The unofficial bad day thread.

[Lia S]

Wow. That's terrible, Cat. It's good that you're looking for a solution to this issue. *hug* Also, a psychiatrist is a physician that specializes in diagnosis and treatment for mental disorders. A psychiatrist is closer to a therapist. Hope that helps when you're looking them up.

You wrote psychiatrist twice... (the psychologist is the therapist)

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I agree, panic attacks are not fun. *hug*

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

note to self. get more sleep tonight, as I'm obviously way too lacking in it to brain properly. I has the dumb today. >.<

[LookingIn]

I had a panic attack for pretty much no reason last night. I was crying because my boyfriend and I had gotten into a small argument and I was a little emotionally wiped from something I'd read earlier, and then all of a sudden I was having trouble breathing and that triggered an attack. Usually I'm at a strongly negative emotional point and that's what triggers my attacks. This time, I got off my breathing cadence while crying and just took a dive off of the sanity ledge. Worst part was Christian didn't realize I was having an attack until I tried to say what was going on (very difficult to do while hyperventilating, by the way), he thought I was just crying normally.

I...I really do think there's something seriously wrong with me. Even if I do have an anxiety issue, it worries me that it was on a hair trigger this time. Step one, remember the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist. Step two, find the appropriate one in my area and make an appointment.

You might be able to prevent some of the worst parts of the attack, is there a delay between the gasping and the initial syntoms?

[Black Cat Godess]

The delay is very minimal. I've been able to stop myself from having a panic attack only a few times by forcing my breathing to be regular, but never without Christian there to coach me. The urge to give into the panic is that great, even with him trying to help.

Yeah, panic attacks suck.

I think I went to a psychologist when I was younger, not a psychiatrist (for a different, unrelated issue) but a psychiatrist might be better this time, just in case.

[LookingIn]

The delay is very minimal. I've been able to stop myself from having a panic attack only a few times by forcing my breathing to be regular, but never without Christian there to coach me. The urge to give into the panic is that great, even with him trying to help.

Yeah, panic attacks suck.

I think I went to a psychologist when I was younger, not a psychiatrist (for a different, unrelated issue) but a psychiatrist might be better this time, just in case.

Gotcha, it's different but still some similarities to the ones I have had to endure(my own and family members).
Regarding the psychiatrist the worst case you have a consult and it turns out that it is a medical not a psychiatric problem. Best case, they find it to be easily treatable and you can start controlling things. You are likely to get referals to phychologists for therepy no matter the outcome, it's a catch-all but it's worth a try if it is suggested.

[Artemisia]

The delay is very minimal. I've been able to stop myself from having a panic attack only a few times by forcing my breathing to be regular, but never without Christian there to coach me. The urge to give into the panic is that great, even with him trying to help.

Yeah, panic attacks suck.

I think I went to a psychologist when I was younger, not a psychiatrist (for a different, unrelated issue) but a psychiatrist might be better this time, just in case.

HUGS.

I understand what you're going through even though our anxieties seem to be very different. Yesterday, we had to shop- and I hate shopping on the first of the month. If I can, I shop in the evening or morning. If I can't, I can end up so panicky that, by the end of the trip, all I want to do is hide.

[Black Cat Godess]

Yeah, sadly one of the anxieties I have is not being able to breathe correctly. So, since hyperventilating is one of the first symptoms of an attack...you can see why there is almost mo delay in an attack going full blown.

Artemisia, I have issues with crowds, so I feel you on shopping at off times. Crowds and shopping suck in general.

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

I completely empathize with you on the crowds, Art, Cat. Being uncomfortable with large numbers of people makes it hard for me to stay in church on Sunday, sometimes. =\

[Artemisia]

Thank you both.

It's been a bad couple of days for me. My IBD has just been badly flaring up and I've been cramping and bleeding. I hurt, I'm tired, and I've been bleeding.

[Black Cat Godess]

Crowds start getting bad for me when they start pressing in too close. This once led to an arguably funny instance of my dad and I trying to leave my sister's graduation after it had been held inside and getting stuck in a crowd that wasn't moving. Needless to say, the two of us nearly freaked the hell out.

Also, bleeding is never fun. I'd really like to talk with whatever came up with that brilliant idea so I can punch them in the mouth.

[Artemisia]

Trips to the store are horrible for me. If there are too many people and too much noise, I get panicky.

And the good news is that the bleeding seems to be coming towards an end.

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

Hope the cramps go away soon too, Artemisia. *hug*

Back in high school, during assemblies, people would look for me to see if the assembly was over yet. If the seat I'd snagged as close to the door as possible was empty, and the door was swinging, they knew they could leave now too. My anxiety at being in huge crowds is that bad. x.x (And lunch hours sucked. I could only relax if I was sitting at a table, surrounded by my friends. It took playing Magic to help me calm down some days, too.)

So today I brought in a couple of bins to empty, organize, and consolidate my belongings. One of the ruined items, that makes me quite sad:
An embroidery picture my mother made for me when I was about 7, a Stegosaurus eating an ice cream cone. Even the frame got ruined.

Ironically, the only item that seems to have survived from this bin:
Transmetal 2 Megatron from Beast Wars. All I need to do is wash some mud off, and it's in near perfect condition. Bit discouraging though, that of the 4 bins lacking lids (due to said lids either cracking from weather, or in the case of one, flying off somewhere), 3 of them are pretty much total losses. Stupid weather... =P

[Artemisia]

Thank you. I can't wait until I see the doctor and get things sorted out. I'm also going to start seeing a therapist. One thing that is helping my anxiety is that I'm organizing my life into a schedule.

[Freemage]

I think I went to a psychologist when I was younger, not a psychiatrist (for a different, unrelated issue) but a psychiatrist might be better this time, just in case.

The scenario I've seen most often played out (particularly with my wife) is that you end up with a psychiatrist who sees you once every so often (rarely more than a couple times a year, once they've started a course of treatment) to check and see if the meds they're trying have had a decent effect or need tweaking, and a psychologist you visit more regularly for counseling. The psychiatrist visits are usually very short--they're more like doctor's check-ups. Psychologist sessions are usually more akin to the classic 45 minute talk-it-out sessions.

[LadyObvious23]

Dear dumbass customer,

When you use the bathroom down at the Red Rooster. DON'T use pretty much the entire roll of toilet paper. DON'T just flush and let the whole damn thing overflow. And DON'T just walk the frig away from it like you did nothing wrong.

You need to tell one of us what happened so we can get it cleaned and fixed right away. Your not the only person who fucking uses that toilet. So do us employees and we'd prefer to not have to deal with that again. It was inappropriate and rude.

And if I happen to friggin' find you, *I will beat you senseless with a large metal pole, I shit you not. Cuz thanks to you, I had to put my hand in a toilet! (Gloved of course but still.)

LadyObvious.

PS: And if you give me lip I'll friggin' kidney punch you.

* I won't but I felt like it after I was done cleaning the whole mess up. DX