Support

[Amy27]

Hi everyone. I've never joined anything like this but recently I feel like I can't cope anymore. I suffered from anxiety ever since I was a teenager (I'm now 26) I went through CBT and it sorted me out, for years I haven't had panic attacks or anything but over the past 2 weeks I feel like I've gone back to square one. I've started a new job and my partner and parents believe this is causing me the problem, I work long hours with no breaks, don't eat, and am afraid to speak to my boss, this has now resulted in me breaking down, I constantly feel on edge, wake up in the middle of the night worried about what I'm going into, I've had 3 panic attacks in past week, feel so weak, unsteady on my feet, scared of going out in public encase I break down and make a complete fool of myself, I just want to know is this normal or am I going insane, I don't want to go back to the doctors as I feel I've let myself down after all the hard work I did years ago to over come anxiety but in the same case I really can't cope, my partner took me which was meant to be a nice relaxing day out yesterday but I ended up breaking down in tears twice, he said it was like my body was there but my mind was elsewhere, I can't keep my emotions or thoughts under crontol. Advice would be most welcome, thanks all.

[frekks2021]

Hi Amy,

First of all, you ARE NOT going insane! It certainly does seem like your anxiety has come back due to the job, though. It is good that at least you recognized the panic attack as that and recognized your anxiety. However, always go and get checked out, no matter how trivial you think it is, don't ever be scared to go to the doctor's. That's why they are there. If it was something worse, you'd need to know, right? To take action.

For me, certainly my job has played a huge roll in the on-set of my anxiety, however, I don't think it's the actual cause and other things will trigger an attack. I don't know what the cause is, I just know, like you that I want it to stop.

The question is, do you give the job up in the hope that it will alleviate the anxiety? It might, but will finding another one, just transfer the trigger from one job to the other? Who knows? That's why you have to try to tackle this from another angle. You shouldn't have to change things about your life just for this horrible condition.

That's not to say, you should just blindly stay in the job. For other reasons, like abuse, exploitation or any other negative factor, you should give that consideration, but that is a topic for a different discussion. Just say, for now, you should be getting your breaks and give those really long hours a miss. I considered giving up my job, but then how do I pay the bills? More anxiety there! I am lucky that I have the power to restructure it a bit to accommodate the condition better. You and others may or may not be able to do that.

One of the first things that I found helpful was recognizing and knowing the panic attacks were just that, and not something else. Since the early worst attacks, I haven't had any so severe. You probably have that first step under your belt. The next is just plain old surviving and functioning until help reaches you, which can take awhile, I've found. For me, getting my breathing under control was imperative as I was hyperventilating when I had an attack. Breathing through the nose for a few seconds, then out through the nose or mouth for twice as long with a small pause at the end of the exhale is very calming. Breathe from your belly, not your chest. As you inhale, push your belly out, then exhale, belly in. Try doing some walking, keep your thoughts in the present, not past, not future. Sleep deprivation is common here, so you should try to get some sleep. Digestion problems occur too, so try to keep an eye on that.

A good breathing site, I think: breathing.com/

Medication is another issue and only suitable for discussion with your doctor, as everyone is different. For me, medication seems to be helping. I haven't started CBT yet, but I probably will soon, so I feel the medication is helping me to survive and function. Chatting on here, seems to help too, as I feel I'm talking to people who understand. Stop googling symptoms, that often makes the anxiety worse.

I hope you are feeling better soon. I certainly can see this through your eyes.

Peter.