Hi everyone,
I decided to join because I want to try something new for my anxiety. I have struggled with anxiety for as long as I can remember. Let me tell you about it.
Always worried as a kid about if I was going to die. Constantly asking my mom growing up if I had something in my throat because I was afraid of choking. Once I got to middle school I had my first panic attack while playing basketball at night. It created such irrational fears in me that I became scared of open spaces, night time, (especially outer space), hard surface floors, and eventually started to struggle with travel. I struggled with these panic attacks all through high school. Even contemplated suicide because the severity. I got on medication in high school and improved quite a bit. Things went well but still struggled with trigger areas. Eventually went to college in a town an hour away from my home, I did decent. Still struggled with the occasional panic attack. Last summer I got off medications for the first time since I was a freshman in high school. Had been doing pretty well with it but then got into a relationship that had no consistency to it and my panic attacks came back with vengeance. About six months about I got out of the relationship when I took a new job in a new town. I struggled badly with panic attacks when I got here, was sleeping before the sun set to avoid night time. I would wake up and realize it's night and have a panic attack. So I decided to start therapy. Problem with therapy for me is that my panic attacks have almost turned into phobias. So I don't have them unless I'm in a triggering setting. I have been doing some exposure therapy at night and I'm slowly getting better. It's unreal how far I've come but I have so much further to go to completely beat this battle I've been in my entire life. Thanks for reading!
I decided to join because I want to try something new for my anxiety. I have struggled with anxiety for as long as I can remember. Let me tell you about it.
Always worried as a kid about if I was going to die. Constantly asking my mom growing up if I had something in my throat because I was afraid of choking. Once I got to middle school I had my first panic attack while playing basketball at night. It created such irrational fears in me that I became scared of open spaces, night time, (especially outer space), hard surface floors, and eventually started to struggle with travel. I struggled with these panic attacks all through high school. Even contemplated suicide because the severity. I got on medication in high school and improved quite a bit. Things went well but still struggled with trigger areas. Eventually went to college in a town an hour away from my home, I did decent. Still struggled with the occasional panic attack. Last summer I got off medications for the first time since I was a freshman in high school. Had been doing pretty well with it but then got into a relationship that had no consistency to it and my panic attacks came back with vengeance. About six months about I got out of the relationship when I took a new job in a new town. I struggled badly with panic attacks when I got here, was sleeping before the sun set to avoid night time. I would wake up and realize it's night and have a panic attack. So I decided to start therapy. Problem with therapy for me is that my panic attacks have almost turned into phobias. So I don't have them unless I'm in a triggering setting. I have been doing some exposure therapy at night and I'm slowly getting better. It's unreal how far I've come but I have so much further to go to completely beat this battle I've been in my entire life. Thanks for reading!
