Anxiety

[quisensoucie]

In pretty much every MN post, not matter in which forum, someone will declare social anxiety, work anxiety, health anxiety, etc. Indeed, today someone declared herself as Elton John phobic...
I wonder, and this is not being goady, do all have a DSM-V diagnosis, or is this self-diagnosing? Anxiety is normal in many of these situations (not the elton john, obviously), so is it that people don't understand some anxiety is normal so panic, then the situation becomes self-perpetuating...

I think people who are mentally fragile, may be attracted to Internet forums. So many posts I read on here are people suffering from anxiety. They worry about being judged all the time, don’t like confrontation which includes stuff like complaining about very poor service in a restaurant. People worry about bringing things up with their partners. They are anxious about raising stuff with school. Some people can’t open the door or make phone calls. And of course people are more honest online, than in real life.

I think people are genuinely anxious, a little bit paranoid and tend to overthink a lot. I don’t doubt what people write about here.

I definitely think the mental health of this country has got worse over the last few years. I see it with one of my teens and her friends too. I don’t know if it is the pandemic or social media. I think the latter plays a huge part in the poor mental health of teenagers, especially girls.

Someone made the link to tiktok and whilst I feel far to old to understand social media, I’m not on anything other than mn, and use this less and less, I do think it’s been useful to move mental health into the forefront of young people’s minds.
The stories on here of people failing to get a diagnosis 7,8,9,10+ years ago, is due to lack of awareness. That doesn’t seem to be happening as much now, granted the pendulum may be swinging too far the other way, but I believe we will find the balance. If nothing else, I would like to think future generations are a little more aware of other peoples struggles. Even my own mother failed to hear me, and it’s not her fault, but the stigma of being ‘mad’ was very much apparent and you daren’t say anything to anyone, I was struggling to get out of bed some days.

The problem with this is that before the child gets to crippling, debilitating stage they are what you would consider a 'cry baby'

I have a diagnosed anxiety disorder (generalised anxiety) and it can be triggered by a variety of things. Mine mostly manifests itself in worrying excessively about things and not being able to control that.

I do find lots of people say they have anxiety but not necessarily everyone does - I think people can feel anxious at times as most people do but it isn’t the same as having chronic anxiety or being triggered by very specific things.

I do think we need to be very careful though as dismissing people and how they feel as that’s what led to so many problems over the years of people not wanting to speak up.

...and you should be able to ask questions without being jumped on. As an (officially diagnosed and medicated) anxiety sufferer, I wasn't offended

Thank you @IJustWantItToStop

@PrivateClub

I definitely think the mental health of this country has got worse over the last few years. I see it with one of my teens and her friends too.

Has it for worse or do we just know about it?

I was that teen 30 years ago. Nobody knew how I felt. Nobody at home cared anyway but I was autistic and didn't communicate unless someone spoke to me. I masked my way badly through a bit of high school before coming one of the schools most prolific bunkers. Even when taken to school by my mother I would walk out the back doors. I was punished at school and at home for this. Even when I did stay in school my behaviour in classes was punished. Nobody ever stopped and asked 'why?'

You may think it's for worse but I'm not an outlier here, there are many people my age who suffered the same problems as our teens do now. The only difference is our teens know and understand themselves/

They say they have an anxious child because their child is anxious, especially in certain situations. I wouldn't take that as someone saying their had an undiagnosed disorder.

People are anxious / have anxiety at times.

I am sorry but I think you might want to take a step back and see who is being rude. You can't say you are not judging when you also say "so is it that people don't understand some anxiety is normal so panic, then the situation becomes self-perpetuating". Say this to a friend who tells you they have anxiety - and test how this comments affects your friendship and whether they think your opinion is valid.
Until my daughter was diagnosed with severe anxiety I must admit I did not fully understand people with 'anxiety' - but now I do I can also see why your post is so condescending.

@Ohnoooooooo I am sorry you feel I am being judgemental. However, as I have said, I was curious. Other pp's have agreed that what is normal worry about situations is often self-diagnosed as an anxiety.
Of course I understand many here do have a diagnosed condition. My point was about those who self-diagnose what is normal worry into something else

As a person who is not currently anxious, a health care professional and someone who has had past treatment for some severe episodes of anxiety and ptsd, I feel this is quite complex. I remember thinking when did feeling anxious tip over into a diagnosis of pathological anxiety / mental illness and when would we decide I was 'better'. It's a spectrum and it can also vary - I wasn't anxious all the time. But my pre morbid state was no anxiety. It was a process to get better and not an overnight fix, and now it's easy for me to know I am better.
I never missed any days at work, I had no medication but I suffered with episodes of severe anxiety with physiological symptoms and distress nevertheless.
So what I'm saying is, it's a massively broad term and you need more detail to know what's going on.

today someone declared herself as Elton John phobic...

I take medication due to anxiety (have been for a long time after something horrible happened) but I'm not offended.

I'm more interested in the above. Someone has a phobia of Elton John?

I've just had a rubbish two weeks and I'm worried perimenopause is making it worse. I actually feel a lot better this week.

@SwimmingWorrier It was on a thread this morning - I think the one about celebrities who give you the creeps!

😁

I started having panic attacks after the incident (I don't want to go into detail). My boyfriend at the time thought I was just being pathetic. I tried to explain how it actually felt and that I wasn't just panicking. Luckily my husband is a lot more understanding (I don't have them anymore).

Clinical anxiety disorder is certainly a real and debilitating condition.

However, a lot of people who say they 'have anxiety' actually just mean they get anxious/stressed sometimes about certain things, which is actually perfectly normal and not the same as an anxiety disorder. Having experienced anxiety disorder and ordinary day to day anxiety, I can confirm that they are incredibly different.

The problem with panic attacks is that the first one - often caused by something as basic as a lack of sleep or dehydration, which is often not identified as the cause - is so horrifying. It is visceral and physical and terrifying.

Lots of people end up in A&E after their first panic attack as they mistake it for a heart attack or a serious illness. This can, in turn, cause further anxiety: our minds set up early warning signals and closely monitor any shifts in our heart rate or breathing in case that life-threatening situation once again arises. The fear of that threat happening again can cause a panic of its own.

A panic attack can't kill you. When we accept that any time we panic, we are guaranteed to survive the experience, our mind will stop treating the potential of such attacks as life-threatening. As a result, we stop going into a panic when we feel any physical shifts such as an odd heart rate or change in breathing - all of which are perfectly normal as we process our intake and output of energy.

@Eyesopenwideawake It's quite a few years since I had one and I agree the first one is awful as you don't know what the hell is happening. I learned to talk myself through them. I take citalopram.

There's not really a difference between anxiety and 'diagnosed' anxiety. It's a matter of frequency and intensity, but all you do is answer some questions/fill out a questionnaire. It's not like you take a blood test to see if it's 'there' or not. If someone says they experience anxiety, it's not like a GP or psychiatrist can confirm that using anything apart from that person's self-report.

Also, whilst I do have anxiety. I don't have it bad enough for it to stop me working and socialising etc so I haven't got it as bad as some people.

I have the super fun diagnosis of anxiety and moderate depression. Both are, I'm convinced, caused by my not diagnosed (so self-diagnosed!) ASD.

For what it's worth, my mental health nurse agrees that my self-diagnosis of ASD is probably correct and has offered to refer me for an official diagnosis but I declined as I don't see how it'll make a difference now. The damage, sadly, has been done and the NHS doesn't have the resources to waste confirming what I already know.

Children and teenagers are confusing everyday negative feelings that they need to learn to deal with e.g. nervousness before an exam, sadness when they fall out with a friend, as something medicalised. My partner's son wouldn't call to order a Chinese when his dad and I were out in the middle on nowhere on our way home and were hungry. He said he couldn't handle confrontation (he was at home and had the menu)

At the same time, there is definitely an increase in proper debilitating anxiety. 24 hour rolling news, social media and the fact that so many secondary schools have become very scary places are partly to blame.

I have multiple MH issues, one of which is GAD. That was diagnosed in my teens (I am now almost 50), so for some people it was diagnosed back in the 80s or so. Mine is debilitating. I rarely leave the house. I don’t have any friends as I can’t go to peoples houses. I have no job because I couldn’t manage an in person interview (plus I have other issues including psychotic episodes so at the moment work is not really possible although I do want a job and don’t like being a drain on society).
I habe frequent panic attacks. They make me really unwell, hyperventilating, and I have to get out of wherever I am. My legs give way and my whole body shakes. I get chest pain and migraines as a result.
I do think lots of people self diagnose. But real anxiety disorders are a living hell and I have nothing but sympathy for anyone suffering.

@Scutterbug Do you think your diagnosis 30+ years ago helped, hindered or had no difference on the way your life has unfolded?

@Eyesopenwideawake I think it helped when I was younger as I couldn’t understand why I coped with things in such a different way to my peers. I had lots of physical symptoms when I had a panic attack so often thought I was dying, getting a diagnosis meant I understood myself a little. I had periods of extreme anxiety and eventually in my 30s I tried medication. That was a game changer for me for many years. Then about 5 years ago my anxiety came back and I became very depressed. Things spiralled and I have multiple MH issues now. This means the psychs don’t really pay attention to it as they see anxiety as the least of my worries whereas I think it is the one thing that affects me most as it prevents me leaving the house.

Tiktok don't help with this does it, all those videos about adhd, ocd etc. putting stuff into kids heads.

I have GAD which causes unbelievable ocd and intrusive thoughts. That's another thing that bugs me, when people say they're ocd about something. Actual ocd is so overwhelming and all consuming it's not something you can be 'abit' with it's a full on disorder