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social anxiety depression

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Q: What’s the difference between extreme social anxiety & depression, and BPD?
I’m 16 and I’ve been diagnosed with (and given prozac for) social & general anxiety, panic attacks and depression.

I’m also:
-terrified of being left alone, losing the love of my friends/family, desperate to please everyone
-blowing hot and cold about people, thinking I love them one minute and absolutely hating them the next, often without them doing anything different
-most of the time I hate myself and have low self esteem, but sometimes I think I’m the greatest person ever lol
-I self harm a lot, self mutilate, and have attempted suicide twice (kept it a secret though)
-in the last few months I’ve begun to do impulsive things like getting off with random people, smoking all my weed at once and throwing up, spending all the money I’ve saved & stuff like that when I used to be a very thoughtful, cautious kid
-I had hourly mood swings before the prozac and felt very anxious and empty. I also used to become paranoid sometimes.
-I sometimes get furiously angry but I direct it all towards myself and cut.
-I’m a normal weight but I have problems with food. I’ll starve for a couple of days, then binge for another two, then maybe purge, then starve… etc etc.
-I’m very shy, but I use alcohol & drugs to make myself seem outgoing. Although I’m shy, I’m a lively, outrageous, fun person when I’m feeling relaxed with close friends (or drunk lol)

It seems to me like I have borderline personality disorder, not just extreme anxiety & depression. Why didn’t my psychologist diagnose me with BPD? What is the criteria for diagnosing that?

A: First of all, you shouldn’t be trying to diagnose yourself. BPD is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH more severe.

To me, you sound like you have bipolar disorder. I’m not a psychologist, so I can’t say for sure. Have you told your psychologist everything? Make an appointment and tell them EVERYTHING you’ve listed. Remember, it’s confidential and they won’t judge you, and if you don’t tell them everything, you won’t get the proper treatment.

In any case, like I said, quit trying to diagnose yourself. You’re just creating yourself needless anxiety.

Q: This question is for people who overcame social anxiety,depression and panic attacks?
This question is for people who overcame social anxiety,depression and panic attacks? How did you do it?What have worked for you? I tried exercise,mediation,breathing techniques and nothing works.Is medication the only answer for me? What have worked you?

A: I started out my teen years with horrible social anxiety. It was so bad I couldn’t leave my house. Today I am in the US Marine Special Operations, I have traveled the world been on mission in Afghanistan, Iraq and a few other places.

I made a complete turn around, and ill tell you how. One of the few things I left the house for was to go to my mixed martial arts class were I would train in full contact fighting. One day my instructor told me I needed to get faster. But I was lost in how to go about it. I mean you can learn techniques do wait lifting to get stronger. But how do you get faster. I was told to pretend you are fast with each and every technique you do. Over time I got faster.

But I started to use that same technique for social anxiety. First off you need to act. Look at the people around you. Look at how calm they are in situations you would freak out in. Ant act like that. Imagine you are in a social environment, or picture yourself giving a speech, and imagine being calm, the calmest you have ever been.

But believe it is actually happening. When its actually happening take control of your thoughts and act. Like a shy actor taking the role of an out going character. The best time to imagine this is as often as possible, right before you go to bed and especially when your listing to music.

The other thing is DO NOT think. Your hole life you have been told think before you do. Well when it comes to this, don’t. Just do it. Like a robot, do it and don’t think about it.

There is an old saying that goes, be careful of your thoughts, they may become your actions, be carful of your actions they become your character, be carful of your character it might become you.

Imagine yourself scared you will be scared, Imagine yourself confident with no anxiety and you will be confident with no anxiety.

The last thing is to visualize. When you breath in imagine the air going into your lungs and being sucked into your blood when it goes threw your body its pushing out pain, negative thoughts and weakness. Imagine it getting replaced by good thoughts, power, and a can do anything sense of thought.

Or I guess you can try medication lol.

Good luck I hope this helps
p.s. it takes time, but be patient with it

Q: Any herbs or homeopathic supplements for social anxiety/depression similar to Paxil or other anti-depressants?
I am taking St. John’s Wort but I’m wondering if there are others that might work better on social anxiety and depression. Thank you :)

A: Hi there “Girl Face” :)

Errmm .. I beg your pardon but are you a male or a female as this would enable me to suggest something more pertinent for both social anxiety and depression.

Being an accomplished homeopath [even if I say so myself :P ] I would naturally suggest homeopathic remedies.

Homeopathic remedies for anxiety/social anxiety/panic attacks/depression.

Anxiety, sudden with restlessness and fear of death, Panic Attacks, Aconite 30x or 200x, ½ hourly (3 doses).

Anxiety, makes patient walk fast; due to anticipation Argentum Nit 200x, 3 hourly (3 doses).

Anxiety, aggravated by upward or downward motion; going in an elevator; worse till 11 P.M, Borax 200x or 1M, 3 hourly (3 doses).

Full of apprehensions in the evening Causticum 200x, 3 hourly (3 doses).

Anxiety and fears in the evening with restlessness and palpitation Calcarea Carb. 200x or 1M, 3 hourly (3 doses).

Anxiety, due to fright, fear,exciting news; stage fright; worse while appearing for examination or interview etc. Gelsemium 30x or 200x 3 hourly (6 doses).

Anxiety, better after eating Anacardium Or 30x, 4 hourly.

Depression & grief (bereavement):

Severe shock due to sudden death of loved ones; restlessness, anxiety and fear Aconite 200x, 10 min (3 doses).

Prolonged mournings; cannot overcome the loss of loved ones and/or Mood Swings. Ignatia 1M or 10M, 6 hourly (3 doses).

When the grief is in the conscious mind; patient weeps; does not like sympathy, Natrum Mur.200x or 1M, 6 hourly (3 doses).

For chronic grief and indignation Staphysagria, 200x or 1M, weekly (3 doses).

Depression with suicidal thoughts feeling of worthlessness, Aurum Met 30x, three times a day half hour before meals.

*** Homeopathic remedy dosage ***

Select the remedy that most closely matches the symptoms. Take 3-4 drops of remedy in ¼ th glass of water, preferably empty stomached.

I suggest that remedies be used as follows: Take one dose and wait for a response. If improvement is seen, continue to wait and let the remedy work. If improvement lags significantly or has clearly stopped, another dose may be taken. The frequency of dosage varies with the condition and the individual. Sometimes a dose may be required several times an hour; other times a dose may be indicated several times a day; and in some situations, one dose per day (or less) can be sufficient.

If no response is seen within a reasonable amount of time, select a different remedy.

Q: I think may have social anxiety/depression issues, where do I go?
I won’t go into details as to why but i suspect i may suffer from social anxiety and/or some sort of self-esteem/depression disorders. Where do I go to have this checked out? GP? Some sort of private shrink? can i get help on the NHS (uk).

thanks

A: A licensed counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist can diagnose your social anxiety & depression. The most effective help for social anxiety is therapy w/ either a counselor or psychologist. Medications do help with the physical symptoms of anxiety but therapy is most effective in my opinion & through my own experience. I am unfamiliar with the mental health system in the UK but if you can find a counselor or psychologist with experience treating social anxiety & depression, that would be your best bet. And if you need medication to help, then you can go to either a psychiatrist or a general practitioner for anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications.

Q: What would be the best medication to treat social anxiety, depression, and fatigue together?
I have finally admitted/realized my difficulties with these issues. I want to get help, but am not sure exactly what kind of drug I should try. Of course my Dr. will work with me on this decision but I would like to get some feedback from users. He previously put me on xanax for the anxiety and it definately lessened after popping the pill, but I don’t like how it makes me feel fatigued and loopy. I realize there is no wonder drug but I would like to know if there is any one drug to combat all three conditions…anxiety, depression, and fatigue. All this, keeping in mind that I really don’t want to have the sex drive or weight gain issues as I already have a low sex drive and have recently gained 10 pounds. Any HELP is appreciated…so while I do respect and usually agree with all you anti-medication people…I have made the decision to try some so please spare me your disapproving lectures. Please help! Thank you all!

A: Pls call your dr for a referral & make an appt re your depression with a psychiatrist. He will know which drug to take in addition to the anti-anxiety drug. Sometimes it takes awhile to find the right drug but whatever will work would need a prescription. Avoid an over-the-counter drug as you don’t know how it would react with the drug you are taking.

I would ask for a referral to a psychiatrist. After the initial visit you could make 15 min appts on an as needed basis. A family dr is not experienced in finding the proper meds for psychiatric illnesses.

Good luck to you. Don’t waste time by putting it off. The sooner you get started the sooner you’ll get well. From one who knows.

Q: Do I have social anxiety or depression, and can a sixteen-year-old get either?
I have symptoms of both, which include an “empty” feeling all the time, loss of interest in activities, irritability, feelings of hopelessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating/making decisions, AND anxiety of social situations, fear of answering the phone or door, and avoidance of social gatherings.
Can you have both at the same time? And does your age matter? And furthermore, can you get depression for no apparent reason?
Sorry that was so long, but if you’ve read through all of this, could you please give me any advice? Anything would really be appreciated.

A: If the feelings of emptiness, loneliness, sadness, unhappiness, fatigue, loss of interest and such have lasted for at least 6 months, then yes, you could have depression. You could have anxiety disorder as well. Unfortunately these two conditions can affect young children ages 2 to old people age 99. See a Dr. for help.

Q: What should I do if I have social anxiety and depression and I dont have health insurance?
What should I do if I have social anxiety and depression and I dont have health insurance? Where can I get free treatment or meds?I live in California.

A: I agree with the last answer you received, pot or alcohol is not the answer. Look in the directory for free help. People donate money for these kinds of cases all over the US. They donate to help people that cannot afford the high cost of doctors, and medication. You’ll have to research a little, but in the long run it will pay off….
Good luck, and don’t listen to the others.

Q: Who have social anxiety and depression ?
Who have social anxiety and depression ?
you have social anxiety and depression ? are you taking meds is it working and for how long u been taking them ? whats the name of the meds u taking ?

A: Tequila generally helps my social anxiety….

Not so much with the depression.

I am currently on Lexapro and Xanax. The lexapro is an everyday drug for depression and anxiety (mostly anxiety) that is hard to get used to, but once you’re on it it works very well. My xanax is for when my anxiety hits. Xanax puts me in a happy bubble that isn’t over until I wake up. I’ve been on both of these for 6 months

Q: I’m 19 years old and have been dealing with social anxiety and depression?
I’m 19 years old and have been dealing with social anxiety and depression for as long as i can remember. I had a few close friend but got into a huge fight with them a couple of years ago since then i have no life. My social anxiety and depression has caused me to drop out if school when i was in the 10th grade, I never had a job because of my fear of what people are thinking of me and also embarissing myself in front of other people. All i do everyday is wake up watch tv all day and sleep. I feel like im the only one going through this. I want to get my life back on track any one have any advise?

A: You could start out by getting a GED, or go to Job Corps. You could use the diploma to get a job that doesn’t have much interaction (office job?).

If I could suggest going for a walk for thirty minutes a day to burn energy that you might otherwise use worrying about something (I know this sounds out there, but this works for me, and this is really the only explanation I come up with to tie it together, lol.)

Definently talk to a doctor about anti-anxiety medication.

Q: How does depression/social anxiety medication work?
I’m 16 with a pretty bad case of social anxiety. My mom has agreed to use medication, though she is alittle hesitant because of repots that this type of medication gives suicidal thoughts to people under 18.

I’ve been to therapy and though it gave me some good pointers that I use everyday to help me through the social part of my social anxiety, it doesn’t get rid of that “worried” filling that I can sometimes feel continuously. That feeling actually consumes my whole mood at times. The therapy has only helped with talking to people, and even then it has only helped alittle.

But I would like to know more about this type of medication before I actually take it. I’m sure my doctor will tell me some stuff too, but how does it actually work? How will it make me feel better?

A: Hello ‘Dreamer’,

The fact that you have social anxiety disorder is comforting. Your diorder is considered part of a neurotic condition (disordered mood) as opposed to a psychotic condition (disordered thinking/thoughts). The former is easier to treat some believe, and is a less severe diagnosis partly because your symptoms of acute and chronic anxiety in public or social situations is a less severe defecit in functioning than bi-polar disorder (manic depression) or schizophrenia (thought disorder).

Don’t mind the language, so far your symptoms are less severe and obvious to the ‘man on the street’ than other more serious mental disorders. Before we talk about any specific drugs used to treat your disorder, let’s understand two things:

1. Some drugs prescribed by psychiatrists or other medical expert benefit more than one type of mental helath condition. So some drugs used to treat bi-olar disorder also work with schizophrenia, some drugs used to treat depression also have an anti-anxiety effect.
2. Anti-anxiety medications are generally necessary when cognitive/psycho-therapy alone is not successful in enabling the socially anxious person to feel ‘normal’ i.e. much less anxious in social situations (around people or requiring successful performance on some task, like a test, dealing with school, talking up in class, relationships etc).

Some times persons with social anxiety are not completely diagnosed, meaning they are demonstating panic, phobia or signs of a genralized anxiety condition which is persistent worrying or anxiety regarless of whether the socially anxious person is facing a challenge of not. In other words the socially anxious person may have several symptoms which need to go into remission.

Drugs along with therapy further enable symptoms to go into remission or disappear altogether, at least where neurotic disorders are concerned and often cases of psychosis as well. Where social anxiety is concerned the etiology/cause/mechanism of the disorder suggests:

1. A genetic predispostion which strongly suggests aberrant/untypical gene activity at some point of the developmental process or after birth.
2. This in turn creates the biological conditions (defective genes), along with your environment/family life or other circumstances to foster the presentation of mental illness in your case, social anxiety disorder.

What these drugs do is to powerfully alter the unusal symptoms and so tranquilize the nervous system, alter diseased neural pathways, chemical activity in the brain spinal cord and peripheral nervous system activity. In social anxiety you may have an overactive pituitary gland and hypothalamus which along with the endocrine system creates the feelings of fright or flight by producing an overactivity of the endocrine hormone called adrenalin, (the fear hormone). A persistent sense of worry is also linked to thought processes at the subconscious and conscious levels in the brain. Again the drug(s) your doctor will prescribe will function to quiet down your nervous system, make you feel more relaxed and generally happier in terms of your mood generally. You however need to alwasy take your drugs and at the appropriate time in order to reap the maximum benefit from them (and despite any unpleasant side effects tha tmay occur). In most cases they are not a permanent cure and some symptoms can return once you stop drug therapy. More specifically the drugs either increase or prevent the the over-production or under-production of certain chemicals in your brain which migrate between neural cells and neural complexes carrying messages. The cells in the brain are called neurons. Two major neurochemicals tageted in your brain for stabilization of their function are dopamine and seratonin. (please read up on these neuro-brain chemicals) because they do influence your mood and so have to be stabilized.

Hope this helps and was not too medical. Please read a psychology book and look at the section/chapter on abnormal behaviour/psychology. It should help you with easy reading on your condition. I don’t have the time to talk to you about depression i.e. clinical depression. The drug(s) prescribed for you will effectively treat your depression as well as the anxiety. Everybody gets anxious at some time or another so you can improve and possibly eventually
come off your meds. 40% of persons or more also have a down time or depressive episode at some point in their lives . So clinical depression also can disappear. Again talk with your doctor if you feel comfortable to do so. Part of your healing will depend on educating yourself as best you can.

Best of luck and God bless,

Barry H

Q: how to deal with social anxiety and depression?
In June I was diagnosed with social anxiety and major depression. I’m able to work but I have no friends. It’s hard for me to get my thoughts out well. It really bothers me because I do want to make some friends, especially those with the same interests as me. I’ve been like this as long as I can remember. How do I overcome this?
Thanks for the advice so far. I forgot to mention in, I’m currently on Zoloft, started out on 50 mg a day now up to 75 mg since August. I’ve been seeing a therapist since July which has helped somewhat.

A: Fist of all, good for you! You are working hard to change and that’s awesome!! I know how hard it is and have been through it myself. One thing that helped me, which I’m sure your therapist has recommended, is journaling. Write out your feelings and thoughts and just get it all out on paper. It doesn’t have to make sence or look nice or hold anyone’s attention, and to those of us who feel like we do, that’s important! I feel like i have a hard time making friends too, and the only reason i can figure is that i have trust issues. That may be something you are dealing with as well. Its sad to say, but i have to put forth effort to be friendly and tell myself before i go somewhere that i am going to make eye contact and say hello to people i see. Practice at the grocery store…its not that bad, i promise!

Q: What can I do for my social anxiety/depression besides medication and therapy?
I’ve been in therapy and on medication for about a year now, and I don’t think that it’s been doing enough. It’s so hard for me to make close friends and I don’t have a good relationship with my parents, so there isn’t anyone that I can talk to. Please help if you can….

A: Hi,

The 3 best things to do first are to:
- make sure you are getting at least 7 hours sleep a night (and not less or too much more than that – don’t sleep all day)
- exercise a few times a week where you actually sweat, this release nature pain killers and feel good chemicals and can reduce stress
- eat good foods or at least cut out the bad foods. You brain and body gets all the vitamins and minerals that are digested in your stomach and if you don’t give it good foods then you don’t have the fuel to think clearly and you will have less energy to move around…etc.

If you are successfully doing these 3 things and are still having issues, which many us are, then write down how bad you feel and for how long it has lasted… if you feel you can not cope with depression or anxiety or lack of motivation…etc. and it is seriously negatively affecting your life for long periods of time, then yes go talk to your doctor to refer you to a councillor or psychiatrist and one of the best things you can do is look for a local support group for depression or anxiety or lack of motivation…etc. as these have helped me very much. If you go to Craigslist website for your city, you should be able to search for a group. Or call your cities specific crisis hotline and they should be able to give you some group names and other resources you can utilize to help your condition.
My opion of psychiatrists is that although they can usually tell you what you are suffering from or give it a name, they are not so good at treating it naturally or with groups, most of them give you drugs unfortunatley. Drugs are good if you are so deep in depression that you almost can’t work or go to school and you are having longer periods of depression …etc. They can get you out of the hole, but research very carefully what you take as most of them have side effects and some are very hard to get off of once you get onto them.
Before taking any drugs, talk to a support group or join an online support group such as one of the several on yahoo groups or google groups and see what they are talking about and post a question to them as they would have years of experience about that. Then compare what they said to other resources that you may have access to and them make a decision to use drugs or not. For me, just going to my weekly meetings keeps me feeling ok for now and met some good friends I can talk to. There are several other natural ways to fend off mental issues if you study and reseach it. Could be you are not eating properly or have bad digestion or have a thyroid issue …etc.
I would suggest to get a regular phsyical exam done by doctors to see if anything comes from it. Especially test your thryoid and adrenal glands as my sister had a thryoid issue that affect her energy and moods and I had a DHEA and Cortisol level issue (both produced by adrenal glands) where I ended up taking some DHEA suppliments and eating more foods for it, and felt much better.

Hope this helps and take good care of yourself. This will get better if you just put in a littel time and effort and have faith that you can and will get better.

If you feel you can not cope with depression or anxiety or lack of motivation…etc. and it is seriously negatively affecting your life for long periods of time, then yes go talk to your doctor to refer you to a councillor or psychiatrist and one of the best things you can do is look for a local support group for depression or anxiety or lack of motivation…etc. as these have helped me very much. If you go to Craigslist website for your city, you should be able to search for a group. Or call your cities specific crisis hotline and they should be able to give you some group names and other resources you can utilize to help your condition.
My opion of psychiatrists is that although they can usually tell you what you are suffering from or give it a name, they are not so good at treating it naturally or with groups, most of them give you drugs unfortunatley. Drugs are good if you are so deep in depression that you almost can’t work or go to school and you are having longer periods of depression …etc. They can get you out of the hole, but research very carefully what you take as most of them have side effects and some are very hard to get off of once you get onto them.
Before taking any drugs, talk to a support group or join an online support group such as one of the several on yahoo groups or google groups and see what they are talking about and post a question to them as they would have years of experience about that. Then compare what they said to other resources that you may have access to and them make a decision to use drugs or not. For me, just going to my weekly meetings keeps me feeling ok for now and met some good friends I can talk to. There are several other natural ways to fend off mental issues if you study and reseach it. Could be you are not eating properly or have bad digestion or have a thyr

Q: who have social anxiety and depression ?
you have social anxiety and depression ? are you taking meds is it working and for how long u been taking them ? whats the name of the meds u taking ?

A: I’m against meds.
These days there’s a pill for every little problem someone has.
I think the reason you have social anxiety is because you’re afraid what people think of you, therefore you’re not comfortable with yourself. Well, there’s your problem. Until you accept yourself, and like yourself, you’re going to have social anxiety.

Q: Should i tell people at uni, that i have social anxiety & depression?
im going uni this september, and i think i will have to do the introducing game, on the first day, and i dont know if i should say i have social anxiety & depression. it might scared them away, but i want people to like me for who i am!?

A: Be honest, I always respect that. This is a part of who you are and you would probably be surprised of how many are affected by the same things.

Q: Anyone suffering with social anxiety and depression?
I’m 19 years old and have been dealing with social anxiety and depression for as long as i can remember. I had a few close friend but got into a huge fight with them a couple of years ago since then i have no life. My social anxiety and depression has caused me to drop out if school when i was in the 10th grade, I never had a job because of my fear of what people are thinking of me and also embarissing myself in front of other people. All i do everyday is wake up watch tv all day and sleep. I feel like im the only one going through this. I want to get my life back on track any one have any advise? I could also use some friends so anyone can email me.

A: You need to see a psychiatrist and a therapist. Go to your county social services office an apply for medicaid. Once approved, go to the county mental health office and ask for an evaluation. They can set you up in a day program that will help you to deal with your social anxiety and depression. Also, you will go to group therapy sessions that will help you. It is a good place for you to make friends. When you are ready, they can set you up with a job in a sheltered workshop. It is like practicing for a real job. You have work to do, but you will not be fired if you can’t do it. There is a counselor there who can help you with work related issues.

First step: apply for Medicaid.

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