Hi. I am a 47 year old female who resides in the States and am originally from England.
I have had depression and anxiety since I was a young girl and was officially diagnosed with depression in 1999 where I was prescribed Prozac. I had some severe side effects such as shortness of breath and heart palpitations. Over the years, I have tried different medications and have now been taking Zoloft and Abilify for almost ten years now. My depression is mostly under control, but lately, my anxiety has been a real problem. Due to things I experienced as a child I keep getting this reoccurring feeling of not being good enough. I'm seeing my doctor on Xmas Eve to talk about the anxiety and am planning ongoing back to therapy. Thanks for listening.
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Shadowfax1973
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Hey shadow,welcome to the community! everyone here is accepting and understands what you are going through. we would all love to work with you and help to solve some issues you may have. you are so strong and I am really proud of you for seeing a doctor and a therapist, you're making some huge steps to success here! hope that you can find someone in the group who can get you through what you need. if you ever would like to chat about anything feel free to message me and we can talk. sending love!
Welcome to the community! First of all, I am very happy that your depression is under control. It is a very difficult thing to get out of. As for the anxiety, I understand. My anxiety sometimes just goes through the roof, sometimes for no reason. And sometimes it does happen because things in the past are brought to the front of the mind. They can make you feel worthless. The best thing to do is to take a few deep breaths, figure out what you are feeling, write it down and look at it from an outside point of view. Look at the truth and not what your mind wants you to think. A good method is to envision someone you hate, or wouldn't got to for advise, saying that. How would you react? Would you think, “That's so stupid,” or, “Why should I believe you? I don't like you/ you are usually wrong?” It is great to personify those thoughts.
My therapist has often told me that ... I am my worst critic, like a political attack add against an opponent . However I like the way you phrased this as would you go to someone you hate or wouldn’t go to for advice... somehow putting it in those terms seems to help out alot.
Welcome to the site. I feel like I am in the same boat as you - my depression is under control (maybe) but my anxiety is out of control. Hopefully therapy helps, My experience has been that it helps a brief bit while in the session and then for a brief period after - but then after that I am in full blown anxiety mode again. Unfortunately, for me although I’m aware of the therapy techniques i’m not able to implement them or put them into practice. Hopefully you have better luck with therapy than I do and again welcome to this site.
Thought stopping. Set boundaries. Don’t dwell or look forward. Steps in making changes. !
I take prozac and have been off and on it for years. Currently three years in. But it does nothing for my anxiety so the doctor prescribed amytripteline (not sure how to spell it) I was on one tab a day but this has been increased to two and I take them at night. I very rarely have a panic attack now but I do still get anxious. I too have many issues from my childhood and adult life which now impact on my mental health. Over the past two years I have suffered ill health and have become a wheelchair user. All of which has not helped my mental health. I hope you get sorted soon xx
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