Hello everyone!
I found this site while doing research for my Psychology class, but became very interested in this site as I have been working on my Anxiety and Agoraphobia.
To make my story short, I started having severe panic attacks around the age of 15. After a bit, my parents took me to the doctor and he diagnosed me as being depressed (Although, it was clear to me even then that it was something else). Things got a bit better, but then I started having more severe problems that were strongly affecting me to the point where I'd almost pass out in class from fear. I got re-diagnosed when I was 17 as having a "Chemical Imbalance" and put on Celexa to help with that. Things got surprisingly better over the next month and I graduated no problem.
College was fine up until the last two weeks of my second quarter when it came rushing back. Psychologically, I never dealt with having to do any work, and the medication wasn't enough, and as such, it call came back. I had to drop school and all my grades were turned into failed classes, I lost my job, and because of the way tuition works, I then owed thousands of dollars.
After going to another doctor, I was diagnosed with Anxiety/Panic and my Medication was increased as well as giving some advice on seeing a psychologist or reading on it. Things got better and I got a weekend job at a fast food restaurant to earn some extra income while I was getting better. I slowly increased hours and then moved to a nice diner restaurant. From there I started my own lesson studio teaching music (Piano/Trumpet/Music Theory) and when the hours got good enough, I started doing my studio job as my primary job as well as starting school up again!
Long story short, I almost have all my debt paid off, and after many years of trying to figure out what was going on with me, with parents who told me to never talk about my attacks with people as they would think I'm weird, and feeling like I was the only one in the world with this 'stupid problem', I'm more than glad to find a community related to Anxiety and other social disorders. A community where I could maybe help someone else going through a similar issue that I already went through so that it might be a bit easier on them.
I'm only 21, and I still have the occasional moments where I start to feel an attack coming on, but I've figured out what works for me in defusing those attacks before they happen, and as such, I almost never have to worry about it any more. I'm glad to be here, and I look forward to talking to more of you soon!
I found this site while doing research for my Psychology class, but became very interested in this site as I have been working on my Anxiety and Agoraphobia.
To make my story short, I started having severe panic attacks around the age of 15. After a bit, my parents took me to the doctor and he diagnosed me as being depressed (Although, it was clear to me even then that it was something else). Things got a bit better, but then I started having more severe problems that were strongly affecting me to the point where I'd almost pass out in class from fear. I got re-diagnosed when I was 17 as having a "Chemical Imbalance" and put on Celexa to help with that. Things got surprisingly better over the next month and I graduated no problem.
College was fine up until the last two weeks of my second quarter when it came rushing back. Psychologically, I never dealt with having to do any work, and the medication wasn't enough, and as such, it call came back. I had to drop school and all my grades were turned into failed classes, I lost my job, and because of the way tuition works, I then owed thousands of dollars.
After going to another doctor, I was diagnosed with Anxiety/Panic and my Medication was increased as well as giving some advice on seeing a psychologist or reading on it. Things got better and I got a weekend job at a fast food restaurant to earn some extra income while I was getting better. I slowly increased hours and then moved to a nice diner restaurant. From there I started my own lesson studio teaching music (Piano/Trumpet/Music Theory) and when the hours got good enough, I started doing my studio job as my primary job as well as starting school up again!
Long story short, I almost have all my debt paid off, and after many years of trying to figure out what was going on with me, with parents who told me to never talk about my attacks with people as they would think I'm weird, and feeling like I was the only one in the world with this 'stupid problem', I'm more than glad to find a community related to Anxiety and other social disorders. A community where I could maybe help someone else going through a similar issue that I already went through so that it might be a bit easier on them.
I'm only 21, and I still have the occasional moments where I start to feel an attack coming on, but I've figured out what works for me in defusing those attacks before they happen, and as such, I almost never have to worry about it any more. I'm glad to be here, and I look forward to talking to more of you soon!
