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Chronic anxiety and dealing with a mix of disorders

Jaz4Casual Contributor02 Aug 2018, 11:39 pm AEST

Chronic anxiety and dealing with a mix of disorders

Hi guys,

I’m feeling pretty alone at the moment. I know that anxiety is common and some of my friends have opened up to me about their experiences of short term anxiety which had been really helpful and had made me feel more normal. But I’m feeling like I have no one I can relate to considering the complexity and chronic nature of my illness. I’ve had generalised and social anxiety for about 10 years and developed OCD in the last year, panic attacks and a specific phobia to make things harder. The most frustrating thing about what I’m experiencing is that I’m very educated about mental illness through my studies, work and own research, and that I’m doing all the right things I can to help myself but I feel like I’m moving one step forward and two steps backwards constantly. I’m trying so hard and I’m so positive and persistent, but it just gets so frustrating. To make things worse, I’ve recently lost the support from my best friend of 10 years after going through a crisis situation who has disconnected without explanation. Have anyone experienced anything similar of have any advice?

2 replies

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In response to: Chronic anxiety and dealing with a mix of disorders

Unknown userMember03 Aug 2018, 6:54 pm AEST

Re: Chronic anxiety and dealing with a mix of disorders

Things are feeling really difficult right now @Jaz4. One of the most frustrating aspects of recovery is that even when we have lots of 'knowledge' about our illness, it doesn't necessarily always translate to improved health and wellbeing.

I'm really sorry to hear what's going on for you with your friend too. That would feel quite hurtful and confusing. Is there anybody in your life who can help you to shed light on what might be going on for them?

Although things are tough right now, I wonder whether there have been times when things have been a bit better for you? What's been different about those times and what's helped you to cope?

I'm sure lots of our members can relate to your experience too @Jaz4 and am interested to hear more from the community on what's worked for them too.

Good on you for reaching out and I do hope that getting some of this stuff outside of yourself is helpful for now 🐼

In response to: Re: Chronic anxiety and dealing with a mix of disorders

utopiaSenior Contributor03 Aug 2018, 7:38 pm AEST

Re: Chronic anxiety and dealing with a mix of disorders

@Jaz4.

It is nice to hear from friends about their experiences with a similar mental illness. And although they mean well - an episode of anxiety or depression of which they only experienced once - is very different from persistent anxiety or depression. I often find those that have experienced 'depression' once - are the loudest in telling me how to 'fix' my depression. And that just makes me feel worse.

There are many members on here with multiple diagnosis who will hopefully share their experiences with you.

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