Trauma – PTSD

Question:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Hi! So glad I found you guys. I am just embarking on my journey of Anxiety/Panic disorder. I start councelling on Wed. I have a history of OCD and depression (one of the perks of OCD ) Anyway, my panic attacks started in Oct. and were managable til this past weekend when I experienced a perpetual panic attack. My hubby was out of town and all the stuff in my life came crashing in on me. By stuff, I mean going to school full time for my teaching license, working 18 hrs a week on top of that and now we are moving to a bigger place to accomodate a bunch of antiques that my father in law is not taking with him to his new house. I just started taking Zoloft again which I take intermitantly for OCD) and on Sat I went to Urgent Care and got some Klonopin. I feel now the way I did before i was diagnosed with OCD–like my life is over, like I am heading for the looney bin, like I am out of my mind. I m sure it will pass once I get a handle on things and my meds start working. Im so scared right now. I want to be a teacher but feel if I cant handle the stress of school, how can I handle the stress of teaching. But then again, I wont be moving all the time and working a part time job. Change is always a trigger for my OCD, perhaps the move is the root of my evil. My hubby thinks I am obsessing about panic attacks and that is why I am having them like this. Makes sense. So far, my grades in school are good. I made all A’s last semseter and feel the obligation to do it again. Having been an underachiever in most of my academic career this is a new feeling for me. I just want to know that everything is REALLY going to be OK again. Sorry this is so long. Thanks for reading! Annalise

Welcome to ASAP, Annalise It could be that most of what happened over the weekend was caused by going onto Zoloft. Antidepressants often make things worse initially, especially if you start on a highish dose. They can do it even if you haven’t has this problem in the past. Hopefully, this increased anxiety will soon be over and you can get to an even keel. Most people do, as I’m sure you know, even if it can be a bit hard to believe at times. Meanwhile ask your doc for a Klonopin prescription to help you until the Zoloft kicks-in. Best wishes Ian

Response:

Annalise, I know what you’re going through. I’ve suffered this same illness(severely) for the last, oh well, almost all my life. But it wasn’t ’till recently that I’ve felt I’ve accomplish so much more then the last 12 years combined(since I initially got hospitalized). Try this. Look, I hope I’m not trying to sound like a rude prick here, and you don’t have to take anything what I say here exactly at face value. But from my experiences, this has worked for me very well. Cut your school AND work load in half. And use that time to work on yourself. One of the main techniques on working on yourself is to go to the library(or to amazon.com for that matter) and look up books they have on OCD. Especially get the ones not only where psychiatrists give alot of advice on what to do step by step, but also get the ones that were written by people who suffered the illness themselves. And believe me, they really talk alot about how to do w/ our illnesses through behavioral therapy techniques and acceptance. Yes, I know that you want to finish school ASAP so you can go teach ASAP. But think of it this way. All that time you spend feeding and making worse your OCD by performing alot of rituals, you can use this time to do constructive activities during this time and be on the process on the road to higher self confidence, esteem, and recovery. So that one day you do, you can go full steam ahead w/ no problem w/ your life. As a matter of fact, here’s a few books I’ve read on OCD(and strongly recommend): Passing for Normal(forgot the author’s name, but should be in any public library. She’s from Boston). Brain Lock by Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz(GREAT OCD book on brilliant techniques on how you can deal w/ your OCD). Tormenting Thoughts and Secret Rituals: The Hidden Epidemic of OCD(See above) The Sky is Falling by RaeAnn Dumont(just like the 2 above) All but the third one should be at any public library. TTASR:THE I got from amazon.com Look, I know my post is long here(and believe me, this isn’t the first time b/c of my OCD!), and I know I may sound overwhelming, but believe me, I know we all have very busy lives and don’t have time to do this work, but I’ve learned that if I didn’t, then I would have been using this same amount of time, if not more, doing stupid rituals. And believe me, I too have a long way to go. Occasionally, I’ll go into compulsive tirades, or even have alot of frightening, intrusive thoughts like the world is going to come crashing down on me. And it’s not easy to work through it, as OCD is a pretty darn powerful force. Hope this helps. Stephen – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi! So glad I found you guys. I am just embarking on my journey of Anxiety/Panic disorder. I start councelling on Wed. I have a history of OCD and depression (one of the perks of OCD ) Anyway, my panic attacks started in Oct. and were managable til this past weekend when I experienced a perpetual panic attack. My hubby was out of town and all the stuff in my life came crashing in on me. By stuff, I mean going to school full time for my teaching license, working 18 hrs a week on top of that and now we are moving to a bigger place to accomodate a bunch of antiques that my father in law is not taking with him to his new house. I just started taking Zoloft again which I take intermitantly for OCD) and on Sat I went to Urgent Care and got some Klonopin. I feel now the way I did before i was diagnosed with OCD–like my life is over, like I am heading for the looney bin, like I am out of my mind. I m sure it will pass once I get a handle on things and my meds start working. Im so scared right now. I want to be a teacher but feel if I cant handle the stress of school, how can I handle the stress of teaching. But then again, I wont be moving all the time and working a part time job. Change is always a trigger for my OCD, perhaps the move is the root of my evil. My hubby thinks I am obsessing about panic attacks and that is why I am having them like this. Makes sense. So far, my grades in school are good. I made all A’s last semseter and feel the obligation to do it again. Having been an underachiever in most of my academic career this is a new feeling for me. I just want to know that everything is REALLY going to be OK again. Sorry this is so long. Thanks for reading! Annalise

Response:

Hi! So glad I found you guys. I am just embarking on my journey of Anxiety/Panic disorder. I start councelling on Wed. I have a history of OCD and depression (one of the perks of OCD )

SNIP for space. Annalise, Welcome to ASAP from another member. Don’t apologize for your letter of intro being 20 some lines long. Mine was over 200. Anyway, again, welcome. Feel free to ask any question. But, most of all relax and feel welcome. I’m glad you joined. Alan B. Dream Peaceful Dreams Think Relaxing Thoughts If you want my real email, remove all the *’s.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -So glad I found you guys. I am just embarking on my journey of Anxiety/Panic disorder. I start councelling on Wed. I have a history of OCD and depression (one of the perks of OCD ) Anyway, my panic attacks started in Oct. and were managable til this past weekend when I experienced a perpetual panic attack. My hubby was out of town and all the stuff in my life came crashing in on me. By stuff, I mean going to school full time for my teaching license, working 18 hrs a week on top of that and now we are moving to a bigger place to accomodate a bunch of antiques that my father in law is not taking with him to his new house. I just started taking Zoloft again which I take intermitantly for OCD) and on Sat I went to Urgent Care and got some Klonopin. I feel now the way I did before i was diagnosed with OCD–like my life is over, like I am heading for the looney bin, like I am out of my mind. I m sure it will pass once I get a handle on things and my meds start working. Im so scared right now. I want to be a teacher but feel if I cant handle the stress of school, how can I handle the stress of teaching. But then again, I wont be moving all the time and working a part time job. Change is always a trigger for my OCD, perhaps the move is the root of my evil. My hubby thinks I am obsessing about panic attacks and that is why I am having them like this. Makes sense. So far, my grades in school are good. I made all A’s last semseter and feel the obligation to do it again. Having been an underachiever in most of my academic career this is a new feeling for me. I just want to know that everything is REALLY going to be OK again. Sorry this is so long. Thanks for reading! Annalise

change, uncertainty, stress, and what if’ing sure don’t help one who likes patterns, habits, and the status quo-or rather one who suffers from anxiety which has the by product of ruminative thoughts and depressive thinking. How do you handle the stress of teaching? By virtue of the fact that you may indeed help just one person to really learn something about life, a subject or themselves that influences them in a positive and goal oriented way that propels them forward in their life. The benefit vrs risk ratio are in my mind worth the inconvenience of the stress of "doing the job". This new challenge is a new place for you to learn as well. Things that have upset you in the past are upsetting you again-so you have a few things to learn still that may help you in finding your way while you help others find theirs. Things will be ok. You are making them so at this very moment. You have taken action and you have accepted many of the hassles inherent in those actions-but you are using staying power and perserverence to continue. best luck LM

Response:

Hi! So glad I found you guys. I am just embarking on my journey of Anxiety/Panic disorder. I start councelling on Wed. I have a history of OCD and depression (one of the perks of OCD ) Anyway, my panic attacks started in Oct. and were managable til this past weekend when I experienced a perpetual panic attack. My hubby was out of town and all the stuff in my life came crashing in on me. By stuff, I mean going to school full time for my teaching license, working 18 hrs a week on top of that and now we are moving to a bigger place to accomodate a bunch of antiques that my father in law is not taking with him to his new house. I just started taking Zoloft again which I take intermitantly for OCD) and on Sat I went to Urgent Care and got some Klonopin. I feel now the way I did before i was diagnosed with OCD–like my life is over, like I am heading for the looney bin, like I am out of my mind. I m sure it will pass once I get a handle on things and my meds start working. Im so scared right now. I want to be a teacher but feel if I cant handle the stress of school, how can I handle the stress of teaching. But then again, I wont be moving all the time and working a part time job. Change is always a trigger for my OCD, perhaps the move is the root of my evil. My hubby thinks I am obsessing about panic attacks and that is why I am having them like this. Makes sense. So far, my grades in school are good. I made all A’s last semseter and feel the obligation to do it again. Having been an underachiever in most of my academic career this is a new feeling for me. I just want to know that everything is REALLY going to be OK again. Sorry this is so long. Thanks for reading! Annalise

Response:

Related Posts