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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 17:19:18 GMT
I believe I may have the symptoms of at least panic disorder and I'm learning how agoraphobia isn't just being afraid of crowds and open spaces. I'd also like to know a little more about social anxiety disorder. Can anyone explain panic disorder, social anxiety and agoraphobia to me and how they got diagnosed and/or treatment? See I am seeing my GP next week and I like to be armed with info when starting another fight for treatment.
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Post by Bex on Jul 26, 2013 17:53:28 GMT
Hey Laura,
Welll this is kind of difficult, as agoraphobia (and I'm sure the others) are different for everyone. Some extreme forms of agoraphobia can confine you to one room, others mean you can't leave the house and finally you have mild agoraphobia which is when you have a fear of being outside of your comfort zone.
I started off not being able to leave the house, I would make excuses as to why I couldn't go (normally female related ones like my hair was a mess/nothing to wear/etc) until eventually Jake threw me into a taxi kicking and screaming, and took me to the doctors. I would panic like hell when I even thought about leaving the house and there was no way I'd go anywhere on my own. Over the months, with medication, this got better and I could go places but only with my 'safe zone' and only with Jake or another person that I felt comfortable with. I can count the times I've been out on my own on one hand, in the last year.
The panic attacks weren't necessarily to do with going out, sometimes I would get them if I knew people wanted me to go out for something or if people were going to be coming round the house. I was supposed to be going to a party or something once and had a panic attack the night before that was so bad that my fingers and toes curled up due to lack of oxygen. It was then that the paramedics give me an oxygen mask, in case it ever happened again. In the space of that 24 hours I had around 6 panic attacks, several of which were on the phone to my Dad, the doctor and Jake. All because I was worried about this party, that I wasn't obliged to go to anyway. It seems irrational now, but actually it still gives me goosebumps thinking about it.
My GP referred me to the local mental health team in my area who then sent me a letter with a questionnaire in it. I had to fill it in and then wait for them to call me, so that they could go through it on the phone with me. They said there and then that it was agoraphobia and that I would have to wait to be seen by a CBT therapist. I was told that I'd HAVE to go to the therapy sessions otherwise I'd be removed from care, agoraphobia or not (nice of them).
It then took months and months before I went back to the doctors to change my medication (probably about the fifth change throughout this whole process) when I said I still hadn't been seen. He was pretty peeved so wrote a letter asking that I be seen ASAP. They then decided that I should have ANOTHER telephone assessment because it had been so long since the last one. Eventually I saw a CBT therapist 9 months after being referred. My advice to you would to always chase it up, because somehow people like us can get forgotten.
Sorry it's so long! Hope it helps.
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Leanne
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Post by Leanne on Jul 26, 2013 20:59:56 GMT
I 100% agree with bex, chase them up and make sure you get seen as its a lot easier and you have a better chance of getting rid of this if you tackle it at the start. But for me it started with panic attacks , that slowly got worse, i was still able to go out and leave the house but the panics ended up making me slowly retret to my 'safe place' (home). for example, i would walk to town with my mum and have to turn round as soon as i felt panicky , i just physically couldn't move at one point as i know i wanted to go , i just couldnt. And slowly but surely they ended up getting that bad , i would constantly have them even in the house where i would be pacing the room for a ages , i ended up being dragged to the doctors (no matter how much i was panicking and screaming i didnt want to go) only to pace the doctors room clenching my chest having a panic/anxiety attack. It was there and then my doctor diagnosed me with panic disorder , Panic disorder is constant panic attacks/anxiety with no reason , you could be watching telly and suddenly be hit with one, i panic worry about little things , and have an 'over exaggerated' imagination. In the end my panic attacks got that bad i was too embaressed to go out and they would get worse when i tried cos i used to think " what if i have one and people look at me and think im weird" so i ended up staying in. And it got worse over time , to the point i was room bound, in the end my doctor had to come to my house and talk with me while i was in my bed! and thats how i got diagnosed with agoraphobia. And for social anxiety , with me its things like ill always feel like other people are better then me , and everything i say to them is wrong, and i worry if i say the wrong thing, ill avoid going in my back garden just so i dont have to talk to my neighbours. Not cos i dont like them , but because i just get so anxious about talking to people and what they think of me and if im acting normal enough or saying something weird and not knowing what to talk about comes about a lot , i always make a joke of myself and say im 'socially awkward' haha. Hope this has helped even tho ive wrote an essay! LOL , and i hope you get sorted asap. Take care! - Leanne x
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Post by midgetgemelikey on Aug 8, 2013 15:49:56 GMT
I just had an appnt with psychiatrist, he was great but when I explained agoraphobia not improving this horrendous women told my husband to start making sure I have no milk so I have to leave the house, she said I simply just needed to walk to the end of the street and she was sure I could manage that I'm very disheartened
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