Telling my parents my issues with anxiety..

[KVCC]

Hey I was wondering whats the best way of going about this?


I can describe my anxiety issues as the following:

Social Phobia (Fear of physical relationships/Embaressment)
Phobias(Not a lot, but when I get them they lead to panic attacks)
Panic Attacks(Mostly happen if anything happens physically, like if people were pressuring me to go talk to a girl that is attractive I start shaking and feel SUPER bad)


I kinda don't feel that comfortable telling my parents about how I haven't had anything physical with any girls or anything like that...



I know my Mom has anxiety issues, and I have talked to my brother about it and he has things similiar, yet he seems fine with relationships he just has issues in other areas I guess.

How should I bring it up?

What's a good type of medication To go on for it?

Thanks for any help.

 

[CK23]

Dude, i cant be a lot of help in this regard but i hop i can provide you some comfort from the fact that i am faced with the same problem... my parents are extremely self centered so i cant even dream of sharing anything with them....I have some serious depression phases and when i have them i want to scream at the top of my voice....i am very shy and i have a lot of SA...I hope we can both get some tips in order to deal with this cold we are facing...

 

[chris87]

I understand where you are coming from. I have a similar situation with my parents, I guess. I've never really told them anything, and I don't think I will. For me, it doesn't seem like I'd gain anything.

My Dad is always working, and it seems to be his main concern. If I said that I had an anxiety issue, he'd say something like "I wish that was my biggest problem. You should see the problems that I have to deal with, etc, etc, etc." My Mom, on the other hand, would probably say something like "Just go out and do things." She doesn't get it.

 

[recluse]

I sometimes break down in frustration and tell my parents how i feel, they jsut tell me ''There's nothing wrong with you....Don't put yourself down so much!''...O'r ''you just need more sleep!''.........Arggghhhh! Why can't people understand what anxiety feels like to live with!

 

[lexie66]

just print out some information about social anxiety, and leave it lying around somewhere your parents will just happen across it, or write them a letter. if it's hard for you to say it, then writing it might be easier, just to break the water.

 

[Pyrophosphate]

just print out some information about social anxiety, and leave it lying around somewhere your parents will just happen across it.

That is exactly what I was thinking of doing, but my mom would first get pissed that somebody printed something with her computer and maybe, just MAYBE, read it after that.

 

[KVCC]

they just laughed and said everyone gets panic attacks and shy.



Idiots.

 

[PhantomPod]

^^ My parents do the same thing. I don't talk about my SA feelings too much, but just recently I was telling my mom at anxiety I feel at work. Specifically when it comes to having to make a phone call to a client. My mom really just brushed it off like, "oh, I get nervous like that too. Everyone does." When really, it's like, no everyone doesn't. I observe other people at work. They just pick the phone right up when they need to make a call. I have to write up a script word for word, and it takes me nearly an hour to make the call.

 

[mikium]

My parents say that I should get some medical help for it. I think they are very impatient with me, and rightly so, because I am too nervous to seek out help.

I really want to be more independent but the crippling stress of SA is holding me back. *sigh*

 

[5020]

I am more embrrssed then anything. I broke down and cried on my first day at uni in front of my mum. Told her i couldnt do it. that i couldnt socalise. she said thats what she used to be like. sorta helped. Having said that i have avoided her since to ashamed of what she now knows. certain she had told the whole familty i am incapable of socailising. They must think i am such a loser!

 

[N04h]

print some info out and and show it to them, then begin from there.

 

[limjorino]

I was actually going to make a thread similar to this...

I have an extremely tough time talking to my parents about my anxiety/OCD/panic disorder problems. I think what makes it the hardest is that my sister has very severe autism, and that's always been pretty much our family's biggest obstacle. I'm pretty sure they don't like to think of me as having any mental illnesses, they like to think of me as the normal one to balance out how hard things with my sister are... but unfortunately that's not the case.

I remember one instance where I was having an anxiety attack and my dad got super mad, started cursing, and being violent towards objects around the house. My mom is usually somewhat more comforting, but usually still just says the same things over and over "it's all in your head, there's nothing wrong with you" etc. I'm even having trouble trying to get them to let me go to therapy again, I just asked my mom about it tonight and her reaction was more concerned with how it's going to be paid for (I come from a middle class family, both of my parents work... I'm not saying that I shouldn't pay for it or anything, but still) than how much stress and pain I'm going through.

It's very difficult and frustrating at times, and I really just wish they would understand.

 

[Section_31]

Ive given up on most of the older generation ever being able to understand anything mental health related...

Apologies in advance to any baby boomers on here who are of a different mindset...

But ive foudn that most of the folks from that generation dont believe in mental illness, or think that someone uses it as an excuse for their bad behaviour, even if a doctor is insisting somthings wrong. Sometimes they might SAY they undersand, but then do somthing that says otherwise. I think part of it is in their day, if somthing was wrong with you that way, you were institutionalized. if your not institutionalized, theres nothing wrong with you. If they dont see it they dont believe it. Unfortunately this attitude is passed down to alot of x'ers and y's....it seems to be the latter 2 seem to be more open minded and understanding towards mental health issues, but im still VERY careful about who i talk to. i dont trust anyone.

The other side of it is i think alot of parents are prideful on a level and dont want to admit to themselves, consciously or unconsciously, that somthing could be wrong with their child in that way. Thus they tell them to "buck up" or "your just shy" as if to try to make the child believe everythings fine when its really not....

Sorry for the small book, this post stuck a chord within me....i had a long personal history of bad experiences with this and people.