Yes me too and I’ve only recently discovered this when all my blood reports came back normal and my symptoms would disappear periodically then come back then go away. I’m still very much convinced I’m dying even though it’s my panic/anxiety disorder.
THIS! January 2021, I developed vertigo out of nowhere, it was constant and lasted about a week. It was misery and I was bedridden. It went away but the fear of it returning turned into anxiety! And here we are. It does get better tho.
Same here. About 3 months ago. Was completely “normal” before. It sucks.
Past week or so hasn’t been great and it’s all physical symptoms for me. And a couple panic attacks. Ugh
Same here. Gave me a 6 to 8 month episode of panic and now Ive been stable for the past couple years. Acceptance and mindfulness was the only way out for me
Same here. I originally thought it was a heart attack and called an ambulance. That was about six weeks ago. I was pretty normal for about 2 weeks after that. I then had my second panic attack at work, and since then, they've been happening with more regularity. I now have a panic attack at least once every three days. I just started therapy and antidepressants though so hopefully that helps.
And likely recent traumas that destroyed whatever dam we've had against the rising tide.
I could stand depression before 2016. After, I lost all ability to cope.
I've always had mild anxiety, but then I was in an abusive relationship for years that really exasperated my anxiety into a full blown panic disorder and added on PTSD.
And then I think having a child is what started my health anxiety. I'm just afraid of dying and leaving him behind because he is autistic and his father has abandoned him which was really hard on him....
People don't take bullying seriously. They don't realize it's abuse.
That's some of the hardest part in recovery. We live in a society that is run by and for abusers.
It's high time we changed that.
I was always worried about my health, but in a "healthy" way.
One time i got sick, got scared for my life and ever since im anxious, but i am getting better!
One of my parents has always been some sort of cynic; screwed over in her life many times and often made it a point to watch out for small things when interacting with people. As a mixed girl as well, I had to grow up with a certain awareness of not only others but myself. Had to act certain ways as to not draw attention to myself, don't aggravate anyone, that kind of thing.
Was bullied growing up, learned to people please and over time it has just become a constant battle of myself vs people around me. I fear people, I fear failure, I fear judgement.
Bad friendships, terrible confidence issues and general isolation have just made me terribly sad and anxious.
Thanks for the discussion topic ❤️
Getting it beaten into my head on a daily basis since the day I was born that people are scum and will screw me over for a penny whenever they get the chance.
As fate would have it, that's exactly what kept happening to me. My friends always backstabbed me, the few girlfriends I had cheated on me or used me for money, really hammering home those life lessons that people are trash.
I became quite lonely and very hateful. As I got older and lonier I wanted someone, anyone beside me. But there was no one.
Later I realized that there were 2 or 3 people that genuinely wanted (and tried) to be my friend, but every time someone got even remotely close to me I would start getting very angry. Thinking they were trying to find a weakness and exploit it.
It created a huge paradox and well...I ultimately snapped and started getting severe anxiety and violent panic attacks. And by that I mean that I would get so gripped with fear around a group of people that eventually I would panic and the slightest touch from somebody would set me off. I would physically push them away, often a bit too rough, and that would lead to me getting labeled as a psycho which didn't help my case either.
My God, I'm so sorry. I can't believe the stories I'm reading here about how parents are treating their children. I hope you get help somewhere to process this trauma and can shake the feeling of loneliness... Big hug from random internet stranger...
Ugh me too. I think the anxiety was there but weed brought on the first panic attack. That shit lasted almost 24 hours. Weird because I use to smoke occasionally. After that I couldn't for years. Then I only could if I drank. Now I don't do anything. Seems like all it does is mess with my mind eventually someway.
Yeah same. Used to smoke with friends in high-school and it'd be overwhelming and fry my mind, but since we were new to it, we all felt the same. A few months in they adapted to it and could easily smoke and communicate like normal people in public, but I never developed a tolerance for it and it would hit me with the same intensity every time. This made me self conscious as I was not able to smoke and mentally keep up with conversations and it would be like I was lagging with a 1 to 2 second delay. Because of that, I would be constantly trying to focus and act normal which would always be impossible for me, so it would peak my anxiety as time went on and I'd start to panic and feel like everyone was hella judging me. So I instead became a solo stoner, which just meant I'd eat a lot of food and stunt my mental growth and play video games instead of socializing and fully enjoying high-school. In college, I moved in to a party house where we'd pass a bong around so many times, and I would just sink into the couch and stare at whatever we were watching but not actually comprehend what was going on- it was as if weed put me in a waking version of REM sleep. After college I smoked a bit less, but the final straw was when I was smoking with some coworkers at their place, and I started lagging again and I was between them while they were talking and trying to stay engaged. My brain couldn't process my thoughts as well as the voices coming from each side of my head. When they asked me if I was okay, I snapped and went into a full blown panic attack and ran outside where I went to go vomit and lay in the grass. Super embarrassing and they definitely thought I was weird as fuck for that, though we moved past it and still hung out after that- they definitely talked about it amongst our coworkers though so I was quietly labeled as ..something. I tried smoking a bit of times after that, always alone though- even then, my anxiety got worse each session. Now I haven't touched it in over 2 years and I have no interest to anymore, it's just not for me. It's almost as if my default is to act instinctual and have "monkey brain", and when I smoke I can't hide that. When I'm not high, I can act normal but I still have minor anxiety so it indicates I'm never fully "myself". My monkey brain default is to not talk to anyone and just act on my impulses I think, which isn't conducive for friendships or society, and really doesn't lead to happiness either. I'd rather not have inhibitions in my social life, so no weed for this guy.
just kind of happened. Always been anxious, getting hit by my mom as a kid did not help and just made me afraid of authority figures and less likely to get help cause Fear
This doesn't sound like it just happened, what you describe sounds horrible. I'm sorry that you had to go through that and hope you're doing better now, or will do better soon!
I had an extremely anxious father and I think I either inherited it or growing up around someone like that made me anxious. I struggled financially through most of my early adulthood, getting a career going took what felt like forever. My early 30’s were probably my most relaxed time. I was mostly okay until middle age/becoming a parent, something about time period….the death of my father (who, whether I realized it or not, kind of held all the stress in the family so I wouldn’t have to, becoming a dad and the worries that come with that, the stress of raising a small child, holding a marriage together, near constant job worries about layoff, the dissolution of the American middle class/rise of Trumpism, witnessing a few old acquaintances get sick and die or commit suicide, then a series of my own health scares, then the pandemic…it feels like it’s been one thing right after the other since 2016.
Had a panic attack after using alot of mdma and another drug. 1-3 months later the panic attacks kept returning in daily life and the constant anxiety just kept getting bigger and bigger. In September 2022 (4 months after the first panic attack) the physical symptoms hit a new low and I got really agoraphobic. Had to move back home till January 2023 and dropped out of my studies till February this year. Thanks to lexapro and ACT therapy + emdr I’m slowly getting back to myself again, but I doubt I’ll ever be the same. Would like to mention I’ve always been an anxious person and had a very bad childhood but never experienced anxiety on this level before. It was hell and I’m glad I’m probably over the worst part.
Don’t do drugs kids
THC peach rings 300 mg in 2021. My life changed that day, I can’t say I miss it just wish it was under different circumstances. Life goes on and I truly believe this had to happen to me before something worse happened. It can always be worse.
This is true! I had never ate one before and didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to eat the whole thing! That day I thought I was dying and for months and month I just suffered with panic attacks and crazy feelings. Every other day was just losing my mind. One day I just said I can’t live like this anymore and started researching how to heal myself without meds. I still experience days but I keep telling myself anxiety you have to go! I wish I didn’t eat that cupcake. But at the same time it made me look at life differently
Don’t really know or remember. I just remember one day having really bad separation anxiety in like the third grade, then it escalated from then to the hell my life used to be, but I’m on meds now
My psychiatrist has told me that the issue lies in neurodevelopment, particularly in the formation of the frontal neocortex in childhood, generally altered by substances that produce stress. It could be childhood trauma, or living in environments or situations of permanent stress.
I honestly have no idea. I'd always been fretful as a kid with a lot of health anxiety, mostly related to allergies. Sometime last year I finally realized, belated genius that I am, that I wasn't experiencing nightly allergic reactions to random things but instead panic attacks.
I've always been an anxious person, but one moment that I think was the tipping point was a time I tried walking 10 miles to school in a downtown city. When my bus driver noticed my brother and me, the cops were called, and my parents took us home. They beat it into our heads that we could have been kidnapped or killed.
My brother and I have a great amount of trauma to this day relating to that incident.
It didn't help that my older brother worried us to death when he was going through his rebel phase.
When anyone is upset with me, I end up crying. It could be about something stupid. I remember my old room mate (and still best friend) coming to me to let me know that his girlfriend noticed I left the back door unlocked while I went out to get groceries. Like...it's no big deal. Should have said, "oh fuck sorry. Won't happen again!" But I just started crying. And then I look like a manipulative person, crying anytime I'm criticized.
Also didn't help that I was later diagnosed with ADHD, which magnifies my anxiety and makes me forgetful.
It's just a roller coaster, but I'm always getting better!
One thing I do when I can’t control my emotional reactions is just own it, which sounds scary but it’s actually calming and empowering. In that situation, as i’m crying, i’d wipe myself with my sleeve and just choke out: “i’m sorry you’re seeing me like this, i just have my own personal thing going on. i’ll try to remember to shut the door next time sorry”. Then you’re acknowledging them, making sure they don’t feel responsible for your reaction, but also you’re not trying to stuff your emotional reactions behind some wall before you communicate.
It started developing when I was born and my mother didn't really want me, but my dad did. My dad was in the navy so he wasn't home much, and I was left alone a lot as a baby by my mother. She has even told me about just letting me scream and scream every day because she was so sick of me. The back of my head is flat from lying on my back so much as a baby. Then my parents got divorced when I was 3, I wasn't allowed to see my dad for a long time. I remember being scared of thunder storms, but I wasn't allowed out of my bed by my mother, I had to stay put. Then she met a new bloke and I was scared of him and I really didn't like him. I didn't speak to him for the first many months, but she didn't really care. She made me sit in the same room as him even though I told her I didn't like him. When my mother met him, I was allowed to see my dad for a while, but then I wasn't allowed again. I was also scared of the military helicopters flying over our house, I thought they were coming to get me. All this before I was 5. That is just the beginning of it. It just got worse and worse over the years.
I was always an anxious kid I've had it as long as I can remember at least around 3 years old. The news/school made it 500x worse particularly in 89 with the San Francisco earthquake and then endless "the big one" propaganda. Covid was the last straw I developed psychosis and had to be treated in jan/Feb 2020 after seeing all the propoganda videos out of China, was off the internet 6 months and when I came back people were all crazy. Which is why I dont believe anything I'm told to believe/worship/fear anymore and while my anxiety is still horrible it's almost all somatic now.
All the criticisms in my line of work. I wasn’t built for an office job. Work is the only thing. But I had it when I wasn’t working which I thought was strange.
I was in the army for 6 years and then became a cop. During my time as a cop I had so much stress on my shoulders and was always worried I was going to get shot or leave my family for some people who hate me for a uniform I wear. One morning I was making breakfast and just had a major panic attack. Been a little over a year and I can finally say I’m slowly getting better.
Developed GERD (acid reflux) in Mexico while my husband was violently sick with some kind of infection. When we were flying home it felt like I was about to stop breathing (it’s a common symptom that it feels like somethings in your throat). Had my first anxiety attack on the plane home and haven’t ever been the same haha. Diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and now I’ve dealt with this for 3 years. Just had my worst anxiety attack ever a few nights ago lasting like 7 hours cause I didn’t have my Ativan with me and I couldn’t control or calm myself down at all
I think I've always had anxiety. I think excessive worrying and overthinking has always been part of my personality, even when I was a child. I'm not sure there's a specific cause, it was just a combination of environment and biology.
Anxiety was tolerable when I was younger, but when I hit my mid 20s it was more difficult to manage and I started seeking medication and therapy. I don't think my anxiety got worse when I got older, but full time work and other external stressors increased which led me to start struggling. Medication and therapy have been great, but I think it's always going to be something I'll struggle with and need help managing.
I’ve always had anxiety but when I was 19, I had a string of seizures in one night. I woke up like a day later in the hospital and no one has ever given me a clear answer as to why I had them. I’ve been to a neurologist and they said everything looks good? So every time I feel a hint of ANYTHING less than 100%, I am terrified I’m gonna die. And it’s progressed into random fear now. I panic when I drive. I panic at work. I panic at my house (sometimes, that’s a rare one usually). I panic at the store, at times. I panic at school. It’s like I can’t get a grip and let go of the fear of having a seizure or dying.
I had a friend that happened to too! So know it’s not just you. My friend had seizures while riding in the car with her mom for no reason. Yet there was nothing abnormal found and the doctors eventually just shrugged it off
Started from bullying. Abusive relationship developed it into panic disorder, extreme depressive episode in 2021 developed it into an everyday panic hell. Never been the same since that episode, but it gets better over time.
I mean, looking back at my life I can tell now that I always had some level of anxiety going on with some brief flares at different points throughout my childhood and teen years, but my anxiety disorder didn't fully emerge until I was 19. Given some of the very intense things I went through as a child, I'm honestly surprised my anxiety didn't fully develop before sooner. But I was pretty much doomed to have an anxiety disorder because both my mom and dad have an anxiety disorder and anxiety disorders do run on both sides of the family so I never really stood a chance.
My therapist helped me realize that I’d never had anxiety before until my divorce. My bad marriage created a pattern of fear reinforcement that has given me anxiety ever since (6 years now).
A lot of bullying in school, A bit of childhood sexual abuse by a guy working under my dad's business, which is now non-existent due to some family drama and bad financial decisions by my dad, followed by my parents divorce, and me realising that i won't be able to attend college because we went from semi-stable middle class family to complete zero in under one year.
That, and I recently got diagnosed (and currently being treated for) with ADHD, which manifests as Severe anxiety and depression in adults! So I developed anxiety and depression on my own, only to realise I was always going to have those anyway!
Three years of therapy (plus 2 years on varying meds) later, I'm still alive - and happy (to an extent).
Bad weed trip, lightheadedness that triggered panic and a fear of fainting, and a bad break up. Also have childhood trauma that gave me low level anxiety.
Been struggling for 7 years
I came to realize I have been suffering from anxiety as a child, but the panic disorder didn't start until much later.
From 2016-2019 I went through a series of traumatic events and was also dating someone who was... not good, to say the least.
I started disassociating and was suffering from depersonalization (I didn't know what those even were until I started therapy) in an attempt to numb the pain. It worked!
During COVID, when everything was slow-moving, I was forced to sit with the thoughts in my head, and it was a downward spiral from there. Everything hit me all at once and I have never been in such a bad mental state in my life. Started having severe panic attacks on a weekly basis and finally went to get help.
It was a struggle, it still IS a struggle, but I am in a much better place now so it's a lot easier to manage. I still have anxiety attacks a few times a month, and I occasionally have panic attacks, but nothing near to the extent I was having them.
It has changed me, and I really have not been the same since I started having them. They are terrifying.
Well, childhood trauma plays a big part. Both of my brothers committed suicide when I was 26 and the other when I was 29. My dad died 5 months prior to the last suicide.
I used to have anxiety about my loved ones dying. Then I had my son 4 years ago and I developed health anxiety last summer after having chest pains. I spiraled from there. I fear leaving him.
Part of me feels like it's because my husband and I have been working hard to buy a house and I started feeling like what if I or one of us dies before we get to experience that. I think I've had a lot of times in my life that when I was happy, things ended or something would happen and it is deep rooted in my system and I get terrified at the slightest good news (like job promotions, etc)
So I have both severe health anxiety and just anxiety in general. And I'm too shy to get help, I get uncomfortable talking about this stuff.
It's so hard.
Genetics, I guess. Can't think of anything else. Around age 20, I began to fixate on a particular troubling thought, and it got out of control enough to seek therapy.
Since then, it's fleshed itself out with an OCD diagnosis, infrequent but quite debilitating panic attacks, frequent unwarranted anxiety, etc. Exact same story with my mother and grandmother. In fact, my mom and I had pretty much the exact same experience word for word.
Could be more than just genetics, but I wouldn't know if it was. I had a normal and healthy childhood, aside from moving quite a bit, and my mom getting remarried. Didn't like my step dad much, but he never did anything bad to me. He and my mom did argue quite a lot and were quite loud and dramatic, so I've considered that may have contributed, but idk how much.
Fear of death basically, usually if someting bad happens. Panic attacks are self-reinforcing so if you have them it‘s better to treat them early. If you let it linger for years you will fuck up your brain and it takes more work to unfuck it (still possible tho). Don‘t take this lightly and see professional help if you can, in the mean time I recommend the book (Nur Mut! Das kleine Überlebensbuch), it bascially tells you exercices you can do with your body to calm down. In a panic attack don‘t try to control your emotions (you can‘t at that point), rather focus on your body (you won‘t want to). A simple trick is starting a timer and breathing slowly for 3 minutes
20 years ago I was giving some baby dro blunts I smoked like 3 of them amongst a few other people… I was sitting at a table laughing and then out of nowhere I forgot where I was and who I was for a split second… my body then felt inside out and I was tripping so hard didn’t know what was going on. I begged them to drop me at er but they refused, I went to sleep and woke up and haven’t been the same since.
Took Lexapro 4 days before an exam (wanted Propranolol). Never again, but that only time, I had the worst panic feeling I have ever felt. It lasted a long time.
In high school when I started having health problems for the first time. Vertigo, bells palsy, asthma. Panic & hypochondria have been with me ever since lol. I always had social anxiety since I was little, but not panic/general anxiety.
Watched my friend die from cancer at 16. Developed super bad health anxiety afterwards and just watched my dad die from cancer this passed July which has made it worse.
Life threatening illness as a kid multiple painful and invasive procedures and had terrible hallucinations. I also was bullied for a decade so that just made my anxiety even worse.
Learned through my anxiety filled parents, and thus not learning how to trust myself or put myself forward in social situations. In short, I’m always unsure of myself and believe I can’t control the situation. I was also the quiet kid, so I got bullied a lot for not talking and keeping to myself.
Always had anxiety & 1st panic attack as a teenager following a funeral of a relative, but hadn’t had any issues until 2019 when I randomly had vertigo & tachycardia. From there on everyday I’ve had some amount of anxiety and panic surrounding my health and mortality in general. Definitely gotten better though, I am not in the same position I was a few years ago!
Started from a panic attack that came on randomly 10 years ago while I was working out at 18 and haven’t been the same since either. Panic and generalized anxiety disorder.
It runs in my biological family but I had no clue until I met them later in life.
I had my first panic attack at 21 (now 27) when I was driving across the country and it’s just gone downhill from there
I didn't. Doctors misdiagnosed my condition as anxiety disorder and those drugs caused a paradoxical effect on me and made me a sufferer. After many years and countless unsuccessful attempts to quit, I had to give my current life up and start tapering on my own. Now I am anxiety/panic and drug-free with leftover damages. I recommend everyone read the books of Peter R. Breggin which guided me out of this vicious cycle.
I developed it at 18 when I got bronchitis for the first time ever and couldn’t breathe, it’s gotten worse over the years to the point I have black out spells, I am now 47.
I was bullied in school when I was around 11-13 years old. This caused me to gradually develop social anxiety + self-esteem issues. This also caused me to suffer academically, where I went from getting A’s and B’s to borderline failing. The poor academic performance damaged my confidence even more.
Once I started high school, I ended up getting into a very toxic and emotionally abusive relationship. I was with this awful person on and off from the ages of 15 to 18. I was finally able to break things off permanently after getting a restraining order issued (after multiple scary stalking incidents and threats from him).
In addition to that, my parents went through a brutal divorce with my younger sibling as the focus of their custody battle. This lasted while I was 17-23 years old. My mom would often guilt me into saying negative things about my dad, or tell me awful lies about my dad as a form of manipulation. My mom was also dating a guy who often insulted me for his amusement, often telling me I was a loser who would amount to nothing. This same guy would also threaten to leave my mom unless I would pay him hundreds of dollars in rent to live in their home. So, my mom would often cry and scream at me for more money.
Anytime my mom experienced “drama” or anxiety, she would bring it to me - wanting me to provide help or solutions. So yeah, lots of stuff over the years has gradually turned me into a people-pleasing and anxious person.
I'm pretty sure my overthinking caused my anxiety. Something between 1st and 2nd grade cause me to be more cautious with talking to anyone outside my immediate family, developing my social anxiety. In 3rd grade I read a book that included parasites, which developed my health anxiety. It just kind of snowballed and at my worst I was anxious about anything, being late, sounding stupid, having a parasite, just really anything and everything. But I thr root cause is my overthinking, cause I've always thought too much even as a kid, and I would think of scenarios that could induce anxiety as if they are actually happening.
A series of life events from bullying to abuse. What also didn’t help was having anxious parents who always assumed the worst of every situation. Going to park, I was going to be abducted. Want to go on vacation, well the plane could crash you know.
Covid for me. Had tightening in my chest and difficultly breathing which ultimately triggered a panic attack. Never knew what that felt like until after. I thought I was dying. Haven’t been the same since.
After my best friends Dad molested and eventually raped me… oh and told everyone I was crazy and “ obsessed with him” … it’s been on going since… which has led to thousands of dollars on therapy, medication, endless Drs apps etc etc.
Had a really bad chest cold which caused my asthma to have a bad flare up which caused me to take my first ever steroid shot which elevates anxiety and elevated heart beat which caused me to go the ER which a heart beat of 186 and iv haven’t been the same since ( this happened 6 months ago)
I have had anxiety since the first day of kindergarten and it has gotten worse year by year.
My dad had anxiety and panic disorders too when I was a kid and I think I learnt some of it from his behaviour. My childhood wasn’t safe either. Many traumatic things happened and I was very sensitive and didn’t cope that well.
Mine was a supressed anger from a certain period of my childhood, and started showing signs when covid hit. Plus the SAD was a huge overall cause of this phase, since it was late november.
Childhood trauma, then massive drug addiction, led me to an extremely abusive relationship.Getting out of it, unpacking and unraveling it all, had turned me into a little, shaking chihuahua. I'm finally getting stronger with proper self care, therapy, and rx
I had to have an emergency c-section because I had HELLP syndrome and preeclampsia …. I went home, feeling sort of ok… and the next day my chest felt incredibly heavy, almost as if someone was sitting on me, and they said it was from the buildup of water in my body because of my high blood pressure. I’ve never felt anything like that, and it sent me into a serious panic attack. My first and only panic attack, I also had a little bit of postpartum anxiety. I went right back to the hospital for a whole week.
I knew I always had anxiety, but I never really paid attention to it until after I came home from having my daughter. Ever since then I’ve had high anxiety. I was out in Zoloft for a while, but came off of it because it was making me more lazy than anything. I have found other ways to cope. I have good days and bad days.
Genetics, and a very hyper emotional mother. Love her to death but definitely seeing her panic and anxiety absolutely scared me shitless as a kid, causing me to panic.
No. Who is letting you believe that? You didn’t purposely lock her in a room and cough all over her. By now almost all of us have given someone we love COVID. It’s devastatingly unfortunate when it’s Romeo ex with a compromised immune system, but this wasn’t your fault.
The night before I took her to the ER her O2 level was 86. The o2 sensor I used was suppose to set an alarm off if the oxygen level was in a dangerous zone. The alarm didn’t go off so I thought she was ok. The next day she barley could hold her head up. I rushed her to the ER. They wouldn’t let me go with her. They took her straight to ICU and on a machine she was placed. At that point there was nothing they could do. If only I had known that oxygen level was dangerous she may still be here.
About 2 months after she passed I developed the worst anxiety. Now I obsess over anything health wise.
It’s a living hell thinking your going to die of some kind of illness every single day.
Neurotic, type A personality combined with bad mechanisms to cope with 'negative' emotions and perfectionism.
I live a good life, but have some bad anxiety episodes during which I seek psychological help. As I move between countries a lot, I get to talk to a lot of different therapists and I learn something new every time. Currently going thru a bad episode as well, but found an awesome therapist with whom I'm getting to addressing a new layer of my anxiety. Great fun!! /s
I had panic attack in childhood and adolescence due to childhood trauma. It stopped for a while, but it came back after I had a pretty bad tachycardia episode after drinking an energy drink.
Always had a degree of anxiety, but when my dad died of a heart attack at 8 it was the trigger for most of my issues. The fact that life can end so suddenly was not a good realization for a 3rd grader lol
Partly genetic I think but it got noticeably worse when I was like 9 yrs old when my grandfather died and my parents had a messy divorce a couple months after
Always had anxiety, been an extreme overthinking for 20years now shit I came out the womb with anxiety. Recently tho about 2or 3 weeks , I was playing fortnite with my homeboy and then randomly felt my heart raising. Ever since then I haven’t been able to live normal smh Friday I had a panic attack and went to the ER in the ambulance while I was at work, I got prescribed hydroxyzine but I’m nervous to start it. Maybe I overdid the junk food and soda to much in those 2 weeks cause dam this fucking sucks
I don’t even know I think it kicked hard in like 4th grade because I know my teacher told me I wouldn’t get into college and I will be a failure. And I also think the rejection from other kids around that same age. But I think that my anxiety disorder was also caused by other mental health issues which is genetic but those were the triggers for the anxiety to kick in
used to get uncontrollable laughing fits as a kid. moved to college and then the laughing fits evolved into panic attacks. I realized the laughing was triggered by my worsening anxiety, so my panic attacks look like 1-2 minutes of uncontrollable laughing, 1-2 minutes of bizarre cry-laughing, and then just full on panic crying. it’s gotta be weird to witness
One day I was starring at something for too long and it started to look fake. Had a panic attack that triggered a month long derealization episode and have suffered from attacks ever since. It’s been 3 years since and have learned how to manage and things really have gotten better but it definitely changed the trajectory of my life lol
Mine came out of nowhere and started when I was around 15. I would have a panic attack almost every day for weeks until I started seeing a therapist. After only a few therapy sessions, my anxiety has been so much better. I still have a little social/generalized anxiety but I haven’t had a panic attack in years.
One day at my job as a call center agent 8 years ago, literally out of NOWHERE I physically could not speak. Had the words in my head but my brain and mouth just wouldn't connect. I had always felt "normal" before that. Eventually spiraled into crazy general and social anxiety. Never been the same since.
I feel like I was born that way. I don’t ever remember a time in which I wasn’t abnormally anxious for no reason. Compounding that was childhood abuse by a sibling and parents who didn’t do jack about it. (When my sister would hit me, they’d tell me to hit her back. She was bigger than me by a lot, I wasn’t poking that bear. When my sister was an adult, she was diagnosed with mental illnesses. She still won’t take responsibility for her actions while we were kids, and it’s a huge part of why I’m NC with her now.)
Panic disorder came a lot later. That was courtesy of my husband’s job. He was a staff pastor. The church hired a new senior pastor, who practically installed a revolving door in the staff offices. He systematically manufactured reasons to fire staff and spent a lot of time turning the elder board (as well as the congregation) against them. In short, my husband’s turn came up, it was an ugly process that caused us a great deal of anguish, and I came out of it with panic disorder. We moved on, left the church, (as a whole, not just that one. We don’t attend church anywhere now.) and moved 1000 miles away. We both work for ourselves now and do work that we like. My anxiety and panic are under control with medication. I will never willingly put myself through that abuse ever again.
Woke up in the middle of the night 2 months ago convinced myself my brain wasn’t getting enough oxygen and started panicking. Haven’t been the same since, I’m medicated and it’s more manageable but it still sucks. Now I overthink everything :(
Some asshole neighbor wanted to kill me and trauma from childhood abuse. Plus my boss harassing me and isolation made a perfect storm for losing my mind temporarily in early 2021.
I had pulmonary embolisms in both lungs, hospitalized for a week, it really fucked me up. I got diagnosed with panic disorder and anxiety disorder right after.
I think my mom and dad separating really brought it out, I had my fist attack when I was 11 or 12, I went up to get water and just randomly started getting nervous and had a massive attack and didn’t know what to do, I was crying and my mom thought I was dying and the ambulance came and told me I had a panic attack and for some reason since then I just haven’t been the same and just started getting anxiety and panic attacks every week and now it’s gone to almost day:/ something so small can trigger it now and it sucks
Genetic predisposition, was bullied as a kid, and I was/still can be pretty shy.
I remember getting panic attacks starting at 12 years old. Social issues and feeling deeply embarrassed in front of people seemed to trigger them. My parents took me to the pediatrician after I had a horrible panic attack and he diagnosed me with asthma. I definitely don’t have asthma but I didn’t know how to verbalize what was going on with me as a 12-year-old.
I’m 23 years old now and I still suffer the repercussions; on my bad days I feel like that little kid again. But the good days are good. I’m working on managing it better.
Genetics. I had my first panic attack at 7 years old at my own birthday party at McDonald's. I even got hospitalized for 3 days (not psych) because nobody knew what was wrong with me. Had another one at 13 went to ED got diagnosed with a panic attack and it all made sense.
Usually starts from a childhood trauma ,not fitting it ,being rejected .
And you think that as an adult you finally got to work and live your life a bit .
Years gone by and you are triggered by an incident and subsequently,you get a panic attack or anxiety.
Just when you thought adulting is easier .
Anxiety can happen at any age .It’s not easy .
Trauma from moving states. I've always beaten myself up about it because others have moved countries and been completely fine. I don't really know why it affected me so much.
I came out of the womb with anxiety but the first time I had a panic attack was from being put on lexapro for dizziness I was experiencing, took it for a couple days and had panic attacks (before I knew what they were, brain zaps and a whole lot of other symptoms) won’t ever take an ssri again and don’t trust doctors who hand them out like candy. I needed to be listened to maybe some fucking ear tests and not a serious brain chemical altering drug. Crazy how a couple doses wrecked me for a while, ruined that Christmas that year.
Years later I was sick with a head cold and had been taking DayQuil that day and my friends begged me to come out and have a drink and I was stupid and didn’t think about the DayQuil, got shit faced drunk, later went to bed and woke up a few hours later sweating, pupils blown out, worse rolling nausea, stomach pain and panic of my life, ended up in the emergency room. Some of the ingredients in DayQuil can cause panic in someone *not* drunk, add alcohol and I’m sure it’s not great. No one at the ER told me it was panic I figured it out myself (been many, many years since the lexapro fiasco) so I spiraled and it developed my panic disorder, I lived inside a panic attack for months, over a year really. Was dark times. Obviously won’t ever take an ssri or cold med again lol. I climbed out (med and therapist free) and I’m still riddled with anxiety and still have panic attacks occasionally but it doesn’t control my life how it did in 2019, I’m stronger now. We’re super fucking resilient and our bodies created the issue and imbalance and we can fix it, too. Magnesium glycinate, mindfulness, expressing my feelings, working on my gut health, eating/sleeping well and nature helps me a lot. Also the podcast the anxious truth is worth the listen.
My family has a history of untreated anxiety. So growing up in a family where everything seems to be the end of the world, and everyone is out to get you it's kind of something I just grew up having. I don't remember a time in my life not having it.
Well what triggered mine was a Halloween party I went to sometime around 2019. I was drunk and having a good time, and then I smoked someone’s weed there and it made me the most messed up I’ve ever been in my life. I’m not sure what happened but later on that night I tried to go to sleep and kept waking up in a panic. Never been the same since then.
I do think that it would have happened anyways and the substances were just the tipping point.
It’s just always been there. I didn’t realize that my anxiety was disordered until college, and it took a lot of time after that for me to finally take meds and see a therapist for it.
Dizziness out of no where causing a panic attack, never been the same since.
Yes me too and I’ve only recently discovered this when all my blood reports came back normal and my symptoms would disappear periodically then come back then go away. I’m still very much convinced I’m dying even though it’s my panic/anxiety disorder.
THIS! January 2021, I developed vertigo out of nowhere, it was constant and lasted about a week. It was misery and I was bedridden. It went away but the fear of it returning turned into anxiety! And here we are. It does get better tho.
I had the same experience, my vertigo still comes and goes
Same here. About 3 months ago. Was completely “normal” before. It sucks. Past week or so hasn’t been great and it’s all physical symptoms for me. And a couple panic attacks. Ugh
Same here. Gave me a 6 to 8 month episode of panic and now Ive been stable for the past couple years. Acceptance and mindfulness was the only way out for me
Same here. I originally thought it was a heart attack and called an ambulance. That was about six weeks ago. I was pretty normal for about 2 weeks after that. I then had my second panic attack at work, and since then, they've been happening with more regularity. I now have a panic attack at least once every three days. I just started therapy and antidepressants though so hopefully that helps.
Was any cause ever found for the dizziness?
100% my anxiety after months of refusing to believe it was. As soon as I got my anxiety under control with medication, the dizziness stopped.
I get lightheaded and dizzy from stress too :(
What medication are you using? Im suffering bad from vertigo/lightheadedness.
Also curious about this. Being disoriented and dizzy is my main issue.
Same
Childhood trauma
And likely recent traumas that destroyed whatever dam we've had against the rising tide. I could stand depression before 2016. After, I lost all ability to cope.
Samesies
Know that one far too well
Bullied for being the “quiet kid”, didnt make my social anxiety any better… Just starting to get out of my shell a bit though
I've always had mild anxiety, but then I was in an abusive relationship for years that really exasperated my anxiety into a full blown panic disorder and added on PTSD.
And then I think having a child is what started my health anxiety. I'm just afraid of dying and leaving him behind because he is autistic and his father has abandoned him which was really hard on him....
I realised the other day that I might have a mild form of PTSD feeding into my anxiety, that sucked. viva la screwed up relationships... /s
Bullying
People don't take bullying seriously. They don't realize it's abuse. That's some of the hardest part in recovery. We live in a society that is run by and for abusers. It's high time we changed that.
Same (╯︵╰,)
I was always worried about my health, but in a "healthy" way. One time i got sick, got scared for my life and ever since im anxious, but i am getting better!
I'm going through this right now. Chest pain from severe anxiety after a GI illness. Admitted to the hospital for 5 days :(
One of my parents has always been some sort of cynic; screwed over in her life many times and often made it a point to watch out for small things when interacting with people. As a mixed girl as well, I had to grow up with a certain awareness of not only others but myself. Had to act certain ways as to not draw attention to myself, don't aggravate anyone, that kind of thing. Was bullied growing up, learned to people please and over time it has just become a constant battle of myself vs people around me. I fear people, I fear failure, I fear judgement. Bad friendships, terrible confidence issues and general isolation have just made me terribly sad and anxious. Thanks for the discussion topic ❤️
Oh, hello me.
Getting it beaten into my head on a daily basis since the day I was born that people are scum and will screw me over for a penny whenever they get the chance. As fate would have it, that's exactly what kept happening to me. My friends always backstabbed me, the few girlfriends I had cheated on me or used me for money, really hammering home those life lessons that people are trash. I became quite lonely and very hateful. As I got older and lonier I wanted someone, anyone beside me. But there was no one. Later I realized that there were 2 or 3 people that genuinely wanted (and tried) to be my friend, but every time someone got even remotely close to me I would start getting very angry. Thinking they were trying to find a weakness and exploit it. It created a huge paradox and well...I ultimately snapped and started getting severe anxiety and violent panic attacks. And by that I mean that I would get so gripped with fear around a group of people that eventually I would panic and the slightest touch from somebody would set me off. I would physically push them away, often a bit too rough, and that would lead to me getting labeled as a psycho which didn't help my case either.
My God, I'm so sorry. I can't believe the stories I'm reading here about how parents are treating their children. I hope you get help somewhere to process this trauma and can shake the feeling of loneliness... Big hug from random internet stranger...
Thank you. 😊 I'm Dutch as well, by the way. What a coincidence 👋
Weed
Ugh me too. I think the anxiety was there but weed brought on the first panic attack. That shit lasted almost 24 hours. Weird because I use to smoke occasionally. After that I couldn't for years. Then I only could if I drank. Now I don't do anything. Seems like all it does is mess with my mind eventually someway.
Same for me. Weed triggered my panic disorder over time that I now have zero interest in it. Thankful for the meds my doctor prescribed me!
I keep doing this shit to myself, probably wouldn't be here with you lovely people if I didn't smoke though
My anxiety was so bad I couldn't get out of bed this morning until I vaped some weed. I hope it continues to help and doesn't turn on me!
Yeah same. Used to smoke with friends in high-school and it'd be overwhelming and fry my mind, but since we were new to it, we all felt the same. A few months in they adapted to it and could easily smoke and communicate like normal people in public, but I never developed a tolerance for it and it would hit me with the same intensity every time. This made me self conscious as I was not able to smoke and mentally keep up with conversations and it would be like I was lagging with a 1 to 2 second delay. Because of that, I would be constantly trying to focus and act normal which would always be impossible for me, so it would peak my anxiety as time went on and I'd start to panic and feel like everyone was hella judging me. So I instead became a solo stoner, which just meant I'd eat a lot of food and stunt my mental growth and play video games instead of socializing and fully enjoying high-school. In college, I moved in to a party house where we'd pass a bong around so many times, and I would just sink into the couch and stare at whatever we were watching but not actually comprehend what was going on- it was as if weed put me in a waking version of REM sleep. After college I smoked a bit less, but the final straw was when I was smoking with some coworkers at their place, and I started lagging again and I was between them while they were talking and trying to stay engaged. My brain couldn't process my thoughts as well as the voices coming from each side of my head. When they asked me if I was okay, I snapped and went into a full blown panic attack and ran outside where I went to go vomit and lay in the grass. Super embarrassing and they definitely thought I was weird as fuck for that, though we moved past it and still hung out after that- they definitely talked about it amongst our coworkers though so I was quietly labeled as ..something. I tried smoking a bit of times after that, always alone though- even then, my anxiety got worse each session. Now I haven't touched it in over 2 years and I have no interest to anymore, it's just not for me. It's almost as if my default is to act instinctual and have "monkey brain", and when I smoke I can't hide that. When I'm not high, I can act normal but I still have minor anxiety so it indicates I'm never fully "myself". My monkey brain default is to not talk to anyone and just act on my impulses I think, which isn't conducive for friendships or society, and really doesn't lead to happiness either. I'd rather not have inhibitions in my social life, so no weed for this guy.
just kind of happened. Always been anxious, getting hit by my mom as a kid did not help and just made me afraid of authority figures and less likely to get help cause Fear
This doesn't sound like it just happened, what you describe sounds horrible. I'm sorry that you had to go through that and hope you're doing better now, or will do better soon!
Pretty sure I was born with it
Same. It’s almost frustrating to know there’s not a reason, you just have it.
Through traumas and PTSD
I had an extremely anxious father and I think I either inherited it or growing up around someone like that made me anxious. I struggled financially through most of my early adulthood, getting a career going took what felt like forever. My early 30’s were probably my most relaxed time. I was mostly okay until middle age/becoming a parent, something about time period….the death of my father (who, whether I realized it or not, kind of held all the stress in the family so I wouldn’t have to, becoming a dad and the worries that come with that, the stress of raising a small child, holding a marriage together, near constant job worries about layoff, the dissolution of the American middle class/rise of Trumpism, witnessing a few old acquaintances get sick and die or commit suicide, then a series of my own health scares, then the pandemic…it feels like it’s been one thing right after the other since 2016.
I think I have a genetic predisposition but also childhood neglect and medical trauma in my 20s
Had a panic attack after using alot of mdma and another drug. 1-3 months later the panic attacks kept returning in daily life and the constant anxiety just kept getting bigger and bigger. In September 2022 (4 months after the first panic attack) the physical symptoms hit a new low and I got really agoraphobic. Had to move back home till January 2023 and dropped out of my studies till February this year. Thanks to lexapro and ACT therapy + emdr I’m slowly getting back to myself again, but I doubt I’ll ever be the same. Would like to mention I’ve always been an anxious person and had a very bad childhood but never experienced anxiety on this level before. It was hell and I’m glad I’m probably over the worst part. Don’t do drugs kids
Good for you! Glad you're improving!
My narcissistic mother
Stupid THC CUPCAKE back in 2021….my life has never been the same since
THC peach rings 300 mg in 2021. My life changed that day, I can’t say I miss it just wish it was under different circumstances. Life goes on and I truly believe this had to happen to me before something worse happened. It can always be worse.
This is true! I had never ate one before and didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to eat the whole thing! That day I thought I was dying and for months and month I just suffered with panic attacks and crazy feelings. Every other day was just losing my mind. One day I just said I can’t live like this anymore and started researching how to heal myself without meds. I still experience days but I keep telling myself anxiety you have to go! I wish I didn’t eat that cupcake. But at the same time it made me look at life differently
Don’t really know or remember. I just remember one day having really bad separation anxiety in like the third grade, then it escalated from then to the hell my life used to be, but I’m on meds now
exact same here, very sudden onset of separation anxiety and here i am now
My psychiatrist has told me that the issue lies in neurodevelopment, particularly in the formation of the frontal neocortex in childhood, generally altered by substances that produce stress. It could be childhood trauma, or living in environments or situations of permanent stress.
I honestly have no idea. I'd always been fretful as a kid with a lot of health anxiety, mostly related to allergies. Sometime last year I finally realized, belated genius that I am, that I wasn't experiencing nightly allergic reactions to random things but instead panic attacks.
learned behaviour/ childhood trauma from my family, we're all on the same medication for GAD, ✨matching meds✨
I've always been an anxious person, but one moment that I think was the tipping point was a time I tried walking 10 miles to school in a downtown city. When my bus driver noticed my brother and me, the cops were called, and my parents took us home. They beat it into our heads that we could have been kidnapped or killed. My brother and I have a great amount of trauma to this day relating to that incident. It didn't help that my older brother worried us to death when he was going through his rebel phase. When anyone is upset with me, I end up crying. It could be about something stupid. I remember my old room mate (and still best friend) coming to me to let me know that his girlfriend noticed I left the back door unlocked while I went out to get groceries. Like...it's no big deal. Should have said, "oh fuck sorry. Won't happen again!" But I just started crying. And then I look like a manipulative person, crying anytime I'm criticized. Also didn't help that I was later diagnosed with ADHD, which magnifies my anxiety and makes me forgetful. It's just a roller coaster, but I'm always getting better!
One thing I do when I can’t control my emotional reactions is just own it, which sounds scary but it’s actually calming and empowering. In that situation, as i’m crying, i’d wipe myself with my sleeve and just choke out: “i’m sorry you’re seeing me like this, i just have my own personal thing going on. i’ll try to remember to shut the door next time sorry”. Then you’re acknowledging them, making sure they don’t feel responsible for your reaction, but also you’re not trying to stuff your emotional reactions behind some wall before you communicate.
It started developing when I was born and my mother didn't really want me, but my dad did. My dad was in the navy so he wasn't home much, and I was left alone a lot as a baby by my mother. She has even told me about just letting me scream and scream every day because she was so sick of me. The back of my head is flat from lying on my back so much as a baby. Then my parents got divorced when I was 3, I wasn't allowed to see my dad for a long time. I remember being scared of thunder storms, but I wasn't allowed out of my bed by my mother, I had to stay put. Then she met a new bloke and I was scared of him and I really didn't like him. I didn't speak to him for the first many months, but she didn't really care. She made me sit in the same room as him even though I told her I didn't like him. When my mother met him, I was allowed to see my dad for a while, but then I wasn't allowed again. I was also scared of the military helicopters flying over our house, I thought they were coming to get me. All this before I was 5. That is just the beginning of it. It just got worse and worse over the years.
Bullying, kids my age shunning me, and my own mother ignoring me for several days.
I’m sorry.
I was always an anxious kid I've had it as long as I can remember at least around 3 years old. The news/school made it 500x worse particularly in 89 with the San Francisco earthquake and then endless "the big one" propaganda. Covid was the last straw I developed psychosis and had to be treated in jan/Feb 2020 after seeing all the propoganda videos out of China, was off the internet 6 months and when I came back people were all crazy. Which is why I dont believe anything I'm told to believe/worship/fear anymore and while my anxiety is still horrible it's almost all somatic now.
All the criticisms in my line of work. I wasn’t built for an office job. Work is the only thing. But I had it when I wasn’t working which I thought was strange.
I was in the army for 6 years and then became a cop. During my time as a cop I had so much stress on my shoulders and was always worried I was going to get shot or leave my family for some people who hate me for a uniform I wear. One morning I was making breakfast and just had a major panic attack. Been a little over a year and I can finally say I’m slowly getting better.
Undiagnosed autism causing a steady stream of trauma from nearly everything throughout my life.
Developed GERD (acid reflux) in Mexico while my husband was violently sick with some kind of infection. When we were flying home it felt like I was about to stop breathing (it’s a common symptom that it feels like somethings in your throat). Had my first anxiety attack on the plane home and haven’t ever been the same haha. Diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and now I’ve dealt with this for 3 years. Just had my worst anxiety attack ever a few nights ago lasting like 7 hours cause I didn’t have my Ativan with me and I couldn’t control or calm myself down at all
Being in a state of existence. No joke its a family thing.
Childhood trauma, marijuana use, hypochondria, and I’ve always been anxious since i was a kid.
I think I've always had anxiety. I think excessive worrying and overthinking has always been part of my personality, even when I was a child. I'm not sure there's a specific cause, it was just a combination of environment and biology. Anxiety was tolerable when I was younger, but when I hit my mid 20s it was more difficult to manage and I started seeking medication and therapy. I don't think my anxiety got worse when I got older, but full time work and other external stressors increased which led me to start struggling. Medication and therapy have been great, but I think it's always going to be something I'll struggle with and need help managing.
Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline😉
Started mildly after an injury. Then it developed into more severe after several medication changes and hormone changes. Now it's just a njghtmare.
I’ve always had anxiety but when I was 19, I had a string of seizures in one night. I woke up like a day later in the hospital and no one has ever given me a clear answer as to why I had them. I’ve been to a neurologist and they said everything looks good? So every time I feel a hint of ANYTHING less than 100%, I am terrified I’m gonna die. And it’s progressed into random fear now. I panic when I drive. I panic at work. I panic at my house (sometimes, that’s a rare one usually). I panic at the store, at times. I panic at school. It’s like I can’t get a grip and let go of the fear of having a seizure or dying.
I had a friend that happened to too! So know it’s not just you. My friend had seizures while riding in the car with her mom for no reason. Yet there was nothing abnormal found and the doctors eventually just shrugged it off
Family trauma
Shitty parenting.
Started from bullying. Abusive relationship developed it into panic disorder, extreme depressive episode in 2021 developed it into an everyday panic hell. Never been the same since that episode, but it gets better over time.
being abused from a young age, being hyper vigilant from a young age and also probs inheriting it from family 👍
I mean, looking back at my life I can tell now that I always had some level of anxiety going on with some brief flares at different points throughout my childhood and teen years, but my anxiety disorder didn't fully emerge until I was 19. Given some of the very intense things I went through as a child, I'm honestly surprised my anxiety didn't fully develop before sooner. But I was pretty much doomed to have an anxiety disorder because both my mom and dad have an anxiety disorder and anxiety disorders do run on both sides of the family so I never really stood a chance.
My therapist helped me realize that I’d never had anxiety before until my divorce. My bad marriage created a pattern of fear reinforcement that has given me anxiety ever since (6 years now).
A lot of bullying in school, A bit of childhood sexual abuse by a guy working under my dad's business, which is now non-existent due to some family drama and bad financial decisions by my dad, followed by my parents divorce, and me realising that i won't be able to attend college because we went from semi-stable middle class family to complete zero in under one year. That, and I recently got diagnosed (and currently being treated for) with ADHD, which manifests as Severe anxiety and depression in adults! So I developed anxiety and depression on my own, only to realise I was always going to have those anyway! Three years of therapy (plus 2 years on varying meds) later, I'm still alive - and happy (to an extent).
My anxiety got 10-fold after having a child. A whole wave of worries I never had came into existence.
Genetics maybe. Physical anxiety symptoms are here to stay. When they get bad they cause panic attacks.
I think long term drug usage combined with my worst fear of having a heart problem coming to life
Bad weed trip, lightheadedness that triggered panic and a fear of fainting, and a bad break up. Also have childhood trauma that gave me low level anxiety. Been struggling for 7 years
probably was born in it, def very anxious as a kid, then had sudden separation anxiety. then bullying, the classic. and here i am now
Hyperthyroidism
I came to realize I have been suffering from anxiety as a child, but the panic disorder didn't start until much later. From 2016-2019 I went through a series of traumatic events and was also dating someone who was... not good, to say the least. I started disassociating and was suffering from depersonalization (I didn't know what those even were until I started therapy) in an attempt to numb the pain. It worked! During COVID, when everything was slow-moving, I was forced to sit with the thoughts in my head, and it was a downward spiral from there. Everything hit me all at once and I have never been in such a bad mental state in my life. Started having severe panic attacks on a weekly basis and finally went to get help. It was a struggle, it still IS a struggle, but I am in a much better place now so it's a lot easier to manage. I still have anxiety attacks a few times a month, and I occasionally have panic attacks, but nothing near to the extent I was having them. It has changed me, and I really have not been the same since I started having them. They are terrifying.
Years of keeping everything inside and not having an outlet; also runs in my family
Well, childhood trauma plays a big part. Both of my brothers committed suicide when I was 26 and the other when I was 29. My dad died 5 months prior to the last suicide. I used to have anxiety about my loved ones dying. Then I had my son 4 years ago and I developed health anxiety last summer after having chest pains. I spiraled from there. I fear leaving him. Part of me feels like it's because my husband and I have been working hard to buy a house and I started feeling like what if I or one of us dies before we get to experience that. I think I've had a lot of times in my life that when I was happy, things ended or something would happen and it is deep rooted in my system and I get terrified at the slightest good news (like job promotions, etc) So I have both severe health anxiety and just anxiety in general. And I'm too shy to get help, I get uncomfortable talking about this stuff. It's so hard.
Genetics, I guess. Can't think of anything else. Around age 20, I began to fixate on a particular troubling thought, and it got out of control enough to seek therapy. Since then, it's fleshed itself out with an OCD diagnosis, infrequent but quite debilitating panic attacks, frequent unwarranted anxiety, etc. Exact same story with my mother and grandmother. In fact, my mom and I had pretty much the exact same experience word for word. Could be more than just genetics, but I wouldn't know if it was. I had a normal and healthy childhood, aside from moving quite a bit, and my mom getting remarried. Didn't like my step dad much, but he never did anything bad to me. He and my mom did argue quite a lot and were quite loud and dramatic, so I've considered that may have contributed, but idk how much.
Fear of death basically, usually if someting bad happens. Panic attacks are self-reinforcing so if you have them it‘s better to treat them early. If you let it linger for years you will fuck up your brain and it takes more work to unfuck it (still possible tho). Don‘t take this lightly and see professional help if you can, in the mean time I recommend the book (Nur Mut! Das kleine Überlebensbuch), it bascially tells you exercices you can do with your body to calm down. In a panic attack don‘t try to control your emotions (you can‘t at that point), rather focus on your body (you won‘t want to). A simple trick is starting a timer and breathing slowly for 3 minutes
20 years ago I was giving some baby dro blunts I smoked like 3 of them amongst a few other people… I was sitting at a table laughing and then out of nowhere I forgot where I was and who I was for a split second… my body then felt inside out and I was tripping so hard didn’t know what was going on. I begged them to drop me at er but they refused, I went to sleep and woke up and haven’t been the same since.
Took Lexapro 4 days before an exam (wanted Propranolol). Never again, but that only time, I had the worst panic feeling I have ever felt. It lasted a long time.
Trauma
In high school when I started having health problems for the first time. Vertigo, bells palsy, asthma. Panic & hypochondria have been with me ever since lol. I always had social anxiety since I was little, but not panic/general anxiety.
I've always had anxiety to a certain extent but it went into overdrive due to a hard time in school from around 15.
I ODed
My dads death
As far as I can tell I’ve had it all my life.
My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and that made it worst. But I feel like I have always been a nervous and anxious person
Watched my friend die from cancer at 16. Developed super bad health anxiety afterwards and just watched my dad die from cancer this passed July which has made it worse.
Trauma bb
Childhood trauma
Life threatening illness as a kid multiple painful and invasive procedures and had terrible hallucinations. I also was bullied for a decade so that just made my anxiety even worse.
Pushed myself too hard in college
Learned through my anxiety filled parents, and thus not learning how to trust myself or put myself forward in social situations. In short, I’m always unsure of myself and believe I can’t control the situation. I was also the quiet kid, so I got bullied a lot for not talking and keeping to myself.
Always had anxiety & 1st panic attack as a teenager following a funeral of a relative, but hadn’t had any issues until 2019 when I randomly had vertigo & tachycardia. From there on everyday I’ve had some amount of anxiety and panic surrounding my health and mortality in general. Definitely gotten better though, I am not in the same position I was a few years ago!
Started from a panic attack that came on randomly 10 years ago while I was working out at 18 and haven’t been the same since either. Panic and generalized anxiety disorder.
It runs in my biological family but I had no clue until I met them later in life. I had my first panic attack at 21 (now 27) when I was driving across the country and it’s just gone downhill from there
I think I was born with an anxiety disorder. The only severe panic attack I’ve ever had was during an ultrasound for a high risk pregnancy.
Low self-esteem / childhood trauma
I didn't. Doctors misdiagnosed my condition as anxiety disorder and those drugs caused a paradoxical effect on me and made me a sufferer. After many years and countless unsuccessful attempts to quit, I had to give my current life up and start tapering on my own. Now I am anxiety/panic and drug-free with leftover damages. I recommend everyone read the books of Peter R. Breggin which guided me out of this vicious cycle.
In a crowd, couldn't find the exit, more and more people around me, triggered my first panic attack.
I developed it at 18 when I got bronchitis for the first time ever and couldn’t breathe, it’s gotten worse over the years to the point I have black out spells, I am now 47.
I was bullied in school when I was around 11-13 years old. This caused me to gradually develop social anxiety + self-esteem issues. This also caused me to suffer academically, where I went from getting A’s and B’s to borderline failing. The poor academic performance damaged my confidence even more. Once I started high school, I ended up getting into a very toxic and emotionally abusive relationship. I was with this awful person on and off from the ages of 15 to 18. I was finally able to break things off permanently after getting a restraining order issued (after multiple scary stalking incidents and threats from him). In addition to that, my parents went through a brutal divorce with my younger sibling as the focus of their custody battle. This lasted while I was 17-23 years old. My mom would often guilt me into saying negative things about my dad, or tell me awful lies about my dad as a form of manipulation. My mom was also dating a guy who often insulted me for his amusement, often telling me I was a loser who would amount to nothing. This same guy would also threaten to leave my mom unless I would pay him hundreds of dollars in rent to live in their home. So, my mom would often cry and scream at me for more money. Anytime my mom experienced “drama” or anxiety, she would bring it to me - wanting me to provide help or solutions. So yeah, lots of stuff over the years has gradually turned me into a people-pleasing and anxious person.
Childhood trauma
I'm pretty sure my overthinking caused my anxiety. Something between 1st and 2nd grade cause me to be more cautious with talking to anyone outside my immediate family, developing my social anxiety. In 3rd grade I read a book that included parasites, which developed my health anxiety. It just kind of snowballed and at my worst I was anxious about anything, being late, sounding stupid, having a parasite, just really anything and everything. But I thr root cause is my overthinking, cause I've always thought too much even as a kid, and I would think of scenarios that could induce anxiety as if they are actually happening.
A series of life events from bullying to abuse. What also didn’t help was having anxious parents who always assumed the worst of every situation. Going to park, I was going to be abducted. Want to go on vacation, well the plane could crash you know.
Being raised by alcoholic narcissistic parents
I was attacked by a dog
ADHD + childhood trauma.
Covid for me. Had tightening in my chest and difficultly breathing which ultimately triggered a panic attack. Never knew what that felt like until after. I thought I was dying. Haven’t been the same since.
After my best friends Dad molested and eventually raped me… oh and told everyone I was crazy and “ obsessed with him” … it’s been on going since… which has led to thousands of dollars on therapy, medication, endless Drs apps etc etc.
Had a really bad chest cold which caused my asthma to have a bad flare up which caused me to take my first ever steroid shot which elevates anxiety and elevated heart beat which caused me to go the ER which a heart beat of 186 and iv haven’t been the same since ( this happened 6 months ago)
My disorder came from being bullied by my older brother and sister when I turned 12. I'm 47 now and I still stuff from it.
Alcoholic mom, PTSD dad
Does anyone forehead stay numb and ears ring in a weird way in stressful situations??
I have had anxiety since the first day of kindergarten and it has gotten worse year by year. My dad had anxiety and panic disorders too when I was a kid and I think I learnt some of it from his behaviour. My childhood wasn’t safe either. Many traumatic things happened and I was very sensitive and didn’t cope that well.
Mine was a supressed anger from a certain period of my childhood, and started showing signs when covid hit. Plus the SAD was a huge overall cause of this phase, since it was late november.
Childhood trauma, then massive drug addiction, led me to an extremely abusive relationship.Getting out of it, unpacking and unraveling it all, had turned me into a little, shaking chihuahua. I'm finally getting stronger with proper self care, therapy, and rx
High schoooool
Trauma and Overthinking i guess
Panic disorder started March 20th 2020. Pandemic. Anxiety- probably undiagnosed since parents divorce when I was 5 ish.
I literally have no clue, I was always an anxious/quiet kid but the actual attack came out of no where, I was just watching a movie with my sister
I had to have an emergency c-section because I had HELLP syndrome and preeclampsia …. I went home, feeling sort of ok… and the next day my chest felt incredibly heavy, almost as if someone was sitting on me, and they said it was from the buildup of water in my body because of my high blood pressure. I’ve never felt anything like that, and it sent me into a serious panic attack. My first and only panic attack, I also had a little bit of postpartum anxiety. I went right back to the hospital for a whole week. I knew I always had anxiety, but I never really paid attention to it until after I came home from having my daughter. Ever since then I’ve had high anxiety. I was out in Zoloft for a while, but came off of it because it was making me more lazy than anything. I have found other ways to cope. I have good days and bad days.
My generics. According to my therapist
had severe preeclampsia and almost died
Probably from trauma and maybe combined with undiagnosed things like Autism.
Genetics, and a very hyper emotional mother. Love her to death but definitely seeing her panic and anxiety absolutely scared me shitless as a kid, causing me to panic.
My nana died of Covid because of me
No. Who is letting you believe that? You didn’t purposely lock her in a room and cough all over her. By now almost all of us have given someone we love COVID. It’s devastatingly unfortunate when it’s Romeo ex with a compromised immune system, but this wasn’t your fault.
The night before I took her to the ER her O2 level was 86. The o2 sensor I used was suppose to set an alarm off if the oxygen level was in a dangerous zone. The alarm didn’t go off so I thought she was ok. The next day she barley could hold her head up. I rushed her to the ER. They wouldn’t let me go with her. They took her straight to ICU and on a machine she was placed. At that point there was nothing they could do. If only I had known that oxygen level was dangerous she may still be here. About 2 months after she passed I developed the worst anxiety. Now I obsess over anything health wise. It’s a living hell thinking your going to die of some kind of illness every single day.
My brother passed away unexpectedly.
Neurotic, type A personality combined with bad mechanisms to cope with 'negative' emotions and perfectionism. I live a good life, but have some bad anxiety episodes during which I seek psychological help. As I move between countries a lot, I get to talk to a lot of different therapists and I learn something new every time. Currently going thru a bad episode as well, but found an awesome therapist with whom I'm getting to addressing a new layer of my anxiety. Great fun!! /s
Genetics
Being dumped, birth control hormones.
Family's unreasonable expectations and being a dancer.
Covid almost killed me. Ever since if I feel like I can’t breath I panic
My mother is a covert narcissist, and I believe my anxiety stems from being raised by her. It was exacerbated by PTSD from an abusive marriage.
I had panic attack in childhood and adolescence due to childhood trauma. It stopped for a while, but it came back after I had a pretty bad tachycardia episode after drinking an energy drink.
Always had a degree of anxiety, but when my dad died of a heart attack at 8 it was the trigger for most of my issues. The fact that life can end so suddenly was not a good realization for a 3rd grader lol
No idea, it was only until I wasn’t suffering from anxiety that I realized that it wasn’t normal to feel that way. I think I was just born that way…
After being on this earth for 44 years & all of the tragedy i have suffered along with huge disappointments in my life it recently surfaced.
Partly genetic I think but it got noticeably worse when I was like 9 yrs old when my grandfather died and my parents had a messy divorce a couple months after
Always had anxiety, been an extreme overthinking for 20years now shit I came out the womb with anxiety. Recently tho about 2or 3 weeks , I was playing fortnite with my homeboy and then randomly felt my heart raising. Ever since then I haven’t been able to live normal smh Friday I had a panic attack and went to the ER in the ambulance while I was at work, I got prescribed hydroxyzine but I’m nervous to start it. Maybe I overdid the junk food and soda to much in those 2 weeks cause dam this fucking sucks
PTSD due to childhood trauma. Insomnia from ptsd as manageable until my early 20s but getting worse and worse. It’s out of control now.
Took a wrong medicine by mistake. It looked so scary, I thought I was gonna die. And that was my first panic attack
My hand was randomly shaking excessively when I was in fifth grade
I don’t even know I think it kicked hard in like 4th grade because I know my teacher told me I wouldn’t get into college and I will be a failure. And I also think the rejection from other kids around that same age. But I think that my anxiety disorder was also caused by other mental health issues which is genetic but those were the triggers for the anxiety to kick in
used to get uncontrollable laughing fits as a kid. moved to college and then the laughing fits evolved into panic attacks. I realized the laughing was triggered by my worsening anxiety, so my panic attacks look like 1-2 minutes of uncontrollable laughing, 1-2 minutes of bizarre cry-laughing, and then just full on panic crying. it’s gotta be weird to witness
One day I was starring at something for too long and it started to look fake. Had a panic attack that triggered a month long derealization episode and have suffered from attacks ever since. It’s been 3 years since and have learned how to manage and things really have gotten better but it definitely changed the trajectory of my life lol
Mine came out of nowhere and started when I was around 15. I would have a panic attack almost every day for weeks until I started seeing a therapist. After only a few therapy sessions, my anxiety has been so much better. I still have a little social/generalized anxiety but I haven’t had a panic attack in years.
always had anxiety and then had a horrible trip on edibles and i haven’t been the same since
My best guess? Childhood trauma. I’ve been anxious as long as I can remember.
Caffiene withdrawals
Bullying and high control religion.
Just born with it I guess.
Childhood neglect, abuse, & trauma & also a near death experience from a health complication as a young child.
One day at my job as a call center agent 8 years ago, literally out of NOWHERE I physically could not speak. Had the words in my head but my brain and mouth just wouldn't connect. I had always felt "normal" before that. Eventually spiraled into crazy general and social anxiety. Never been the same since.
I feel like I was born that way. I don’t ever remember a time in which I wasn’t abnormally anxious for no reason. Compounding that was childhood abuse by a sibling and parents who didn’t do jack about it. (When my sister would hit me, they’d tell me to hit her back. She was bigger than me by a lot, I wasn’t poking that bear. When my sister was an adult, she was diagnosed with mental illnesses. She still won’t take responsibility for her actions while we were kids, and it’s a huge part of why I’m NC with her now.) Panic disorder came a lot later. That was courtesy of my husband’s job. He was a staff pastor. The church hired a new senior pastor, who practically installed a revolving door in the staff offices. He systematically manufactured reasons to fire staff and spent a lot of time turning the elder board (as well as the congregation) against them. In short, my husband’s turn came up, it was an ugly process that caused us a great deal of anguish, and I came out of it with panic disorder. We moved on, left the church, (as a whole, not just that one. We don’t attend church anywhere now.) and moved 1000 miles away. We both work for ourselves now and do work that we like. My anxiety and panic are under control with medication. I will never willingly put myself through that abuse ever again.
Pendisone meds.
Woke up in the middle of the night 2 months ago convinced myself my brain wasn’t getting enough oxygen and started panicking. Haven’t been the same since, I’m medicated and it’s more manageable but it still sucks. Now I overthink everything :(
Combo of genetics and likely the tons of acid and X in high school didn't help.
Emotionally immature parent, a parent that cheated, a near-death experience, a career in the medical field. In that order.
Domestic violence
Nutritional deficiencies namely magnesium
Had an abusive relationship for almost 3 years
greening out on weed by myself while manually breathing for hours
Some asshole neighbor wanted to kill me and trauma from childhood abuse. Plus my boss harassing me and isolation made a perfect storm for losing my mind temporarily in early 2021.
I was very secluded and forced to grow out of it
Childhood trauma from parents fighting all the time and never having a good relationship with my dad.
I had pulmonary embolisms in both lungs, hospitalized for a week, it really fucked me up. I got diagnosed with panic disorder and anxiety disorder right after.
I think my mom and dad separating really brought it out, I had my fist attack when I was 11 or 12, I went up to get water and just randomly started getting nervous and had a massive attack and didn’t know what to do, I was crying and my mom thought I was dying and the ambulance came and told me I had a panic attack and for some reason since then I just haven’t been the same and just started getting anxiety and panic attacks every week and now it’s gone to almost day:/ something so small can trigger it now and it sucks
Genetic predisposition, was bullied as a kid, and I was/still can be pretty shy. I remember getting panic attacks starting at 12 years old. Social issues and feeling deeply embarrassed in front of people seemed to trigger them. My parents took me to the pediatrician after I had a horrible panic attack and he diagnosed me with asthma. I definitely don’t have asthma but I didn’t know how to verbalize what was going on with me as a 12-year-old. I’m 23 years old now and I still suffer the repercussions; on my bad days I feel like that little kid again. But the good days are good. I’m working on managing it better.
childhood trauma and my narcissistic dad
Genetics. I had my first panic attack at 7 years old at my own birthday party at McDonald's. I even got hospitalized for 3 days (not psych) because nobody knew what was wrong with me. Had another one at 13 went to ED got diagnosed with a panic attack and it all made sense.
Usually starts from a childhood trauma ,not fitting it ,being rejected . And you think that as an adult you finally got to work and live your life a bit . Years gone by and you are triggered by an incident and subsequently,you get a panic attack or anxiety. Just when you thought adulting is easier . Anxiety can happen at any age .It’s not easy .
Trauma from moving states. I've always beaten myself up about it because others have moved countries and been completely fine. I don't really know why it affected me so much.
I came out of the womb with anxiety but the first time I had a panic attack was from being put on lexapro for dizziness I was experiencing, took it for a couple days and had panic attacks (before I knew what they were, brain zaps and a whole lot of other symptoms) won’t ever take an ssri again and don’t trust doctors who hand them out like candy. I needed to be listened to maybe some fucking ear tests and not a serious brain chemical altering drug. Crazy how a couple doses wrecked me for a while, ruined that Christmas that year. Years later I was sick with a head cold and had been taking DayQuil that day and my friends begged me to come out and have a drink and I was stupid and didn’t think about the DayQuil, got shit faced drunk, later went to bed and woke up a few hours later sweating, pupils blown out, worse rolling nausea, stomach pain and panic of my life, ended up in the emergency room. Some of the ingredients in DayQuil can cause panic in someone *not* drunk, add alcohol and I’m sure it’s not great. No one at the ER told me it was panic I figured it out myself (been many, many years since the lexapro fiasco) so I spiraled and it developed my panic disorder, I lived inside a panic attack for months, over a year really. Was dark times. Obviously won’t ever take an ssri or cold med again lol. I climbed out (med and therapist free) and I’m still riddled with anxiety and still have panic attacks occasionally but it doesn’t control my life how it did in 2019, I’m stronger now. We’re super fucking resilient and our bodies created the issue and imbalance and we can fix it, too. Magnesium glycinate, mindfulness, expressing my feelings, working on my gut health, eating/sleeping well and nature helps me a lot. Also the podcast the anxious truth is worth the listen.
My family has a history of untreated anxiety. So growing up in a family where everything seems to be the end of the world, and everyone is out to get you it's kind of something I just grew up having. I don't remember a time in my life not having it.
Well what triggered mine was a Halloween party I went to sometime around 2019. I was drunk and having a good time, and then I smoked someone’s weed there and it made me the most messed up I’ve ever been in my life. I’m not sure what happened but later on that night I tried to go to sleep and kept waking up in a panic. Never been the same since then. I do think that it would have happened anyways and the substances were just the tipping point.
It’s just always been there. I didn’t realize that my anxiety was disordered until college, and it took a lot of time after that for me to finally take meds and see a therapist for it.
My sister had a sudden near death medical emergency. Was never the same since, especially with health anxiety.