need positive stories of recovery from severe anxiety

[lu9months]

my ds 18 is practically housebound with anxiety. he cant go to college, and struggles to get out of the house. he is on meds and has counselling but its not helping. can any talk to me about any positive stories of recovering and going on to lead a full and happy life? im so sad for him.

Yes I did. But it did take a while. My anxiety was trauma related. Do you have any idea where his came from? Or is it just the way he is?

Poor love :( sorry to hear about your son.

My ex partner had severe anxiety - he couldn't sleep or hold down a job. He'd had medication and counselling for years and nothing seemed to work long term. Eventually, he started counselling again with a new counsellor, who unlocked the true cause of his anxiety (which others had missed or he didn't feel 'safe' enough to open up to them to address the true cause). After a few months, he truly seemed like a new person! He was more confident and has been at the same job for years now. His panic attacks have completely stopped too and he no longer needs any medication to manage his moods.

It took a while for him to realise it himself (the under lying issues causing his anxiety) buy once this was addressed and discussed over time, he came back to us.

I'm sorry he's going through this :(

Chrissy

Yes I did.
getting him out into nature, getting good purified water, as much fresh fruit and veg as possible, absolute minimum of 1 hr a day outside, find a hobby or interest, but baby steps, maybe start with some basic life coaching questions to go through so he can start to visualise the life he does want.
As this age it’s very much a transition period, it helps of they have some sort of dreams or goals say 1 yr and 5 yr but with the confidence to know it may change and adapt.
Basic CBT too, a daily positive diary, what went well today?
Every single time he does something beneficial it will help him, it all adds up, as he changes and grows.

also good to remember that everything changes, we are always changing and tomorrow could be a new start and a change.

also if he does start doing these things, expect more emotions to come up for a start, whether it’s sadness or anger, we’re often suppressing these which results in depression - suppression of our emotions.
so supporting him to rage, cry, scream, drumming, boxing, something to help more this energy ❤️

Oh and sorry I said depression, because I had depression and anxiety together, as they often do come along together unfortunately!

really hope your son starts to improve x

Yes my husband is a lifelong anxiety and depression sufferer (also PTSD). He has had to swap his medication a few times to find the best fit and also tried out a few counsellors before he found one that worked for him. He has ups and downs (seems to come in cycles) but has a lot of self awareness about his condition, is good at communicating about it. When he has been bad he literally couldn't get out of bed for weeks, but generally he manages well with his medication and exercise. He is a wonderful husband and father to our 3dcs and plays an active role in the community and at work. People are often surprised he has anxiety. Whilst he isn't 'cured' he lives a very happy and fulfilling life. Sending positive vibes to you and your son.

I don't have any positive stories yet, but I empathize with what you're going through-- my son is the same age and struggling with anxiety as well. He is managing to go to college (part-time), but we have gone to A&E twice (actually we're in the U.S., so the emergency room here), when he felt dizzy and weak and couldn't breathe. He hasn't had a lot of luck with counseling in the past, but I'm hoping he just needs to try several counselors to find a good fit. We're also thinking of trying transcendental meditation.

I really hope your son finds some things that help him feel better soon!

Hi OP. I had such bad anxiety in 2020 that I couldn't eat. I was in a constant state of panic attack and fear - the doctors had to prescribe me valium for a week to break the cycle. My anxiety caused horrendous IBS and made me lose 2 stone as I couldn't eat. Every morning I woke up and vomited with fear because I was still alive.

My doctor prescribed me Propranolol to break the physical symptoms. And I also had amitriptyline prescribed for migraines which also helped my low mood.

I was very poorly and didn't want to be alive.

I was so ill, I started a thread here on Mumsnet under a different name - asking for positive stories of people surviving a mental breakdown / depression (the wording has changed)

Anyway, I have blips of anxiety like today. It lasted for 3 hours and I call it a 'code purple' to hide it from DS.

But I have long periods of no worries and complete happiness.

My turning point was finding out the trigger (violent and noisy neighbours) and moving house. I had lots of therapy and medication. And a new job was a great distraction too.

You will get there. I cannot believe I survived but I did and you will too xxxx

thanks all theres been a lot going on at home with his dad being ill. hes on antidepressants, propranolol and has cbt but nothing seems to help

I manage to function now, most of the time. I have been agoraphobic, literally frozen in place for hours at a time, it’s horrendous. I’m on some quite heavy duty medication because my nerves are shredded.

To start, he needs to get used to being outside again. Even - if you have a garden - you sit outside with a hot chocolate together and listen to the sounds around you. Birds, cars … whatever. Work up to going for short walks. The less time on the internet the better. Does he like to read? Could you go together to the local library?

It really is a case of taking small steps, recognising triggers, and find strategies to manage them.

thanks. doesnt read. plays on line games with friends. will go to high rd with us for lunch at a cafe but not much else. i try and try to get him out but he wont do more than occ take dog round the block

www.mumsnet.com/talk/feeling_depressed/3956499-Recovering-after-a-breakdown

Here's my thread. I just cried reading it! I've come so far xx

Your son WILL get through it OP. (Sorry I made a mistake in my previous post)

oh thankyou @No10codswallop ill take a read. glad things have improved for you

Oh lu so sorry to hear you're not making much progress. My DD is continuing to improve slowly. She asked to go for a pub lunch last week.
Just keep nudging on easier days to keep him going out a bit.

glad to hear that @TeenDivided

How long has he been on the meds now? Are they not helping at all? Would the GP / consultant be able to increase them at all? DD got far more benefit on 40mg fluoxetine than 20mg.

he was on them last year and was doing really well so he and psychiatrist gradually reduced and stopped them ( in retrospect a bad idea) now back on high dose venlafaxine but no help ( maybe less despressed but no help with anxiety)

DD was meant to have CBT, but her therapist said it wasn't the right thing and she is doing something more trauma based (or something). So treating the underlying cause not the symptoms, I think.

My dd is 21. This time last year she could barely leave the house, now she has a great job, travels about on the train to see friends and is currently out clubbing with old pals.

She is on medication and still having weekly therapy, both of which I think she will need indefinitely.
She initially had something called edmr, which seemed a big turning point at the time and after a short course started more general therapy which has basically given her her life back.

I've just seen you mention cbt, this did absolutely nothing for my dd's anxiety and I've heard others say the same?

I really struggled with my mental health at university. I never wanted to kill myself but I did sometimes wish I was dead. I had panic attacks. I would get like a hangover of depression after the worst bouts of anxiety. I tried various medications from GP and psychiatrist. I never noticed any improvement really but wouldn’t have helped that I combined them with various other substances. I do still have anxiety 20 years later but by my mid twenties I had learned to manage it. I basically had a proper breakdown and worked my way out of it and learnt my triggers with rest, support and counselling (has to be the right counsellor for the individual).

I think now it’s like any chronic health condition- I’ve learned my triggers, I know how much coffee I can have, how much sleep I need, how to manage it in winter, how much exercise I need etc. I have found the correct diet and vitamins esp magnesium to be really important. I do need to get up and get outside every day and walk. I don’t take medication for it from Dr anymore. I find things like inositol, passionflower etc and all the popular herbal supplements for anxiety do help me and I notice the effects quickly so take them when I need. I also find Chinese medicine to be very helpful. I notice more of an instant effect from these things than I did from meds- eg if I accidentally have too much caffeine I can sort myself with these quite quickly.

I do still have anxiety yes but I managed to finish uni (after a break for the breakdown) and keep jobs and have a marriage and kids. I coped well with the pandemic. I’m not keen on driving though! My anxiety is always there, and needs my attention (sometime less, others more) but I do have a nice life.

Sending positive thoughts to you and your DS on the journey to managing it.

thanks everyone. hes tried emdr. no help. so desperate to try and find something that helps.

Clinical Psychology input was life changing for me. Made the difference than meds, counselling and short-term CBT failed to do.

What type of anxiety does he have? What diagnosis has he received?

There is absolutely hope.

Clinical Psychology input was life changing for me

What did this entail?