Panic Attacks and other mental illnesses.

[Byron]

My family has a tendencies for mental illnesses. Depression, SAD, dyslexia and panic attacks.
My mom and my sister both suffer Depression.
Me and both my brothers suffer SAD.
One of my brothers and my sister suffers from dyslexia.
My other brother and my sister suffer from panic attacks.
I thought I was exempt from the panic attacks, but last night I had one.
I've seen my brother have one and didn't really know how to help him with it...
Since then my brother has had many of them and he knows how to deal with it.
Me on the other hand... I've never known what to do. I never really knew what a panic attack was, but last night I remembered back to when I was younger. I would have panic attacks but at the time I didn't know what it was, and my mom thought it was an asthma attack but I realized last night that what I was having was similar to when I was younger...
I just layed in my bed and a creeping thought slipped into my head and made me get worried. I tried to push the thought back but in the end it took over and I ended up shakey and thinking I was going to die.
I realized pretty quickly that it was a panic attack, but I didn't know how to deal with it...
I messaged my brother about it as soon as I realized and luckily he was online and talked me through it for the most part.

It isn't a nice thing to go through and I hope to never have it again. I feel somewhat sorry for my brother because he has them quite regularly.
Do any of you get anything like this? If so how do you deal with it?
I guess this is a place to talk about any mental illnesses you have. What mental illnesses do you have?(if any) And how do you deal with it?

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

I SHALL SHARE WHAT I HAVE!!

XD

I has... Bipolar and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - it's pretty much a giant burden to anyone I meet. The only guy that is able to withstand it is Star, and I applaud him for that. Go Star!

 

[Xilef]

I went to boarding school in Eastbourne and had a break down for some reason so was sent to a psychologist who just assessed my intelligence then told me to move on. Moved to London and hacked up the school network to the point that I got banned from it, when I was sent to the deputy head's office and addressed with "You know why you're here." I replied with the truth; "I really have no idea why" at which point the deputy head thought something was mentally wrong with me, nothing was on my health record so she called my mother who just told her about my motor-control disorder, which wasn't an issue as my family helped with therapy against it at a young age. So after this flag was raised I started seeing a therapist about my teenage troubles that every teen has so was nothing special.
During all this my mother was still getting over her mental problems that still affect her. After what she said about my problems to her people they contacted some child mental health people who dragged my entire family and myself over to some building and we all sat in a nice circle and talked about how crazy I am.
The next day my family were asked to read up on aspergers syndrome, it was difficult to diagnose me because I was high-level through training (I was always told off for "acting silly" when I had my autistic moments, which upset one of my sisters as she can remember several specific moments when she had told me off for "acting silly"!), I was totally in denial of course, I still sort of am.

My girlfriend was also in denial that something was different about me until she started university, studying teaching, of course when autism came up she started seeing the signs and began outright using me as case study material, she ended up with excellent grades.

So how do I deal with it now? I'm still in denial.

I have two lessons in life that I hold dear to my heart;
One of them was what a moderator of RMXP.org said that taught me everything about respect (And I still quote it accordingly when needed).
The other is that everyone is born with problems and the one problem that's common with them all is lack of taking responsibility.

 

[bacon]

Bipolar II runs in my family but luckily i dont think i have it. All I can say is if you have an mental illness, you better be taking your meds you will honestly feel 100% better. You dont know how many people stop taking their meds because they feel better. Remember that the disorder is rooted to a chemical imbalance in your brain~

Xilef i dont know how that sounds like autism but keep you head up and chug along~

 

[Byron]

There isn't always meds though. Sometimes you just gotta deal with it on your own...
Well you could seek out help. Like there are charities set up to help with mental illnesses. I work for one called mind.
But yeh. It isn't easy.
Straberrii, I'm sure you aren't a burden, you just feel like you are. Keep you head up.
Xelif, what school in Eastbourne? As it says in my location, Eastbourne is where I currently reside.

I have a few friends with autism.

 

[Jason]

Whatever you call it, I suffer from random mood swings... I'll call it... mood swings! They actually only started up once my epilepsy came back, y'know, because epilepsy just comes and goes like that, or it did for 15 years, lol.

Like at work early this year, I was serving some woman, she wasn't doing anything weird, just standing there as I scanned items, I had a smile on my face, and felt happy and fine and stuff, then all of a sudden, I felt depressed and started venting, saying random shit about my life and how epilepsy has ruined me, and she stood there looking confused, literally with a sort of DAFUQ?! face, then I got really pissed off, threw her change at her, and walked from behind the counter and into the staff room, and just sat there...

My manager came in and was like seriously Jason what the fuck is wrong with you?! But I didn't say anything, and instead, my friend Sam came in, and she told him about my mood swings and stuff, but I'd never been affected that bad while at work before, and he didn't give me a warning, but still gave me a bit of a bollocking, lol.

Anyways, about an hour later, I came back onto the shop floor, and felt completely fine, like seriously, what the fuck...

It also happens at home and while I'm out with my mates, just a random feeling of depression or hate and stuff like that, but it's VERY infrequent to be honest...

Meh.

 

[Venetia]

jB that sounds a LOOT like bi-polar symptoms, dawg. random extreme, unexplained & uninitiated mood swings, which are very difficult to control.


anyway i was DX'd with Bi-polar when I was a teen. Didn't have it. I could control all my feelings just fine, and I never went through the angry or flippant phases bi-polars get. I was just depressed a lot because my home life was utter shit, and occasionally I'd get happy (generally because I wasn't home and I wasn't thinking about home at the time).

after i got out on my own, i was DX'd instead with PTSD. which made a lot more sense, considering how bad my home life was. went to some counselling, and i've mostly come to terms with it.

i've always suffered social anxiety. being in social situations (especially with strangers or minor acquaintances) always makes me sweat like crazy, makes my heart pound, ears ring ... i sometimes get the shivers, too. but i've learned very well how to hide it. usually pop nauzene and do a shot or two of rum before tossing myself into any situations that i know will cause me problems. that helps immensely.
when i was a teen, before i learned how to hide my anxiety, i'd get asked a lot if i was okay, because i'd always be sitting there with a cold sweat all over, eyes wide, breathing hard. i even resorted to taking small doses of vicodin before going out so i could relax. it was BAD. but I knew that, if I kept forcing myself into it, I'd overcome it one day. Haven't totally overcome it yet, but it doesn't affect my life so much anymore.

all i can recommend to people with anxiety attacks is to just keep trying to throw themselves in those situations, and set up a mantra for yourself to keep your mind focused off of the anxiety. even still, when i'm out in public, i make mantras in my head to keep me on task. when i'm walking to the bathroom, I repeat something like, "walking to bathroom. door at the end of the hall to the right." over and over. or if i'm eating, i repeat things like, "chew. swallow. look up. smile. you are currently on the mashed potatoes. finish the potatoes." And make it a REAL and IMPORTANT part of your life to hide how you're feeling when you're not in your comfort zones. Imagine that if you visibly start making a big deal out of how you're feeling, you'll become the center of attention -- which is the LAST thing you want. And no one likes a drama whore, even if you don't mean to make drama. When in doubt, just repeat "PLAY IT COOL".

repeating & remembering these things helps immensely. also booze. a little booze goes A LONG WAY.

and just know that it gets easier. social anxiety nearly ensures that prepping yourself for going out will never be fun, but if you keep your head straight, you can still have fun while you're out, and not feel like a bumbling fool the ENTIRE time.

 

[Jason]

... I'm bi-polar? Cool!

STRAWBERRY, DO YOU SEE?! WE WERE MEANT FOR EACH OTHER! :heart:

 

[Jason]

... Although I've only had it (Not suffered with it... just had it) since my epilepsy came back, maybe it's something to do with the medication, or maybe epilepsy just fucked me up anyways, who knows?

... Maybe it was the coma?!

 

[Byron]

... I'm bi-polar? Cool!

STRAWBERRY, DO YOU SEE?! WE WERE MEANT FOR EACH OTHER! :heart:

I... Whut? I've never seen someone use bi-polar to pick up girls...
O.o

 

[Jason]

Challenge accepted.

 

[Xilef]

Xelif, what school in Eastbourne? As it says in my location, Eastbourne is where I currently reside.

It was St. Bedes prep, it's the one on the edge of the cliff, right on the West corner of the town.

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

Oh dear Jay-Jay. D=

I left my meds in SC when I moved, so I haven't been taking them. >>

 

[bacon]

Whatever you call it, I suffer from random mood swings... I'll call it... mood swings! They actually only started up once my epilepsy came back, y'know, because epilepsy just comes and goes like that, or it did for 15 years, lol.

I dont think its bipolar disease unless you have episodes of mania or major depression.

From what I've heard mood swings are somewhat common in people with epilepsy? I've also heard that people experience mood swings before experiencing a seizure? Or yeah it could just be the medication too.

 

[Venetia]

That's true. He still may want to talk to a doc about it, though. At the very least, they may modify your medication so that it's not causing you so many mood swings.

Uncontrolled mood swings aren't exactly conducive to being gainfully employed for long periods of time.

 

[Byron]

So I think I'm having a panic attack.
I'm shaking like a bitch and I'm worried that I'm going to die.
I currently have a pain at the back of my neck/head (bit where they meet) and I also have a fast heart rate (that is rational since I have very bad health) and also my right leg has gone cold (I hit it earlier and there is a little black scab.)
So there are perfectly rational reasons for this (except the headache) but nooo. My brain has to be all like "SHIT YOUR HEARTS FAST? PERHAPS IT ISN'T GETTING ANY BLOOD TO YOUR HEAD! AND MAYBE YOU HEAD IS SHUTTING OFF YOUR LEG SO THAT MORE OXYGEN GETS TO IT" Seriously. I'm sure it is just bad timing for all three things... But I could be dying. In which case. I love you all.

 

[Spoo]

I'm not officially diagnosed with any sort of mental illness, though I probably have Sedatephobia, a fear of silence. When everything around me is quiet, I hear faint noises in my head, and I instantly go into paranoia mode. But again, I don't think phobias count as mental illness. Another thing I don't know what to call is that I hate, HATE looking into dark places when I'm standing in a well lit area. Rather, the notion of something I can't see watching me clearly just gives me the chills. For some reason, it's especially bad when looking out windows into the dark.

My sister has anxiety issues; she thinks irrationally about any pains she can't immediately explain. The worst of it happened a couple of years back, when she'd been having a bit of chest pain. Apparently she thought she was having a heart attack, so she panicked and hyperventilated. Scary shit.

 

[Byron]

I don't think Phobias are mental illnessess, however I think they can lead to them or fuel them. For example my thanatophobia (fear of being dead) is the cause of my panic attacks. I will notice something odd about myself, like an irregular heartbeat and then my brain thinks that I am going to die, so my body goes into panic mode.
Don't let your fears rule you, try and over come them.
And I get what you mean about looking into dark places from the light. In my moms house there was a window in the door, the stairs were next to the door but whenever me and my brother went past, we'd never look in the window. Just creeped us out...

 

[Venetia]

So I think I'm having a panic attack.
I'm shaking like a bitch and I'm worried that I'm going to die.
I currently have a pain at the back of my neck/head (bit where they meet) and I also have a fast heart rate (that is rational since I have very bad health) and also my right leg has gone cold (I hit it earlier and there is a little black scab.)
So there are perfectly rational reasons for this (except the headache) but nooo. My brain has to be all like "SHIT YOUR HEARTS FAST? PERHAPS IT ISN'T GETTING ANY BLOOD TO YOUR HEAD! AND MAYBE YOU HEAD IS SHUTTING OFF YOUR LEG SO THAT MORE OXYGEN GETS TO IT" Seriously. I'm sure it is just bad timing for all three things... But I could be dying. In which case. I love you all.

yep that's a panic attack

you need a mantra bro

develop yourself a good mantra and you'll be able to shrug off panic attacks like a wet coat

 

[Byron]

So I think I'm having a panic attack.
I'm shaking like a bitch and I'm worried that I'm going to die.
I currently have a pain at the back of my neck/head (bit where they meet) and I also have a fast heart rate (that is rational since I have very bad health) and also my right leg has gone cold (I hit it earlier and there is a little black scab.)
So there are perfectly rational reasons for this (except the headache) but nooo. My brain has to be all like "SHIT YOUR HEARTS FAST? PERHAPS IT ISN'T GETTING ANY BLOOD TO YOUR HEAD! AND MAYBE YOU HEAD IS SHUTTING OFF YOUR LEG SO THAT MORE OXYGEN GETS TO IT" Seriously. I'm sure it is just bad timing for all three things... But I could be dying. In which case. I love you all.

yep that's a panic attack

you need a mantra bro

develop yourself a good mantra and you'll be able to shrug off panic attacks like a wet coat

Isn't a mantra like a word or a sound you repeat over and over? I've heard it's used in meditation, although I don't use it when I meditate...
The problem with that is: I've tried many things to help me shrug them off. Like watching a movie or playing some games. I know that is different but the problem with them was that I was using them when I was having a panic attack which made me more aware of the panic attack and made it harder to forget.
I'll try a mantra and hope it works. Although I would rather just never have one again...