About HardAnxiety: This is my online journal, a tool I can use to write about my progress through recovery. I have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder Type 2:Ultra-Radian Cycling and Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia and also Codependencey.
 
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Useful Web Resources (Links)

History of my disorder

Guides
What are Panic Attacks, Agoraphobia, and Anxiety?

What is Bipolar type 2 and ultra radian cycling?

Guide to my Anxiety Levels and What's it Like?

About the codependency dysfunction

The Fight-or-Flight Response

What if? Thinking

Coping skills I use

Coping with Medication Side-Effects

Breakthroughs
Abandonment Breakthrough

Anger Management and Defense Mechanisms - Just a sad game?

Other
Wandering in a Dream of Emptiness, a poem.

Contact me
email David

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This space for rent.

Below is the workbook I am curently using, it's a great workbook, and I recommend getting the accompanying book, Facing Codependence, from the same authors.

Click to buy this book

Want to cheer me up? You can buy me something off of my My Amazon.com Wish List.
What a shameless plug, eh?









What are "Panic Attacks with Agoraphobia and Generalized Anxiety Disorder?"
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This page is meant to provide a better undestanding of "Panic Attacks with Agoraphobia" and "Generalized Anxiety Disorder". One out of 20 people suffer from some combination of these disorders, and are often mis-diagnosed by their physician.

Panic Attacks
First, I'll talk about what a Panic Attack is. According to the Study Guide to the DSM-IV , which is the book that psychiatrits use to diagnose patients, the essential feature of a panic attack is the occurrence of a discrete period of intense fear or discomfort, usually lasting for several minutes, and accompanied by at least four of the following symptoms, which develop abruptly and reach a peak of intensity within 10 minutes.

  1. Palpitations, pounding, or accelerated heart rate
  2. Sweating
  3. Trembling or shaking
  4. Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering
  5. Feeling of choking
  6. Chest pain or discomfort
  7. Nausea or abdominal distress
  8. Feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint
  9. Derealization (feelings of unreality) or depersonalixation (being detached from oneself)
  10. Fear of losing control or going crazy
  11. Fear of Dying
  12. Paresthesias (numbness or thingling sensations)
  13. Chills or hot flushes
I usually experience at least 10 of these symptoms while having a Panic Attack, and they usually last for a good hour or two, and happen as frequently as twice a day. Sometimes they happen without warning, sometimes I gradually build up to an Panic Attack as my anxiety gradually rises throughout the day.

It's hard to describe just how intense a Panic Attack is. When I have a Panic Attack, I really am convinced that I'm losing control, that this one will be the end of me. It is extremely difficult to survive through a Panic Attack, but that's what I have to do. Having a Panic Attack won't kill me or hurt me, but when I'm having one I don't believe that. It's like living through a nightmare.

A Panic Attack can be brought on by something legitmate, like worrying about the next trip on an airplane, and then that worry spirals into a full Panic Attack. Or it can come completely unexpected, for instance I could be feeling good, and then a few moments later start having all the kinds of physical symptoms that are a Panic Attack.

Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia used to be considered mostly a fear of social situations or crowds, but now has a more broad definition. Again, quoting from the Study Guide to the DSM-IV, the criteria for agoraphobia include the following:

  1. Anxiety about being in places or situatioins from which escape might be difficult (or embarrassing) or in which help may not be available in the event of having an unexpected or situaitnally predisposed Panic Attack or panic-like symptoms. Agoraphobic fears typically invove characteristic clusters of situations that include being outside the home alone; being in a crowd or standing in line; being on a bridge; and traveling in a bus, train, or automobile.
  2. The situations are avoided (e.g., travel is restricted) or else are endured with marked distress or with anxiety about having a Panic Attack or panic-like symptoms, or require the presence of a companion.
For example, I have difficulty shopping by myself, or going into an office building, or going to a party. I often avoid these situations out of fear, or have to really force myself to endure the experience, or ask a trusted friend or relative to go with me.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Once again, I'll quote from the Study Guide to the DSM-IV to describe this disorder.

Individuals with this disorder have excessive anxiety and worry that they cannot control a number of events or activities. The anxiety lasts for at least 6 months... The anxiety and worry are associated with at least three of the following symptoms:

  1. Restlessness or feeling "keyed up" or on edge
  2. Being easily fatigued
  3. Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank
  4. Irritability
  5. Muscle tension
  6. Sleep disturbance (difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless unsatisfying sleep)
I experience all of these symptoms and have been experiencing them for a number of years. I am constantly pacing because I am restless, I have difficulty just relaxing and enjoying a TV show or something simple like that. I'm easily tired out, it doesn't take much to wear me out, because I'm on edge all the time, my muscles are tense all the time, that it doesn't take much more to wear me out. I also have trouble concentrating long enough to read a book or work on this website, and I easily forget common things, or my mind will go blank the moment I am asked to recall something. And since I am experiencing all of this, it doesn't take much to irritate me because I'm already keyed up.
 
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