Question:
Hi all,

I've got a serious problem... I have stress near panic-attack levels over really stupid stuff. I can go from perfectly fine to shaking and sobbing in just a few seconds if the smallest thing goes wrong...

The other day, for example, I was talking to my girlfriend in my dorm room and she was sitting in my chair (I was standing). I kneeled down to be at eye level with her, but I hit my knee on the chair... not a big deal--it didn't even hurt that badly. However, I, unprovoked, turned around and punched the wooden frame of my bed and kicked the chair across the room (thank God she jumped out of the chair when I hit the bed). I started screaming in anger, then I just started crying...

More recently (just this past Sunday) I was driving my parents somewhere on the interstate and when I took the wrong turn after my exit, my entire body started shaking. I knew I couldn't drive, so I pulled over. Unfortunately my car is a manual and theirs an automatic, so I just threw it in park at like 10 miles per hour. Mom started screaming at me to calm down, and when I told her I was trying, she kept yelling at me, saying "You don't have to try. You just do it!" It's not that easy for me, though... I can't "just" relax. I got out of the car and made my dad drive the rest of the day... I just sat in the passenger seat and cried quietly for a few minutes (not because they yelled at me, but because my nerves were shot).

Then today, in line in the cafeteria, I started to freak out because I only had an hour to eat and go to work... I started shaking and sweating, but here's the thing... it only takes me 20 minutes to eat and 7-10 minutes to walk to work. I had more than enough time, and I still panicked. I sat down at a table and (I bet you saw this coming) cried for a minute. I forced myself to stop crying when my girlfriend got there, but I couldn't eat at all (rare for a big eater like me). We went outside and I cried for a few more minutes as I tried to calm myself down.

I get so stressed about simple things and one of three things happens:
1) I shake and cry for a while
2) I get angry and lash out at someone, then I cry
3) I bottle it up and it eats at me for hours

I can't control it, either. Even in the moment, I know in my mind that it's unreasonable, but I still can't control myself. I still panic and I still get upset about nothing.

I've been thinking about going to see the campus counsellors, but I'm afraid to do that. I don't want them to put me on some medication to deal with my anxiety that makes me a completely different person. I just want to be me without all this pointless anxiety.

Any advice? What should I do? How can I deal with this?
Answer:
You need to see a doctor first, to make sure you're okay medically. Lots of things can trigger panic attacks.
If it's not medical (chemical, nutritional, etc.), a couselor will have some good suggestions for helping you begin to deal with the panic feelings.
Either way, it's okay to get professional help. Go get it.
Answer:
My problem was physical.
I sat in the doctor's office.
The doctor said: "Take medicine."
I said: "Let me do it myself without medicine."
The doctor shook his head at me. "Take the medicine."
Me: "Let me do it myself."
Doctor: "I take medicine because I do not want to get sick later on."
Me: "Just let me try it myself without medicine for a few months."
The doctor shook his head at me.
A few months later, I was in the hospital. Now I take the medicine.
Medicine is our friend. I used to be afraid of it too. It's nothing to be afraid or ashamed of.
A friend of mine takes medicine for anxiety problems and it really helps her.
TAKE THE MEDICINE. See the doctor first of course. If you don't like the medicine, you can always go off of it. Just give it a try.
Answer:
Originally Posted by finchfeeder TAKE THE MEDICINE. See the doctor first of course. If you don't like the medicine, you can always go off of it. Just give it a try. the arguement I've heard against medication is: but I don't want to turn into someone else ((altered personality.)) Isn't the reason you're considering medication b/c you're turning into someone else?
I'm... an outsider I guess you could say. Just a bit of curiousity...
Answer:
There is more than one side to a personality, danalyn. For example, my roommate is on medication for depression and ADD... it helps with both of those, but he has absolutely no sex drive.

No, sex is not my main concern, but the point is that medicines that fix one thing often break something else. It's called a side effect and every medication that has ever been developed has them. Some just make you sleepy, others make you angry, others make you withdraw from people. I don't want THOSE things to change. I don't want to ADD another problem by fixing one.
Answer:
You might as well at least go talk to a doctor - that doesn't commit you to taking medicine. Hear what the doctor has to say and what the side effects of the medicine he suggests are, and then you can make your decision. Or maybe he'll decide it can be treated by counseling or something and you won't even need medicine. You have nothing to lose by just seeing what the doctor has to say.
Answer:
thanks for the answer, BWyatt! that helps.
Answer:
BWyatt,
The side effects might not be that bad. They may not even show up at all. The doctor should watch over you, your friends can give you feedback and so can your family. You will be able to feel it for yourself.
It's your life and you can do what you want but you really do not have to suffer the way that you are suffering now.