Possible anxiety disorder?

I've been struggling with telltale signs of anxiety since high school. I would panic during hard tests, when I was having problems at home, and sometimes for seemingly no reason at all. One night I woke up with chest pain and my heart was beating so fast I felt my chest vibrating. I was 17 at the time. I've only gotten chest pain 2 times since then, but I still get a scarlet rash across my chest when I get nervous and I get choking feeling where I'm holding my breath and I can't get enough air. when something bad happens, even as trivial as a paper jam in the printer, I can completely break down, and I have a hard time letting it go and moving on. I don't collapse in a heap on the kitchen floor EVERY time the printer doesn't work, but it seems like I lose it at the most inopportune times for embarrassingly stupid reasons. When I'm feeling bad, I take it out on the people I love, who miraculously still tolerate me. Once or twice, i have felt disconnected from everything, but I usually get back to normal after I get a full nits sleep. To complicate things I have a phobia of needles and medical professionals. Is there anything I can do (without going to a sadist with a stethoscope and medical degree) to "fix" myself? I hate hurting the people around me, and then not even being able to explain what is wrong with me. I really try, and promise myself I'll try harder, byt that only makes me feel worse when I snap.

Hi mistresspoppy

After witnessing a suicide a few years ago I have suffered from mild (though it doesn't feel mild!) anxiety during stressful periods, and the three things that help me most are:

a) a good night's sleep - my doctor prescribes me some temazepam to help me get to sleep rather than lie awake worrying. This helps immeasurably, even after just one night.
b) relaxation techniques - google will give you heaps, the one that works best for me is to sit and stare at the wall, focussing only on breathing in 5 seconds, out 5 seconds, for 5 minutes. This doesn't 'get rid of' the anxiety, but it calms me down enough about whatever particular thing I'm panicking about in that moment.
c) exercise - getting out for even a 20 minute jog is incredibly restorative.
d) talking with a counsellor/psychologist - when things are really crazy, talking everything through with someone really helps. They're not there to solve the problems, just to give an appropriate avenue to talk it all through so it doesn't seem so daunting. (Here in Australia we have a scheme under Medicare where you can have up to 10 sessions a year paid for by the government, which is a great help).

At the end of the day anxiety is something that you can let take hold of your life or you can learn to cope with, and even move past.

If you're willing to take steps to avoid hurting those close to you, and if you hate all the feelings that the anxiety give you, then maybe give some consideration to the first step being to find a doctor you can be comfortable seeing.

I can tell you that for me, taking that first step of sitting in with my doctor and saying I need help is half the struggle (and makes me feel 20 times better straight away).

Good luck

^ I really agree with this post. I've been an anxious person ever since I can remember and it manifested itself quite badly from around 19 or so onwards with nice bouts of depression every now and again. Recently I went to my doctor for a routine checkup (something I hate anyway) and completely unplanned, started crying and saying I was really anxious and why and so on and she recommended counselling but almost immediately, I felt better.

She did say learning to manage it will be a challenge but can be done, with a lot of work from me. Anxiety and depression is mostly experienced by people who have sort of anxious personality types anyway, so you probably need to look at behaviour modification with a counsellor or psychologist, to help you learn better coping mechanisms.

Most doctors aren't sadists - have you had a bad experience with doctors in the past? I hate going to doctors but mostly because I have a family history of cancer and mental health stuff. There are dodgy ones but for the most part, in Australia at least, doctors are quite caring and do their best.

I sympathise - I'm so envious of people who go through life (like my husband) never thinking of anything bad or the worst that could happen. I often (on a daily basis if I'm honest) think of awful things happening and it can really hold me back.

I have to agree with exercise being beneficial - the benefits of exercise are felt almost immediately for me - even a lot of incidental exercise can lift my mood that day. Also finding something you're passionate about and really enjoy doing and keeping busy always keeps the blues at bay for me.

Good tips already!

I have anxiety as well. It isn't ridiculous, I can still function, people just think I'm really shy. Only people close to me really understand that I have it (from panic attacks and whatnot).

I tried GABA supplement (search for it online, it isn't at most grocery/department stores, but it should be at specialty stores and online, PM me if you want some resources). It worked really well. After a few days of taking it, I felt a lot calmer and a lot less stressed out. I took it for about two months and then stopped (because I think it has a cross tolerance with MDMA, so basically when I used MDMA, it didn't work nearly as well as it should have). I'm not sure if it has a cross tolerance with anything else. But anyway, it worked really well. I don't really know how to explain it other than it relaxed me. Recommended dose for GABA is 750 mg before bed.

I have a friend who is a doctor and she is the one that recommended GABA for anxiety. She also recommended Rhodiola for panic attacks. You can get that at a health food store. I have never personally tried it so I don't know firsthand if it works. It is supposed to help with feeling stressed and insomnia. I'm thinking about trying it out as well. Dose: 200 mg twice daily (400 mg total) but NOT before bedtime.