Anxiety Disorder - Had it/Got it?

[azskyman]

In 1984 I woke up one night with sweaty palms and trembling hands. I had been asleep for an hour or so....yet it felt as though it had been hours.

The "scary" nature of that episode added to my concern for the next night's sleep. Lo and behold, it came at me again the next night. Equally as unsettling, but now really playing with my mind.

In the days that followed, I began losing my ability to concentrate at times. I was not sleeping well. In fact, I began having pains. In my chest. In my back. In my throat. Even in my head.

Within a couple of weeks I was convinced of two things. First, I was convinced I was suffering from some terminal illness. I did not yet know what it was, but I knew I had it.

Even more critical to my mental state....I was dying.

It wasn't that I THOUGHT I was dying, it was that I KNEW I was dying.

I became disfunctional enough that I missed work from time to time, and at one point I lost track of where I was at the local mall. The anxiety I was suffering over my impending death took control of time both awake and at rest. I was miserable and had difficulty with even going to a store or running an errand.

I knew enough to see a doctor....two doctors...even a specialist. Each one performed tests. Stress tests. Blood tests. PSA tests. X-Rays. I even wore a monitor for 24 hours to detect the heart problem I knew I had.

The results began coming in. I didn't have a heart problem. I didn't have cancer. My prostate was fine. My colon insides were healthy. All signals were go.

Except the most important one.

I still knew I was dying. I was convinced the doctors were missing something...and indeed my family would soon find me dead.

Lo and behold...I decided to get some help from a therapist. He was so insightful...so helpful...in helping me see that while I had physical symptoms, it was the mental games in my mind that controlled me. Even the pain that was very real...was caused by the psyche...the condition of my mental state.

Over the months that followed, I learned a great deal about anxiety disorder...and how it can impact people. It is something that I now confront and recognize when it rears its ugly head. And I have since talked to more than a dozen others through the years with a similar battle in their lives.

I am curious, of course, if this particular scenario sounds like you. If so...and if you have not found a way to deal with that problem...drop me a note. I can head you in a couple directions to get some needed help.

Obviously I did not die. My fears were unfounded. And I have now learned how powerful the mind can really be in our lives.

Drop a note...or share some insight. I would venture to guess there are a few of you right here in Storm2k.

Steve

[Stephanie]

Anxiety would rear its head while I was in a full blown depression, but I did not have those physical symptoms.

The one thing I can look back now and laugh at is when I was on my first prescription for depression, Pamelor. It had helped to stabilize me. However one day at work while I was inputting information into our computer, I had this sudden feeling like I wanted to jump out of my skin. I spoke to my psychiatrist about it and he said "well, that's not too good and it is a side affect of Pamelor". That's when I switched to Prozac.

There's nothing more upsetting than not having control of your feelings and emotions. The really bad thing about illnesses like depression and anxiety is that it feeds onto itself - it's like a downward spiral that you really can't climb back out of without treatment.

[breeze]

It took me years to understand that ANXIETY was a symptom
of depression. Somehow, I could not relate the two, and, refused
to acknowledge it. Once I did, I was on the up-and-up, again.
They ARE closely related, and, BOTH need treatment!

[streetsoldier]

For many years, anxiety was considered a symptom of a "deeper neurosis", and treated solely with antidepressants; only within the past 10 years have they diagnosed it as a separate and distinct family of illnesses in themselves.

I've had those "panic attacks"...yes, "death" was in every step I took, and I had unbearable physical pain. Even now, after 21 years, I'm only able to operate on "5-out-of-8-cylinders", even with anxiety-specific medication (Serzone, Klonopin, Doxepin). The entire diagnosis is "Delayed Stress Syndrome, rule-out Social Anxiety Disorder, and dysthemia (a low-grade undercurrent of depression, usually triggered by external stimulus)".

Now, over the years, I have REAL physical infirmities that only potentiate the initial assessment...enlarged heart, varicose/"spider" veins, "pooling" of blood in my feet when lying down, and a degenerative, congenital spinal disorder that will, someday, put me in a wheelchair...but not YET.

I will never conquer the anxiety/depression entirely...the brain chemistry has "locked in" on adrenalin "rushes", which in turn are caused by an overflow of serotonin and norepinephrine...these are why I take the Rx I do, to block this overproduction. Rx can only do so much...and it is incumbent on me to avoid stresses at all costs (RIGHT!!!!!), minimize reaction to outside influences (SURE!!!), and "turn off" what Shelley described as "old tapes"...programming from my childhood, always negative, placed there by persons I'd rather not mention.

Yet, when the Vigoro hits the Mixmaster, it falls to ME (???) to field the phone calls, take care of business, etc. in every ugly situation...Debi is incapable of dealing with unpleasantries, and coppertop shouldn't have to bear any such burdens...although he's shrewd, aware of everything, and wants to "get in there", well-meaning but ill-prepared for it.

[Johnny]

I've been there and I have took comfort in the Lord Jesus Christ. His word has helped me greatly. The mind is a powerful thing and your thought process controls who you are, what you think, how you feel and what you do. You r mind makes you the person you are. It's called 'The Battle of the Mind'. If you want to read more of these sermons, please...let me know. Read below...........

'Battle of the Mind'





So I want to encourage you to listen carefully. The Bible talks about having ears to hear. And really folks, you need to know this subject and be so convinced in this subject that not only do you know it for yourself, but you can teach other people the same thing.

And you know today’s message is kind of different. You know I almost felt a little uncomfortable sharing it at first. But you know I promised the Lord after daddy died that anything He gave me I would share with you today. So I want you to listen carefully to what we get into in a minute.

We’ve been talking about how the book of Ephesians, Chapter 6, tells us that we are in a spiritual warfare. There’s a battle going on all around us. It’s not in the physical world, obviously. It’s taking place in the unseen spiritual world. You can even say it’s going on in the mental realm. And your enemy has already been totally and completely defeated. Jesus took care of him. The only power that he has is the power that he deceives you into thinking he has over you. That’s why the Bible talks about "don’t give any place to the enemy." Don’t give him any place in your mind. And friends, I promise you this, if you can learn to defeat the enemy in the area of your mind, you can win the battles of life. You can overcome in any situation. I don’t care what you’re going through or what faces you in the future. If you can just learn to win in this area.

And what we must understand is that God does not work on our mind when we get born again. When we accept God’s free gift of salvation, when we make Jesus the Lord of our life, the Bible talks about in 2nd Corinthians 5:17 that He makes us a new creature. The Holy Spirit infuses the life of God into our spirit man; it’s made alive, it’s made new to God. But God doesn’t do anything to our physical body or to our mind. He leaves those areas up to us. It’s up to us to take care of those areas. And it just so happens that the area of your mind is an area of tremendous importance. Because if you think about it, everything that you are, everything that you say, every action that you take, it’s a direct result of you first thinking about it in your mind. And isn’t it interesting that the enemy’s favorite place to work is in our mind. Jesus called Satan in John 8:44 the "father of lies and all that is false." And so, you know, I don’t believe Satan can touch your spirit man but he can, if you allow him and only if you allow him, he can affect your life, your emotions, your personality, your attitudes. He can affect that through your mind, through your thought life. That’s why we’ve been talking about guarding your thought life.

When I first started studying on this subject several months, usually one of the first things I do is go get some of my dad’s transcripts and I read them and see what his thoughts were on it. And that’s where I got the statement I’ve quoted almost every time that "the only entrance that the enemy has into your life is through your mind." And when I first read that, I thought, "Wow, what a powerful statement. Could that be true? That the only way the enemy can get to us is through our mind?"

And I immediately thought about physical sickness and disease. See, normally when we think about winning the battle of the mind, we think about overcoming in areas like, you know, emotional and mental areas. Like fear, worry, anxiety, and depression. I began to ask myself the question this week, you know, is it possible for us to allow Satan to bring sickness and disease upon to our lives by deceiving us in the area of our mind? In other words, can we give the enemy a place in our mind and open up the door to where he can bring physical sickness and disease? And I thought, you know, that’s kind of an interesting thing. And I wanted to learn more about it. And I started to study God’s Word and research some scriptures. And I even called my sister, Lisa, and I said, "Lisa, what do you think about this statement daddy made? And what do you think about this?" And Lisa gave me her theological explanation, and I got to tell you, it didn’t help me too much--(Laughter)--to be real honest with you. And then I thought about calling my mom. And then I thought, "No, I know as much as she knows." (Laughter) I’m just lightening y’all up a little bit.

But listen. What I thought I would do I thought, you know, when all else fails, ask the Lord. You know? Most of the time we leave Him as a last resort. But I thought, you know, I was praying this weekend. I said, "Lord, is that possible?" You know I just opened up my heart to Him. And I said, "Is it possible that we as good born again believers can allow the enemy to deceive us in the area of our mind, in the mental area, and open the door to physical sickness and disease?" And the Lord spoke something back to me. I didn’t hear Him audibly. I’m not going to tell you that. But He just impressed upon me something right here. And here’s what He said to me in my own words. He said, "Joel, my people don’t understand how much they control their own destiny. They don’t realize how many times they limit My power, they limit My protection, and they limit My blessings by listening to the lies of the enemy." And two scriptures came to my mind immediately. The first one was James 1:17. It says that, "every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above." If we’ve been around here very long, you know God doesn’t send sickness and disease. We can eliminate Him. He is not the author of sickness and disease. But then the second scripture that came to my mind--it just came up right out of me. It is a scripture I hadn’t thought of in years and years. I’ve only heard daddy speak on it one time in his whole lifetime. And it was rather insightful. It was almost a little disturbing. It was Proverbs 26:2. Some of you may know it. But in the King James, just a little phrase of that scripture says, "the curse causeless does not come." "The curse causeless does not come."

And what I believe the Lord was saying to me and He wanted me to share with you today is that we would be surprised at just how many times we do open the door to the enemy and allow him to deceive us in the area of our minds and get us off track in our life, get us out of God’s perfect will. And thereby we limit God’s divine protection that He has available to us. And you know we open up the door by our own actions to let the enemy bring, not only mental anguish and mental torment, but sometimes even physical sickness and physical disease.

And I told you this was going to be a little bit different. And I want you to listen carefully because I don’t want you to misunderstand what I’m saying. I’m not saying at all if you’re sick today or if you’ve ever been sick that this is the only way that you’ve gotten off track and you’ve opened the door out to the enemy. And you’re some kind of great sinner and that’s why it came on you. I realize that even little babies are born with sickness and disease. They had nothing to do with that. And at one time in the Gospel, Jesus talked about a man that the reason he had an infirmity was so that the works of God may be manifest in their life. See, I realize there’s other ways. And I’m not here--you’ve got to know the spirit I’m saying this. I’m not here to condemn you or to judge you whatsoever. I want to uplift you. But I do want to challenge every one of you today that when you face physical sickness or physical disease, that the first thing you ought to do is to examine your own life and make sure that you are not the cause of it. Make sure the enemy hasn’t deceived you in some way; gotten you off track for your life; and gotten you out of God’s supernatural divine protection. How many of you understand what I’m talking about today?

You know you give me the benefit of the doubt. I’m not trying to condemn you but rather expose the way the enemy works. You know the Bible talks about "know his strategies." And I want to challenge you more than ever that I feel compelled to tell you that, you know, you can get off track in your life and you get out of God’s divine protection. This opens up the door to all kinds of trouble.

You know I think about a situation that I went through in my own life in 1994. I developed this pain in my side, right here in my left-hand side by my abdomen. And you know it was a dull, achy pain. But you all have had a pain before that just doesn’t go away. It’s just annoying. Every time I woke up in the middle of the night, this is what I felt. And you know it was really–I play a lot of sports and basketball. I like to lift weights. I figured I just pulled a muscle. Although I’d never done anything up in here before. And I laid off for a couple of weeks. But man it just, it had me so irritated and so irritable, it wouldn’t go away.

So I finally called my brother, Paul. He’s here with us today. He’s a surgeon up in Little Rock. And I explained to him, I said, "Paul, my side’s been hurting". And he said, "You know, Joel," he said, "I can’t diagnose you over the phone. If it’s a muscle, you need to take some Advil and that’ll keep the swelling down." And I thought that’s what I did. And Paul told me to take this tremendous amount of Advil, way more than the little bottle told me. And I said, "Paul, are you sure that you want me to take that much Advil?" His favorite line, he says, "Joel, trust me. I’m a doctor." (Laughter) I thought, "Paul, I know you way too well to trust you." I think about all those pranks he played on me when I was little. I thought is he playing with me now? But you know I did what Paul told me to do. And I went three or four days. And an interesting thing happened. God is my witness, that pain moved from my left side to my right side. (Laughter) I thought, "Man, Paul is good. He can move this thing around." (Laughter) But you know I called Paul back. And I said, "Paul, here’s what’s happened." He said, "You know, Joel, it might not be a muscle." He said, "Your colon runs right through there." He said, "You better go see a real doctor." (Laughter) I was wondering if you all would catch that. (Laughter)

So, anyway, I went to see this gastroenterologist, or gastrientologist, or whatever he was, the guy who works with your digestive system. I went to see him and he said, "Joel, you’ve got something that’s very, very common in people your age. It’s not life threatening. Your colon is inflamed and it’s due to excessive stress in your life." He said in effect, you’re the one bringing it on yourself by the way you eat and by the way you sleep and by the way you exercise. He said, "You’ve just got to take care of those things and this will go away." And I thought, "Well, that sounds kind of strange because I didn’t feel any stress." And a lot of times you’re under stress and you don’t know it. But he gave me some pills. He said, "Joel, take these pills. You’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it. It’s not life threatening. Go work out."

So, I took these pills. I took two a day for about three or four days. But you know what? The pain didn’t go away. And the enemy began to work in the area of my mind. He had me convinced that that doctor surely misdiagnosed me and I had some type of incurable cancer or the pain would have gone away. You know? And I thought, "Man, I can’t live like this." And I was letting the enemy just go and go and go. I’m talking about I brought all this on myself.

So, I went back to the doctor in about a week. And I said, "Doctor, the pain didn’t go away." He said, "Joel, you’re going to be fine. I told you there’s nothing we need to do." He said, "If you insist, we’ll run some tests." So, I said, "Yeah, I want to run some tests. I want to find out what’s wrong with me." And so man, for the next three weeks, we ran about you know a half dozen tests. They probed around on me in areas where the sun doesn’t shine, if you know what I mean. (Laughter) Every test came back perfectly normal. My blood work was perfectly normal. You know there was nothing wrong with me. He said, "Joel, I told you that you were normal."

And so I left and I thought, okay, I’m normal. But you know what? The enemy still–I’m just showing you how the enemy works. This is me, not you. But the enemy began to work overtime on my mind. And he said, "Joel, if he diagnosed you right, then the pain would go away. You know, he’s only human. They’re only human. They could have gotten your tests all mixed up." And it was about that time back in 1994 when we were seeing all those reports on the news about babies that were switched at birth. He said, "Joel, if they can switch a baby, they can surely mess up your test results." And you know, friends, it’s kind of funny, since it’s my problem and not yours. (Laughter) But it’s funny that I went a year of my life thinking that I had some kind of terrible disease on me. The enemy tormented me. I had that pain that whole time. And the more I worried about it, the worse it got. I was bringing it upon myself. And the guys here know. I used to come to work in my running suit sometimes because my side was swollen. And you know, many times I’d come early in the morning and by noon I was nauseated. This thing was taking over me. I’d have to go home and lay down. You know, and by the time I had, you know after a month or two, I had so much muscle relaxing medicine in me that my personality was about as dull as my mom’s there for a while. (Boo!) But you know–let’s see; I’ve gotten Paul, Lisa, and my mom. I only lack April.

But you know what happened? One day something dawned on my. Somebody must have been praying because the thought came to my mind. I’m sure it was the Lord. And this thought came to my mind. It said, "Joel, how long are you going to allow the enemy to keep you in this misery." And the first thing I thought about is what does he mean? Allow the enemy? I’m not allowing anybody. Man, I’m sick. (Laughter) But you know, the more I thought about it and God began to deal with me, I began to realize. A light turned on in my life that I was the one by my own actions that by working all the time, going 90 miles an hour, that I was allowing the enemy to bring this situation on me. Not only that, I was allowing him to exploit the situation in my mind even after the doctor told me that I was fine. I was allowing him to make it bigger than ever. And do you know what I had to do friends? I had to make a decision that I wanted to get out of that situation. Of my own will, I had to say, you know what, I’m going to walk out of this situation. And I knew I had to make some simple adjustments in my own life. It wasn’t hard. I could have done this a year earlier. I had to make some simple adjustments in my life and then I had to take care of the enemy. And if there’s one that that I learned being the son of John Osteen, that is how to resist the enemy. And I simply came against him. I said, "Listen devil, you have fooled me long enough. You have deceived me long enough. I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. I don’t ask you to leave. I don’t beg you to leave. I don’t do it in my name. I command you in the name of Jesus to get out of my life right now." (Applause)

And do you know friends, I walked out of that situation just over a period of another week or two. I walked out of that situation, but I thought, how long could I have gone if I hadn’t of, you know, of my own will done something about it? I had to make a change. And you know every once in a while that pain will come back. And the enemy will come to my mind and he’ll say, "Joel, I’m back. I’m back and I’m back to stay. It’s going to be worse than ever." Do you know what? I don’t run and cry and get all frantic and get all worried. I don’t go call my mom and say it’s back on me. I don’t even run and call the 24-hour prayer hotline. As good as prayer is, friends, you’ve got to understand there’s a time to pray and there’s a time to stand strong and to resist the enemy in the name of Jesus. (Applause)

See, many good Christian people don’t understand that praying is not enough. And I’m a big believer in prayer, but praying does not make the enemy leave. Praying does not keep the enemy away from you. Otherwise, we ought to all stop right now and just pray that the enemy will leave us for the next 25 years. No, friends. And I’m a big believer in prayer. Don’t get me wrong. Prayer is vitally important to the Christian life. But it’s equally important to learn how to stand up on your own two feet, of your own will, and boldly, forcefully, without any kind of insecurity, or fear, or inferiority to resist the enemy in the name of Jesus. The Bible says if you do this, he’ll go instantly. (Applause)

Some of you I know you say," Joel, if I do that, I’ll stir the enemy up. He’ll start to work overtime on me." And friends if you think like that, the enemy will keep you in bondage. Hosea 4:6 says that people are destroyed for thinking like that. They’re destroyed for a lack of knowledge. You’ve got to realize that God has already made a way. The Bible says, "Whom the son sets free is free indeed." God’s already made a way for you to be free, to walk out of that bondage. And it’s such a pity that so many–and they’re good Christian people, they don’t know anything about this. And they live a life of defeat in all kinds of bondages, not only mental bondages, but physical bondages when Jesus has already paid the price and made a way for us to be free.

It reminds me of that story my dad used to tell about this man. He lived out in the country. He went and bought him a dog. And when he got home, he put that dog on a leash on the front of his house. And he tied it to a tree. It was about a 15-foot leash. And that dog would see the other animals out in the yard and he would take out after them. There were squirrels and cats and birds and everything out in a country yard. He’d take out after them. But after 15 feet, he’d come to the end of his chain, and you know he would jerk back. And it only took him several times to realize that he had limitations. He could only go 15 feet in any given direction. So, over a period of five or six years, not only did he realize his limitations, but so did all the animals and the other people that lived around there. If they could just stay more than 15 feet away, that dog could bark, he could holler, he could do anything he wanted to do. He could make a lot of noise but he would not harm you. Well, one day the owner was feeling kind of sorry for the dog. He thought, you know I live out here in the country, there’s no need to keep that dog chained up. He’s not going to go anywhere. So we went out there one morning. And he was simply petting the dog. And he unlatched the collar from the dog’s neck area. He didn’t take the collar off. He just unlatched it and left it open an inch or two. He was completely free right there. He thought, well, this dog is so robust and healthy. The next time a squirrel comes, he’ll just bust through and he’ll take after that squirrel. And he’ll know freedom like he’s never known it before. But you know what happened? You all can guess what happened. That dog didn’t realize that he was free. He still felt the collar on him even though it was unlatched. When a squirrel would come, he would go back to the same limitations. And you know, the dog didn’t realize if he would only take one step beyond his old limitation that he would know this freedom. He could run out wherever he wanted to be.

And you know I think about it. How many people are in here today? Or how many good Christian people do you know that they are living in bondages when they don’t realize that Jesus, their Master, has already made them free? And so many people–(Applause)

So many people they live in bondages of addictions and habits. Some people live in a bondage of wrong thinking. They think that God doesn’t love them, that God doesn’t care about them. Or if they are sick that God’s surely not going to heal them. They have all these bondages. And if we would only realize that if we go one step further, we could know freedom like we have never known it before in all of our lives.

You say what is that step, Joel? Well, the first thing you’ve to got to do is to make Jesus the Lord of your life. The first thing you’ve got to do, you’ve got to turn your life completely over to Him. You can’t do it on your own.

The second thing you’ve to do is you’ve got to make a decision of your own will to get out of the situation you’re in. You’ve got to make that decision. Friends, we can pray for you all day long. But we can’t change your will. God will not go against your will. You have to do just like I did. You have to decide to do something about it.

And the third thing you’ve got to do is you’ve got to–on your own two legs and with your own mouth, resist the enemy yourself and command him to get out of your life. And I promise you, you will walk free from those addictions.

You see, friends--(Applause) Now, I know some of you here today are facing serious illnesses. And you didn’t get a good report like I did. So I don’t at all want you to think that I’m trying to again judge you or to condemn you whatsoever. I want to uplift you. But what I do want to challenge every one of you to do is that when sickness or disease or any kind of trouble comes into your life, the very first thing you should do is turn your focus inward. Examine your own heart. Examine your own life. And make sure that somehow that you haven’t gotten off of God’s best path for your life and somehow have allowed the enemy to bring this upon yourself.

See, I was thinking about my mom. In 1981, when she was diagnosed with cancer of the liver, the first thing she did was to write all of us kids a note asking us to forgive her for anything that she had done wrong, if she had ever hurt us. And you know I’ll tell you my mom had never done anything to hurt us. But do you know what she was doing? She was examining her own life. She was saying, God, I want to make sure everything in my heart is pure. I want my heart to be free from any kind of unforgiveness, anything that I’ve done wrong. She was turning her focus inward and saying, God I don’t want to limit Your divine protection and I don’t want to limit Your divine supernatural power. And see, God gave her a miracle.

And you don’t know how many people write me and they have these same emotions in them. Unforgiveness; they harbor feelings of bitterness, anger. They have hatred in them. And many of them, they have a right in the natural to be angry. Some of you today you may be sour over a relationship that went wrong. Maybe somebody did you wrong. Maybe they were guilty. Some of you may be in here that you were abused when you were smaller. You know, that’s not fair, it’s not right. In the natural you have reason to have a chip on your shoulder. But you have to realize today, the harboring of that unforgiveness and that anger and that hatred will eat you up inside. And not only that it will open your life up to the enemy. It will open yourself up to the enemy.

And I know, you know, the Bible says, "The curse causeless does not come."

I’m sure God’s been dealing with you today about certain addictions and certain habits in your life. And you’ve been putting it off. Well, friend, I challenge you today to make that change today. Be your best for God. Sure, you’re born again. But you’re, you know, you’re compromising. You’re not being all that you can be for God. And some of you, God’s maybe has even been speaking to you in just certain areas, only you and God know it. Maybe it’s about witnessing to your neighbor or taking care of a situation. And you just keep pushing it down, and pushing it down, and say, "God, I’ll take care of it later." But do you know what we’re doing? We’re opening ourselves up to the enemy. We’re getting out of God’s perfect will.

You see friends, you can really pray all day long and you can resist and resist and resist, but you need to first deal with these other issues because it sure hinders your prayers from being answered. That’s why the book of Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 1, says, "to lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us" So easily best us. "And let’s run with patience the race that God’s put before us."

And I’m convinced, friends, that we would be amazed and surprised at how much of God’s supernatural blessings are poured out upon us. I think we’d be amazed at the divine health and healing that comes into our lives. I think we’ll be amazed at the supernatural favor that God would pour out upon us if we would simply examine our own lives, purify ourselves, and have a heart that is pure toward God. Consecrated toward God and not going off to the left and off to the right. And God having to get us back on course. But we stay right in the center of God’s will. Do you agree with me today? (Applause)

I want to wrap it up by telling you that we’re in a spiritual warfare. You control your own destiny. Don’t let the enemy deceive you. Stand guard. Be cautious at all times. Don’t give into his lies. And by doing that limit God’s protection and God’s blessings and God’s power in your lives. And again, I don’t want any of you to go out of here condemned but rather challenged more than ever that you’ve got to take control of your situation. You’ve got to guard your life. You’ve got to stand strong. And you will win the battle of the mind. Amen.

[streetsoldier]

Interesting commentary, Johnny..

[petal*pusher]

Interesting how many persons have this challenge.......

My son (now 21) has been battling both panic attacks and severe migraines since he was about 8 yrs. old. He is an extremely bright young man, and this challenge remains in his life today.

When the panic attacks started, I did not have much sympathy....I thought it was an attention-getting scheme. It seemed that getting out the door to school was the most common occurence! When I witnessed a panic attack when we were going into the grocery store.....I KNEW these were very REAL. We saw a Dr., got on some meds., learned techniques to ease this burden for him. We got thru emementary and middle school with some problems......but we DID get thru it!

His Jr. year of High School brought some tough times for him; he found himself unable to even get out the door for the last 3 1/2 months..........he had daily contact with all of his teachers......worked by himself at home......often would go into school as the other kids were leaving to discuss class assignments........STILL was number 1 in his class of over 400 students!! With the help of counseling, we thought the Senior Year would be o.k. He missed the last 4 months! Same challenges as before! He graduated 4th in his class........didn't even apply for any college scholarships, but recieved 4!!

The first yr. of college was wonderful!! Very high grades.....seemed to socialize......but only with familiar high school friends. That second year of college (again with scholarships) he decided to drop out after a month.

This past year has been a challenge for ME!! He does venture out with those same old buddies, but really is most comfortable at home. I've been leaving him long lists of "house/yard stuff" that I expect to be done while I'm at work. He's excellent at keeping things up for me!

I look back to when he was little......lots of challenges between mom and dad......and he often had bad night terrors. He would scream out.....and I would go in and find him tossing and turning....sometimes sitting up with eyes wide open. This mumbling/screaming/tossing would continue for about 10 to 15 minutes........I would just hold him against me and talk softly.........suddenly he would just go limp and I'd lay him back down. He could not remember any of this in the morning. I've always wondered if that had something to do with these panic attacks and migraines. Any of you ever had these night terrors?

(Sorry this post is soooo long.....this is something I want to know more about!.......p)

[deb_in_nc]

Talk about not being able to concentrate. I forget what I'm saying in the middle of a sentence, easily distracted and prevoked. I didn't used to be like this. I think it's probably the stress of waiting to see if my hubby will pick up drugs again. So far he's doing good. I didn't dare tell him that I got Xanax with the Zyban. I just keep it hidden. It's like I'm constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. I also forget where I put stuff. I figure that's where all my problems are.

Debbie

[streetsoldier]

I still have "night sweats"...bad dreams, mostly of being shot at or attacked...and Debi tells me that I speak in other languages (could be any of a dozen, but she recognized German and French) sometimes in my sleep, always agitated...but never to the point of awakening.

Nervous colitis is another manifestation I have learned to "live with"...and the medication often causes constipation to the point of impaction.

I can only eat once a day; any more often, and I can't sleep, get comfortable, etc. until I "evacuate"...

And, I always sleep with any of several combat knives close at hand...I'm "naked" unless I'm armed, or close enough to access one if necessity dictates.

[isobar]

petal pusher - My heart goes out to you and your son. I wish I could offer some advice. I can relate, although my son's anxieties were not so debilitating and have evolved to be more managable these days.

My son is now 13, but since he was a pre-schooler, he would stiffen up and freeze when out in school or a social situation. He developed Selective Mutism and didn't speak to anyone outside our home until 2nd grade. That same year, after a choking incident, he built up such anxiety over it that he stopped eating completely for 10 weeks! He had trouble swallowing his own saliva.

He's been on and off Prozac since 4th grade. His anxieties have lessened recently, but his grades have taken a nosedive. He's being evaluated again this week.

It's amazing how the physical symptoms take over, which only increases the anxiety causing more physical symptoms. Vicious cycle.
My family has a rather long line of mental health conditions. Genetics play such a large part.

All the best to each of you and your families.

[ColdFront77]

Oh boy, those two words, "Selective Mutism." -- my parents have told me that some of my teachers used to say I was a "selective mute."

Donna, (of course), I can relate to the social situations you are referring to. I liked school, but something about corresponding with my classmates. Really couldn't and still can't put a finger on it.

I would love to correspond with your 13 year old son (via AIM, YIM or e-mail). It is obviously up to you and obviously him -- that is what you both feel about it.