Explaining PANIC DISORDER to others

[SilentType]

As you all probably know, panic disorder is a bit different from social anxiety... It's more of a physical problem than a way of thinking.

What do you guys think the best way to tell other people about our anxiety problems? I, personally, have panic disorder w/ agoraphobia, and the way I go about telling people is to explain panic attacks by saying that my adrenaline, or fight-or- flight response, kicks in much more often than a "normal" person's. I further explain the fight-or-flight response by giving examples of times a "normal" person would feel this way, such as getting mugged, chased by a vicious dog, etc. These panic attacks are brought about because of an oversensitivity to external stimuli, mainly groups of people that I don't know (sometimes when I know the people), but also other things such as loud noise or bright lights.

That's the best I can do to explain it, but most people still don't seem to get it and reply with comments such as, "oh, everybody gets nervous sometimes," or "I can relate to that..." These types of responses just depress me, because its as if the person dismissed everything I just said.

Is there a better way to go about telling people?


Peace

 

[arjuna]

People usually don't understand. When I have tried to explain some of the symptons they says things like "well maybe you get hot because there is a lot of heating here," or "that happens to everyone", etc. Some of these comments are really stupid. I would say that the only way for someone to know what it is like is if that person has suffered from it. In other cases, maybe about 10% of people would understand. But then again, I usually don't even bother trying to explain because they are incapable of understanding. Sometimes they mock you, thinking it is a joke... :x

 

[rado31]

huh, i dunno. This is tricky question. Better keep quiet on that subject,hm...

I think one time when i didnt know that social phobia exists as a diagnosis exists i mumbled to some acquitance that i have 'socio phobia'.
Offcourse he didnt get what i was trying to say.

Simple thing : If they like you , they accept you and you can feel it.
If they dont - dont waste yo time on those people.

What truly worries me that my panic sometimes make me act differently on similiar occasion. I would say that i m shizophrenic but it is not truth since i remember both types of my behaviour.

I would say that my diagnosis is 'loser'

 

[SilentType]

Thanks for the replies. I don't go around telling everyone about my problems, but I'm just under the impression that there has to be a good way to explain this to other people. The fact that "normal" people don't understand is, in my opinion, our only problem. If other people could just accept who we are, we wouldn't be here complaining about our lives on this website. That's why we have to come up with a way to get the world informed about our problems.


Peace

 

[void]

Usually it's enough to tell people that I'm 'very shy'. I don't have any panic attacks though. Most people I meet are nice to me and don't treat me badly. Even if I know that people won't harm me or have similar problems I'm still anxious. I don't blame anyone for not understanding me. Why should I expect anyone to understand me? I'm the one with irrational fears. The only person you can really change is yourself. There will always be people who won't like you and be rude.

 

[SilentType]

I'm the one with irrational fears. The only person you can really change is yourself.

Untrue. I can't change the way my body reacts to certain external stimuli. I've tried for years with therapy and medication. I've decided the only option left is to accept my issues for what they are and rebuild my life around them.

I can, however, educate others about the problem that I deal with.
It's not like I go around telling everybody about my panic disorder, either. That'd just make me seem insane. I only try explain myself to people who are close to me, and who seem to want to know why I am the way that I am.


Peace

 

[rado31]

Yes, i agree with you Silent Type. It is certainly not our fault. Or some other definitions we can hear even here.

 

[shon]

I'm the one with irrational fears. The only person you can really change is yourself.

Untrue. I can't change the way my body reacts to certain external stimuli. I've tried for years with therapy and medication. I've decided the only option left is to accept my issues for what they are and rebuild my life around them.

I can, however, educate others about the problem that I deal with.
It's not like I go around telling everybody about my panic disorder, either. That'd just make me seem insane. I only try explain myself to people who are close to me, and who seem to want to know why I am the way that I am.


Peace

No, you can't change how your body reacts having panic disorders but I believe void was talking about SA. You can work on changing how you think but the point is, you can't expect people to fully understand how you are. If they don't experience it for themselves, they just can't understand. They should respect you though and not criticize your problems and act like they're not a big deal.

That's the problem I have with people. When they make stupid comments like "Oh, you're just shy. You need to get out there and meet people!" Well, my whole life has been this way and it's not a joke. If I even said "It's like being painfully shy" how would they know how shyness feels?

 

[void]

Untrue. I can't change the way my body reacts to certain external stimuli. I've tried for years with therapy and medication. I've decided the only option left is to accept my issues for what they are and rebuild my life around them.

I certainly won't judge about the severity of your condition but if you've accepted that you can't do anything about it then you're probably right. The only thing you can do in this case is to ask other people to change or avoid them if you can. You can't expect them to understand you or to do what you like though. As for me I would like to think there is a cure and for you that there are still ways to improve your condition.

Yes, i agree with you Silent Type. It is certainly not our fault. Or some other definitions we can hear even here.

I don't blame anyone here for their problems. If you wanted me to blame someone I would blame mindless nature. It just sounded to me like SilentType wanted to blame others and say everything would be fine if they would behave appropriately which isn't true in my opinion.

 

[SilentType]

It just sounded to me like SilentType wanted to blame others and say everything would be fine if they would behave appropriately which isn't true in my opinion.

All I ever asked for was a better way to explain my problem to people... I never said anything about the way other people behave either. I did mention the idea that our community would be better off if the general public was more informed about our types of illnesses, and how debilitating they can really be. I know that nobody who hasn't experienced this can truly understand what its like to be in our shoes, but at least we can try to educate them about it. I never blamed anybody either. I simply made the point that if other people were actually able to understand our problems, we would probably be better off. Hence the title of this thread.

Peace