[PanicZone] Introducing myself

 

Hi All,

I'm a new member and wanted to introduce myself. My name is Kim, and I live in northern Canada. I am 40 years old and have been struggling/coping with social anxiety and panic disorder most of my life.

I recently realized that over the past few years I have also developed agoraphopia, which manifests in a fear of a sudden onset of intestinal distress in public (which ironically can sometimes actually bring on the intestinal distress), and also makes me very uncomfortable to travel outside my known "comfort areas," especially if I feel I won't have handy access to washroom facilities "just in case."

Over the years I have received counselling and read books and just plain figured out some stuff about where my challenges come from and why they still affect me today. But before today I had never joined a group to talk about these issues.

And while I'm comfortable with the progress I've made on the social anxiety and panic disorder, I'm frankly really struggling with the agoraphobia. Why? Because the panic attacks can sometimes, and without warning, bring about the very symptoms I'm having a panic attack about. It kind of feeds on itself, and it's a hard cycle to break.

In the midst of it all, I do try to keep my sense of humour and sometimes I have to chuckle at myself--the first things I think about if I have to go somewhere new or unsual is: 1) do I know if they have a bathroom? and 2) if not, how long will I have to be away from home or where's the nearest known bathroom? Wherever I go, I've always got my radar tuned to scan for the international relief sign!

But at the same time, it can be very frustrating, and I am beginning to feel limited--and I don't like that very much. So, here I am, looking to share stories and see what others might be doing to cope.

I look forward to reading everyone's posts, and hope my story can help others in some small way.

Kim

__._,_.___

Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic (19)

Recent Activity:

• New Members 1

Visit Your Group

The only thing that can happen when I
have a panic attack is that it will pass
whether it passes quickly or slowly
depends whether I drop the idea of it
being dangerous or not.

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

.

__,_._,___