Myko

Thirded. What I originally thought was chest pains/indigestion back in Spring turned out to be anxiety, fuelled by health anxiety, which then led to some panic attacks and then mild depression due to social withdrawal. What triggered it I'll never know but it has floored me for the past 7 or 8 months. Gutted as we've had some decent holidays/family occasions which I've had to put a brave face on for and deep down not enjoyed. Horrible year, hopefully that 7 changing to an 8 brings some brightness and a fresh start.

I had right bother with sleep for a solid month and it was unbearable. That's when alarm bells started ringing. It naturally suppressed and become less aggressive over time but I still get the odd early wake that I can't get back to sleep from. What was most worrying was that even in my dreams, I was wary and conscious about my anxiety and everything that happened in my dreams was labeled with it like in real life. It was torture, like some kind of horrific 24/7 Inception-style movie plot that I couldn't escape from.

Long time lurker here, spent the last few days reading through a good chunk of the thread and feel like I should break my posting duck... Although I don't feel like I have fully blown depression as such, for the past few months something just hasn't felt ''right'', and I currently feel like I'm living in a bit of a bubble and am a bit out of touch with my surroundings. My job is fine, I do part time work that earns a little extra too, relationship is fine, money is fine, so I don't have the ''traditional'' situational stressors that can trigger this. However, I had a few panic attacks out of nowhere around April/May this year which set me back a bit, maybe subconsciously at first but it got gradually worse. I ended up in hospital early June after I experienced some weird chest pains after a round of golf (looking back it was probably anxiety related), and that caused several weeks of health anxiety. It all culminated late July when I was away with the family and had a big panic attack in public. We were sitting in a restaurant and I started to feel dizzy - next thing I know I'm sitting in a toilet cubicle, lashing with sweat, heart was pounding and I could hardly breathe. It was the strangest feeling ever. A few days later I was out with the missus for lunch and it happened again. Ever since that exact moment I just haven't felt my usual self and just feel a bit withdrawn. Physically I'm okay now, have managed to stave off some further attacks; But there's still some psychological creases to iron out. I've been to my GP but he said it was just an acute bout of anxiety & mild depression so didn't feel the need for medication, which I agreed with to be honest. It's a really strange feeling, hopefully it clears up over time. Now that I've accepted that it was maybe just a short-term bout of anxiety and some mild depression, I feel a bit better and the proverbial cloud is lifting a bit. But it really put it into perspective what a lot of people are going through and it's without a doubt 100% healthy to talk about it. FWIW my only advice would be pay attention to things sleeping habits and appetite - these can be a very good indication of one's overall well-being and if spotted early it can iron out some long term issues. -