for your nerves' in the U.S. and still selling like the proverbial hot cakes all these decades later on Amazon both new and pre-owned. Most contemporary self-help writers base their systems on Claire Weekes' Acceptance method. Her book is currently on its 40th reprint and in recent years alone there have been reader reviews on Amazon for all her books by 1,600 readers 90% of which rate her Acceptance method as Very Good or Excellent.
No other psychiatrist has brought respite and recovery to so many people as Claire Weekes who died in 1990 aged 86 years. I commend this book to you if you are not already familiar with it.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Anxiety and i feel crazy 
I think I'm crazy
I am the great pretender 
Weekend update/am I alone?
I am hurt and alone. 
