Is anyone else around here coping entirely by themselves without a supportive friend, parent,sibling, therapist or meds?

I've always been used to doing everything by myself, and it's not often that I share how I feel with my family, but I'm beginning to think I won't make it for much longer. I knew that today was going to be awful, and I had been praying for two days that I could make it through. But as soon as I woke up this morning I freaked out, started trembling, and couldn't breathe. I eventually dragged my ass to uni, but after the first seminar I choked and ran home shaking.

Last time I told my folks a little bit about how I feel they said that I'll "grow out of it" and I need to "get over it", so my family is definitely of no help... They don't even acknowledge anxiety or college phobia as problems that actually exist.

Anyway, skipping too many classes is really going to hurt my final score, so I don't know how long I can try and ignore my own problems. I'm hoping some of savvy people could let me know... is it easier if you start seeing a therapist? Or when you get some meds? Sorry about all the rambling, btw.

i do. well i have got a friend whos trying to help me but he doesnt really do anything in that way. hes trying to do soemthing thats gonna help me all the time but to be honest hes getting on my nerves with his stupid optimistic bullshit talk while creating a mess in my room because hes totally not aware of his surroundings.

i have no money for a therapy and i dont want any meds so its just like that for years now. therapy is probably better than meds but you need to find a doc whos cool with you. it doestn do any good if someone you dont like tells you anything.

I would recommend seeing a psychiatrist. At least in my case, things got worse so I couldn't deal with it by myself anymore. Unfortunately I waited until the last moment which caused me to have more bad experiences. You could start seeing a psychologist but you should try going to a psychiatrist if you see that you are getting worse little by little.

Thanks for the advice Ametamorphose. I have a tendency to leave things till the last moment too, so I guess it's time to actually do something about it and not hope it magically gets better.

@Syc: You know, my sister sounds a lot like your friend. She's nauseatingly optimistic as well. I never did understood how people can be so cheery all the time.

I've never been to a psychologist. I've been recommended by school officials, professors, family, and classmates,
but I just can't bring myself to pay someone hundreds of dollars an hour to pretend to care about my problems.

But, as a result, I keep developing anxiety-related medical problems, like IBS. Just last night I broke a tooth because
of my bruxism.

Well, whatever. No one cares....not for free, anyway.

Psychiatrists and psychologists are for weak-minded individuals who believe everything they're told. To rely on a psychologist or psychiatrist is like turning to religion for comfort - it simply isn't advisable and is strictly for weak-minded people who don't question anything.

Psychiatrists have never done any good for me. In fact, they've only done me harm, so I avoid them like the plague.

I've not seen one, but multiple unreliable psychiatrists and psychologists. Most of them didn't phone me when they were supposed to (one of them didn't call me once when he said he'd call me a couple times a week - I called him to find out he randomly quit his job), some misconstrued what I told them and fucking wrote BS reports about me, among other things.

These people get paid to do their jobs. 90% of them could give a fuck less about their clients and only care about the shitloads of money they make.

That's how I feel about it. It's just a job.

Besides, I've been to college. I know the types of idiots that become psych majors. Hell, I've taken
psych classes. At risk of sounding really offensive here, its complete pseudo-scientific hogwash that
appeals to the lowest common denominator of people interested in the sciences. My "father," for one.
What a tool -- anyone with half a brain would realize that after the first couple of classes.

I'm not saying there isn't interesting work TO be done in psychology. Behaviorists who study
neurology probably have a lot of knowledge to contribute, but its drowned out by the noise of
the drooling half-wits sitting next to Picard on the bridge of the Enterprise. Seriously, I hate
Troi.

the joke on this is hes not even cheery all the time. he just pretends to be if hes around me, what makes it even more annoying. and even less useful.

By the way: I just want to say that I don't think all psychologists/psychiatrists are bad people. Regardless of whether they're bad or not, I still think it's funny that people feel comfort in speaking to people who get paid to speak nicely to you. It just doesn't make sense to me. If you want comfort, make an attempt to make friends. If not, then try to accept the fact that you're fucked up.

I've already felt like murdering at least three or four psychologists/psychiatrists. If I'd be let down by yet another psychiatrist or psychologist, I think I'd murder the fucker.

Some of these fucking idiots seem to arbitrarily prescribe you anything without caring about the consequences the drugs could have on you which, in itself, is enough to make me want to murder these people.

l had to withdraw from both semesters of my first year at university because of my social anxiety and depression. Please don't wait to seek help like l did. DO lT NOW. l also hated going to classes, feeling everyone around me breathing in my personal space and all those typing fingers and scratching pens and the professor's voice echoing in the room and all those eyes, some wondering, some looking down at their desk and all you can wonder is if they're all secretly watching and judging you and questioning you. l actually left during the middle of a lecture because l couldn't take the pressure and was feeling an anxiety attack coming.

l take medication and also see a psychiatrist. The two give me great support and help. The medication moderates my mood and my psychiatrist puts logical reasoning to my confusing emotions and experiences. She talks me through them and gives me a new perspective that makes coping a lot easier. l'm a lot happier and better now because of this.

l don't talk to my family or friends about my problems because their responses are rarely helpful and usually naive. They don't understand my problems because they have never experienced it and neither can they empathize. l talk to my doctor. She knows the answers l am looking for and she usually has them. lf not, she helps me find them.

Also, for the total time that I have gone for without help, I'd say it's about a full seven years. Mind you, my reasoning behind it was to make sure my father didn't get heartbroken when I was taken away from the home. I don't suggest waiting though. I did, and I regret it.

Just to let you folks know: My comments about psychologists/psychiatrists aren't supposed to be taken 100% seriously. If I were fully serious, I'd tell you that I've actually murdered 50 psychologists and stuffed their carcasses in my closet.

Don't tell anyone, OK?

I wouldn't dream of it. As long as, of course, you're willing to *ahem* "compensate" me.

With your body.

I cope without help. I suffer from OCD except it affects me in different ways than most. It makes me think horrible thoughts when I am heppy and then I overanalyze them causing me to break down and get sick with the awful things I think.

I also have Turrets which makes me feel like I have boundless amounts of energy when playing video games or doing something exciting. I also have twitches which I can suppress if I try VERY hard. I am on no medication and don't want to be.

You mean Tourette's, right?

I used to think I had Tourette's but now believe the Tourettes-like behavior I displayed as a kid was what's known in the ASD community as being "stimming". Lots of people actually think that Tourette's may actually be linked to ASDs in some way.

I spent a lot of time with psychiatrists and psychotherapists and sometimes they made me angry by their (for my opinion) tactless outgivings and whole "look-at-me-as-at-shit" behavior (for my opinion again).

But now I trying view things at their angle of vision. Imagine you have to converse with a lot of different people with different problems. Some of them will tell you everything (though, from their subjective often emotional point of view), a lot more will try to conceal important information for curing or will lie. They will do lots of another stupid things (from doctor's view) like quitting taking medicines after first positive changes or mix it with alcohol or take unknown-effect stuff advised by "good neighbor" instead. And if something will go wrong they will blame you secretly or openly. And you must be polite with them every time, patiently explain simple things again and again.

I cannot imagine how it possible to heartily care of every this patient with true passion. I cannot imagine another person but cynical hard-skinned specialist in this place. Anyhow my psychotherapist managed to stay a good person, when I talk with her I always feel myself good and I treat her very good too. And maybe my positive attitude to psychotherapists also helped me take in the situation and get right solution for my problems faster.

I'm also coping without help. It is something what I got used to since I was a child. I also have troubles with trusting anyone so I could never tell anyone about my problems, not even to my lovely mother. She only knows that I'm not good with others but she never knew the reasons, about all the things what happened to me when I was young.
I also don't think she has ever heard about social anxiety disorder and I don't feel like to explain about it first.

So... seeing psychologists or getting meds.... no, it doesn't help me. I have been always a rational thinker and I don't speak with my heart, but my mind. It's hard for me to show any emotions... so well...

^ you and I sound very much alike.

I still want to see a psychiatrist though, it's a road I haven't taken and my curiosity always gets the best of me. If it doesn't help, oh well, I'll stop going then.

In my ideal world it would be legal to kill psychiatrists and psychologists.

I'd be like one of those lunatic "pro life" people who kill abortionists with sniper rifles, except I'd use a chainsaw.

What about a sniper-saw? How cool would it be to snipe people from great distances with bullets shaped like SAWS?

While i've been trying to get in contact of some kind of psychiatrist/-ologist i'm still dealing with my anxiety all alone without medication, or even drug abuse.
My mom is supportive of it because she has similar problems and also won't go out for weeks a time because of her social anxiety, however there is nothing she can actually do to improve my mentality/situation. It's kind of sad when your mom is so afraid of people that she won't even call her son. But i suppose this problem goes both ways.

I used to self-medicate with Xanax/Valium (which got way out of control btw) and opiates, they really REALLY helped but i lack self-control to not abuse the stuff.

Good luck with your anxiety, let us know what you do.

How'd you get a hang of those? I tried paxil a few times (one of the things about having a crazy cat
is you can steal their meds, lol). It helped the first time, but after that all it did was make my jaw
lock up. I tried one other brand I...acquired...but it made me mega nauseous. I think that even if
I went to the doc, I wouldn't find a medication that would work for me.

yup......only reason i don't discuss anything with any body aside frum my usaul HC "discharges" (i mean posts) is pride.... i have "that" in shit loads.....i hate making myself look smaller or inferior to otherz.....i hate losing.....there for i keep my problems to my self and explode once every two or three months......(some say unstable otherz say convenient)