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Mental Health Just call me "The Hat Man" - It's okay to laugh

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UtterlyConfused

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 27, 2016
Messages
77
No Cognitive Behavioral Therapist or other Doctor has been able to explain nor help with this. I'm not sure what caused this. I am agoraphobic and get vertigo easily, afraid of wide open spaces etc.... This is where it gets weird and any helpful tips or even jokes are welcome. About 6 years ago, I started wearing a hat non stop. I sleep in it as well as my glasses. If I do not have my hat, bandana underneath and glasses on, I lose all sense of direction, feel like my head and face isn't there, get EXTREME panic attacks and severe balance issues. I even have to shower quickly because of this. Anything? LOL
 
maybe you were born to be a cowboy n shit, aint nothing wrong with that
 
You've attached your feeling of safety to a certain object/setup. It's not bad as such, you've solved something for you this way.

If you really want to stop doing it - try arranging some super comfortable setup for yourself, maybe something from childhood or dunno, just really calm and safe, predictable space, calm setting. And then (provided you were able to actually rela) take it off for some short time, and well, go slowly from there only trying to take it off if you really, really calm and relaxed and enjoy that moment.

But it could be you just accept it as a thing you do, nothing bad about it?
 
If it helps keep you stable, and doesn't cause a great deal of harm, then it doesn't sound necessarily like a bad thing.
 
i can somewhat relate haha well...but i can get super uncomfortable if i dont have an under shirt on
you know those basic bitch hanes white or black tee's that go under like a button up shirt but i also wear them under a tshirt

i somewhat go into panic if i dont have one on
so you can imagine me having like 30 of those shirts isnt out of the ordinary for me
 
Very true. Also, I have tried that, but I go insane. I'm doing acupuncture and working on visualizations, (just starting). And as for the shirt thing, I am like that too now, more than I ever been. If I don't have a shirt on also, I feel very uncomfortable. At one point, I had to wear fingerless gloves and a coat, even in the summer while inside because I felt so detached and vulnerable. My hands didn't want to function with the gloves off. Even now, I have to hold a lighter or a water bottle all of the time.
 
if you're serious and not trolling
maybe those items are your security blanket of sorts
like i usually have my bottle of meds ready to go in my pocket all the time 99% of the time i dont need it but its nice to know i do have it with me
and i do go into panic when i forget the bottle
 
UtterlyConfused said:
Very true. Also, I have tried that, but I go insane. I'm doing acupuncture and working on visualizations, (just starting). And as for the shirt thing, I am like that too now, more than I ever been. If I don't have a shirt on also, I feel very uncomfortable. At one point, I had to wear fingerless gloves and a coat, even in the summer while inside because I felt so detached and vulnerable. My hands didn't want to function with the gloves off. Even now, I have to hold a lighter or a water bottle all of the time.
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since you mention you tried CBT im sure you heard about exposure therapy...although CBT didnt do shit for me as a whole
exposure therapy helps a shit ton for me
i started leaving my comfort zone more and more and things become not as bad after a while
only prob is im not consistent but i do try
 
Sorry for the delayed response. I just chilled out for a while and went to bed early. No, I'm not trolling. Though I feel that life is trolling me a lot. It's weird to talk about. And I might try that exposure therapy. I've tried doing it little by little, but everything seems to flare up. So, hopefully I can find a way to resolve this, because not only is this embarrassing, but I also get bouts of terror whenever I need to take my hat off. I have a fear of the sky, like I said, with the fear of wide open spaces. I don't like looking up or being on a part of the road that flat and open. It's another reason why I don't drive anymore for the most part.
 
UtterlyConfused said:
Sorry for the delayed response. I just chilled out for a while and went to bed early. No, I'm not trolling. Though I feel that life is trolling me a lot. It's weird to talk about. And I might try that exposure therapy. I've tried doing it little by little, but everything seems to flare up. So, hopefully I can find a way to resolve this, because not only is this embarrassing, but I also get bouts of terror whenever I need to take my hat off. I have a fear of the sky, like I said, with the fear of wide open spaces. I don't like looking up or being on a part of the road that flat and open. It's another reason why I don't drive anymore for the most part.
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have you tried any medication ?
 
klonopin and valium for chronic depression? hmmm i wouldnt go back to that doc as benzos can make depression worse in some cases
i would suggest talking to a doc about a beta blocker or a SSRI/SNRI
as that's a more beneficial route for chronic anxiety/depression and potentially help with your agoraphobia
 
deos68 said:
klonopin and valium for chronic depression? hmmm i wouldnt go back to that doc as benzos can make depression worse in some cases
i would suggest talking to a doc about a beta blocker or a SSRI/SNRI
as that's a more beneficial route for chronic anxiety/depression and potentially help with your agoraphobia
Click to expand...

Yeah, I just spoke to my Therapist today. I'm going to see a psychiatrist in August.
 
hope it works out bud
but from personal exp be prepared for a long dragged out processes and by that i mean trying diff med combos unless you get lucky with something right off the bat
currently on my 6th combo but its the same old shit so back to the p doc i go.... think im 7 months in still searching for something that will suit my needs
 
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