Hello I'm new here, this is my story....

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-05-2007
Hello I'm new here, this is my story....
3
Thu, 04-05-2007 - 8:26am

Hello all! I'm writing to you all from Canada. I thought I would share my story and see if maybe anyone could give me some advice or maybe share their thoughts on my situation.

I was diagnosed with panic disorder when I was 13 years old. That would be 23 years ago. Over the years I have seen many doctors, been on many different meds and tried many different therapies. Some have worked, some haven't. I have had good times and bad times and for the longest time I was able to control the panic attacks and live a fairly normal life. My problem is the phobias that come along with the panic attacks. I have developed several over the years and have been quite successful in overcoming most of them.

About 5 years ago, I started to get scared of being alone. My husband would go off to work and I would spend the entire day in a panic, when he got home I would be fine until around bedtime when I would start panicking about the next day. For a while I had a friend that would come over during the day and "babysit" me until my husband got home. After a while of this, we decided we should move (we were in the "big city" and I could not go anywhere) to a smaller town. The move was great and I started going out more (always with my husband) and we made new friends, but my fear of being alone was so bad that my husband could not work and had to stay home with me.

It is now 4 years since we moved here and as amazing as my husband is with taking care of me, I cannot live like this anymore. About 3 months ago I started seeing a local mental health therapist and I go to see a new phsycologist(sp?) on the 24th but I am very interested in alternative therapies. When I was 15 or 16 an amazing Dr. I had used hypnotism and it worked wonders. I would love to learn meditation and any other alternative therapies. I would also like to hear if anyone else suffers from this as well.

Well, that is my story in a nutshell! Thanks for reading.

PS. The phobia I am suffering from is called Autophobia (fear of being alone)

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-22-2003
Thu, 04-05-2007 - 9:55pm

We're in chat from 9 pm - 11 pm est, if you want to join us!

Sheri Ann

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Thu, 04-05-2007 - 11:44pm

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Hi! Welcome to our caring community. You are NOT alone.


I have had spells in the past when I was terrified to be alone & had my mom or a friend stay with me. In fact, up until about a year ago, I was never alone because of my dd's. I was afraid to let them both go on the same night for overnights with friends, etc. But, I began doing it on Saturday nights & have worked through this fear to the point that I welcome my time alone. I took it in small steps. Had back-up plans, ie friends who would expect a call if I needed to reach out. Made certain that I was relaxed, well rested & followed a routine each night that was very reassuring. Also, I made sure

 

 


 



iVillage Member
Registered: 05-27-2003
Fri, 04-06-2007 - 11:11am

hi and welcome to the board.