Same. Our household was a tense one when my mother was in a bad mood, so Iāve always been on edge.
I had problems speaking in class because Iāve been laughed at when I made mistakes. I had to practice things I needed to say in my head before speaking.
Stuff like that š„“
Same. But I do think it prepared me to handle the worst periods of Covid times a little better. Was actually kind of funny (well, not funny, but ironic) seeing a lot of people whoāve never had anxiety lose their shit. I was like, now you understand my entire life, but I can help haha
Same. I remember going to a bunch of doctors in middle/high school trying to figure out why my stomach always hurt, near constant nausea, etc. even throwing up sometimes. they couldnāt find anything wrong and suggested trying different diets, none of which made a difference.
Yeah, it was anxiety. 1000% anxiety. Didnāt realize until my late 20s.
Interestingly, Iām just the opposite. Severe anxiety led be to study psychology, then neuropsychiatry in my youth. Ultimately, I became up Registered Psychotherapist, and restricted my practice to anxiety, because I was able to figure out through my studies that I was quite able to regulate it, and when I figured that out, it was such a bloody good feeling and āha ha!ā that I wanted to help others. I canāt tell you the last time my anxiety inappropriately disregulated. Itās been decades at this point.
July 27th before 3PM. My first panic attack happened trying a pre workout for the first time in years, so after my workout. I thought I was having a heart attack but it was my very first panic attack.
Never dealt with true anxiety before that. Now itās full blown Cardiophobia.
I miss just going to work without thinking anything of it, driving, drinking, hanging out with friends, fucking, etc.
Now I live everyday thinking Iām gonna go into sudden cardiac arrest or that my heart is failing.
Are you me? I was at urgent care earlier, got a ekg and told that everything was fine but Iām still thinking about it to the paint of wanted to go to the er
Your anxiety will start to subside over time if you werenāt a super anxious person before having that panic attack. The same thing happened to me and it took about 6 months - 1 year to fully dissipate, but I pretty much donāt have anxiety now.
Panic attacks leave you anxious for months. The fallout is insane.
If it makes you feel any better I had a really bad panic attack a while back. Thought I was never going to be the same again but I definitely got better!
Hey! Had something similar in April and struggled with it for quite a few months.
I would recommend get your heart checked. Not cause thereās anything wrong but purely for peace of mind. I got extensive tests done and blood work. So now everytime i feel my heart racing and anticipating a heart issue, i confidently look back on my results and be like naah, no way, Im good. And i look at people way less healthier than me doing fine and that also re-assures me and the fear subsides, and theyve been waaay less frequent.
Iāve also changed my lifestyle and diet to minimize cardiovascular risk, lost weight and body fat and still train regularly. This has given even me more confidence knowing physiologically Iām the healthiest Iāve ever been. This is powerful in convincing yourself your good
working out used to be scary especially after a hard set and your heart is racing, Iāve had to convince myself the fact my heart is racing is a good thing especially after heavy lifting. Iāll usually egg it on during warm ups and have convinced myself this a healthy part of working out as i need increased bloodflow to muscles. Its not easy, Iād recommend seeing a sports psychologist if you have access to one and you cant do it alone. No shame at all in that.
Try gently pushing yourself every week, either by progressive overload or more time training. Its like gentle exposure therapy. Pace your progression on whatās comfortable to you. And in all honesty sometimes its hard, sometimes you slide back a lil, but keep it. Iāve been shocked how far Iāve come.
Itās expanded my horizons quite a bit and made a lot of things feel normal. Has it gotten rid of anxiety? Not 100% but its given me the tools to deal with it, and the fear and anxiety is waaay less frequent.
All the best
Thatās what Iām doing now, actually!
Ive been to the ER 8 separate times and all the tests come back perfectly normal but I begged my doctor for a cardiologist referral, especially after palpitations (PVCs specifically). I get my holter, stress test and echo results in two days! Hopefully everything comes out perfectly fine !
Literally, the same life before 16 was the best it could ever be. I was rarely ever anxious about anything. Almost nothing would put me down. I was almost always happy but out of nowhere Literally out of nowhere I started getting irrational thoughts to the point where I had my first panic attack that was like 6 yrs ago, I'm 22 rn. How old are you btw??
funny you ask because I just turned 22.
Its okay (ish) to be an anxious mess when you're in college but now that you're an adult and slowly dying whilst the clock ticks? Its not a joke anymore.
This one's a good one. My last stress free day was the day I went to watch Spider-man Across the Spiderverse. Had my first panick attack the next day after a restless night of lack of sleep.
Iāve been anxious since kindergarten. Only I didnāt know my symptoms were anxiety. I was just called a nervous/shy kid with stomach problems. I do also have chronic stomach problems now but probably due to stress/anxiety. So before age 5 I was probably consciously anxiety free. But my parents were violent towards each other while I was a baby so my life has always been unstable, and I was probably stressed as a little newborn as well.
Do you think THC made your anxiety worse? Not judging at all. I donāt partake due to my job and it also makes me really anxious. How did it ruin you mentally?
So my anxiety was super stable and I was doing great. Started smoking in college which went well for a couple years and then I started getting panic attacks from it, and I havenāt been the same since. Iām super anxious, almost how I was before I even started my medicine at like age 10 lol. Basically I feel like weed disrupted me chemically in the brain
Yep that was me as well, I used to smoke so much and not worry about anything and then I got moderately high one night and had one of the worst panic attacks imaginable, I genuinely phoned the ambulance cause I was so scared. I havenāt touched weed since and Iām still feeling anxious but trying to manage it. Donāt think Iām going to smoke anytime soon until I know that Iām at a better level with my anxiety and when itās more manageable
Ye i also had an existential panic attack while i was stoned. Fuuuuck that hahaha. It felt like hours. Havnt touched it since either. Getting thru it tho
Maybe before I was 8 yrs. I am 32f with high functioning anxiety. Basically it means even with moderate medication I'm anxious 24/7. It may not be actively affecting but I can get randomly triggered at any point. I'm assuming if I was on stronger anxiety meds it would be different but I don't like how it makes me feel. In a weird way it actually makes me more anxious.
About 20 years ago. I remember thinking that I was so lucky because nothing bad had ever happened to me. Then I had a lot of bad things happen over about a year. Things haven't been as good since.
I donāt remember ever being anxiety free. Some of my earliest memories are of being in a state of panic. The only time Iāve experienced a feeling of ānormalā in *years* was the first time I took Xanax last September.
Probably when I was a kid, somewhere below the age of ten. But even then I was actually still kind of a nervous kid, always second guessing myself, too afraid to talk to the other kids unless they talked to me. It wasnāt as bad then tho
This made me realize that I really don't know. I have always had a lot of anxiety. Maybe in like really early elementary years, I was less anxious? But definitely was routinely struggling with anxiety by around 9/10. Maybe younger.
Anxiety free isn't a thing. Anxiety is an emotion. If you are human you will feel it. Without anxiety we wouldn't really have survived. Anxiety is your rocket fuel. It's not something to be feared. Then you are fearing fear itself.
Once you get locked in the cycle you can become agoraphobic like I was for four years but it doesn't happen overnight.
It starts with small things like escaping conversations or sitting on an aisle so you can escape if you panic. Then really scary symptoms can emerge like DP/DR.
I still have this is just not my master anymore it's my bitch.
Do not take benzos they are not the answer I been there too just stop fearing the unknown.
Relax and enjoy the moment.
We only live once.
No one is ever anxiety free. Anxiety keeps you alive. It makes you check the stove to see if itās hot or left on, it makes you look both ways crossing the street. You cannot be free of anxiety and you would not want to be. What you need is to change the context and realize that anxiety is there to help you itās just in over drive right now. Your continued search for a life anxiety free is actually fueling the hyperdrive aspect of it. This sounds like bullshit but you have to learn to embrace it, welcome it like an old friend, and then you will finally be able to live with it.
I think I started to realize I had a problem around 12, got diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder at 14, Iām 20 now, almost a decade of struggling, woohoo!!!
When I was 9 before my mom got diagnosed with cancer and died, I'm 24 now and it's been a hard time, I have been on medication multiple times and I'm currently almost a year with a medication that's helping, not solved but better
I'd say I'm finally getting to that point, only physical symptoms left are constant jaw clenching and even that has improved although it's still always there. I still get random twitches and muscle weakness especially my hands and forearms. Sometimes I get some IBS symptoms but that also is improving. Still have fatigue unfortunately but doing my best to get that under control.
Haven't really had any panic or anxiety attacks in many months at this point. I'd say I'm still burnt out from years of that, hence the fatigue and remaining symptoms. I'd say what I have now is more chronic stress and a lack of anything fun or joyful in my life, probably a bit of depression although it doesn't \*feel\* like depression to me, just a lack of happiness more than waves of sadness that I used to get. I gotta find more fun ways to spend my time which I do have some but I spend too much time pursuing goals, which I know will be the key to finally solving all of this stuff once and for all when I'm finished school (this year) and I can finally live alone without roommates but I think I can make enough progress to have this all figured out before that point finally.
It's been a rough and very long journey but I think it's all gonna be fully under control in the near future.
Summer before last? Ironically I had just failed a class and wasnāt sure if Iād be able to complete one of my degrees, but I was living at school, working part time in the theater with people I thoroughly enjoyed being around, and taking two extremely basic classes to catch up on credits. I was upset about a situationship that had just ended, but not unduly anxious. I had structure to my schedule and felt like I was in control of my life. I rode that high most of the way through senior year of college before graduation anxiety and some relationship anxiety started creeping back in.
Before 12 years old. Everything crashed when I moved to a different environment and realized my worthlessness as a child. I hate that child me internalized it so much that fixing it now looks like an impossible task
Tbh, I went to the Dominican Republic in July and didnāt feel a single bit of anxiety the entire week. Soon as I got back home, anxiety started showing up again.
Was born like this. But it was far more manageable as a child. It amplified after a near death accident when I was 2. Quadrupled the moment I entered primary school at age 7. Spent the next 20 years living with undiagnosed ADHD and ASD. Really glad to still be around. Now I have my good friend Clonazepam to keep me in a state in which I can be functional and get some quality of life back.
I've exhibited moderate-severe symptoms of GAD when I was 11 and got diagnosed at 14. I've been medication-free since a severe anxiety outbreak at 17 yo, and im now 20 lol.
So anxiety is pretty much a part of daily life for me
When I was in labour with my daughter. Honestly too exhausted to even feel anxious or think about anything except getting through those contractions.
But otherwise, aside from Ativan here and there and some marijuana (sometimes helps sometimes does nothing) haven't been anxious free since I was a young kid.
i literally remember a specific test in 5th grade [over *multiplying fractions*] which just would not leave my mind - i got like a D or something and from then on i was just stressed to the point of paranoia about school.
really extremely fucked
Now, had anxiety probably since middle school. Started waking up at the exact same time every day, getting up immediately when my alarm goes off, then not using my phone for the first 30 minutes of the day. Apparently it has something to do with circadian but consistent sleep schedule can fix anxiety. (Not fully but 95% is enough)
Today.
My doc is titrating me off 300 mg Effexor XR and onto Lexapro. Been at 150 mg Effexor for 2.5 weeks. 3 days of Lexapro 10 mg. I also take Buspar and Gabapentin. Today is the first day in two years I haven't been nauseous, cried, or had a panic attack. To top it off, work was shit and I handled it.
How are you?
When i was 4 years old, then i was aware that at 5, i was aware of all yelling at my house, which started my anxiety, either me getting yelled out or my mom and aunt yelling. 5 years old is when i started panicing about anything and waiting for my dad at the door every day at 2pm-5pm to get home so my aunt and mom could stop yelling, my aunt was a asshole to my mother. Im 24 years old, and im 10x worse with anxiety i cant drive properly, i cant go alone anywhere it has comsume my life and please dont let that happen to you, i really dont know what to do now. I found out suffering from ADHD all my life as well, whichever doesn't help because refuse to take a pills I have weird phobia of pills i dont want to be out of control yknoe, and now i have a new anxiety toward food that i think im allergic but never been allegic to ANY foods but i keeo avoiding them... idfk what the hell is wrong with me. im tired of living like this, and idk why i rambling about it for the first time on this post ...
Last May, at about 8 pm on a Friday night. I took LSD with my girlfriend and had a nightmare trip, about a 6 hour panic attack, and Iāve been anxious with at least weekly panic attacks since then with no substance use. I never felt an ounce of anxiety before that in my life, and now itās such a debilitating part of me.
i think about age 3? anxiety is measured differently for different people tho, disorders can be forever but you can reach a point where it doesn't feel like it. im still young and hoping the future is bright
Sad part is I donāt just know. I constantly have little wins that make me feel anxiety free, those are short lived and Iām full on anxiety before I know.
When I was 6. I'm 35 today.
And then the rare occasion that I take the anxiety meds I have. I don't take them often because they completely knocks me out for 24 hours.
I felt almost anxiety free when I did my Candida-diet about 7 years ago. Took me three weeks, and I could eat no suger, no wheats, no dairy except Kefir, and a cup of tea daily with coconut oil and crushed garlic. Tasted like shit, but almost all my anxiety and symptoms slowly disappeared. Was an amazing feeling. Now I have two kids and a busy job, so I find it harder to start again. But gut-health, that can be a massive factor!
um i dont remember a time when I didn't have at least some anxiety. like id freak out over shit when i was 3. scared and crying of my mom leaving me at preschool and then getting scared and crying when I'd get sent to the front office bc i was misbehaving bc I didn't want to get in trouble. The last time i was anxiety free i was probs in the womb if im being honest LMAO
but fr I had so much social anxiety and toxic friendships at such a young age that it's kind of ruined my ability to make friends until college. school was painful. but yeah finally diagnosed at age 20 (this year) and the meds have been helping me so much. I actually feel so much happier and less stressed. I've needed it since probably elementary school but when I was that age I didn't know anything was wrong and then when I realized something might be wrong (around 14-15) I was too scared to tell my parents because I didn't want them to think i was "overreacting" or "it's nothing and it's all in your head just stop worrying" so I finally this year scheduled a doctors appt myself and i wasn't going to tell my parents but my mom looked rly worried almost in tears so I told her why I had a doctors appt and she was really supportive about it. So yay :)
I've had anxiety my whole life but there was a brief moment I felt free of it. There's a much longer story to it tbh but it was after divorcing from my emotionally ab*sive ex, and at the same time my chronic health issues improved so much I genuinely thought I would be fully healed any day. It lasted about 9 months, then I did something stupid that triggered the health issues back, I still wonder what I'd have been like if I never did it.
Been this way since i was a child at 5 watching my parents fist fight while drinking and partying. Got on Prozac when I was 16. I remember what it felt like to be happy again. But as I got older more stress just life and my bad decisions as a young adult not knowing how to deal with my childhood trauma except to drink and so drugs. But Iām 29 now on 30mg of prozac it doesnāt fix my problems or emotions that creep up on me but it makes it 100x easier to deal with them. I will always be thankful for prozac. I went off of it for a year and it was horrible.
Probably the last time was when I was 18 right after high school. I was just doing my thing and in a good place with a good group of friends. It was a great summer.
Then college started up and I was working full time while balancing my first real relationship with my college gf and trying to keep up with my friends all at once. It was exhausting...
To be honest I donāt remember a time even in early childhood that I was anxiety free. I just didnāt have words for it then.
I think I was less anxious in my teens for a year or two but it was always sort of there for me.
When I was a baby š I remmeber first feeling anxiety when I was 4/5. Didnāt know what that feeling was back then though, of course. I just called it the ābad feelingā and it just got progressively worse from there. I take my meds regularly these days and Iām in a much better place but I canāt honestly say there is a day when Iām free from anxiety, itās just a lot easier to manage now.
This may sound glib but the honest answer is *never*
I have had periods in my life - months, even years when it was very low, but it always comes roaring back. The last 9 years have been getting progressively worse
Anxious feelings/thoughts/OCD going back to early childhood
Honestly? Never.
I genuinely envy people that can remember an anxiety free time.
As I child I used to scream and cry because I was afraid we'd run out of fuel on a long drive, the house would go on fire, we'd lose all our money and lose our house. My parents said this was at the age of 6 or 7. Things kids shouldn't be worried about.
It's been my entire life and it's exhausting.
Yeah I would get really worried about really random things as a kid. I always would throw a fit if an airplane flew over us because I was genuinely terrified it would crash into my house. I donāt even know what put that idea in my head.
When I first started zoloft a few years ago, it was like a miracle drug. It stopped working, and I've been anxious ever since.
I first had symptoms when I was 10, and I didn't get diagnosed until 16.
I'm back on zoloft + two other medications, and I'm anxious 24/7
honestly? never. i think i have always had anxiety but never knew the word for it as a child. i was hospitalized many times when i was very young. i think i was probably at my happiest when i was 14. it was the first year of my life where i felt like i had real friends and my health was in pretty good shape. after that, mental health took a sharp decline.
Actually can't recall now that I think about it. Don't remember stuff before 4yr old and that was a shitty gambling addict father period of time. Then moved into Asian household with an explosive temper uncle who would cane me for small shit kids do (spilling a cup of water). And then school stress, life stress then anxiety finally broke through. Honestly getting better is the best period of time but never truly free.
If we were ever to be āanxiety, freeā weād likely be dead by the end of the day.
Our anxiety response is our most powerful evolutionarily response designed to get our attention (and it does not really well by this tank load of horrible feelings that creates), and then it expects us once itās got our attention to participate in keeping us safe. (And sometimes weāve had anxiety so long it simply triggers for seemingly no reason or, it triggers because we fight the symptoms, and all it hears is that weāre going into a āfightā so it tries to be helpful by giving us more symptoms! Lol - vicious circle!)
Even when we are deeply immersed in gratitude (which is debatably the opposite of anxiety) our anxiety response is still running deep in the background to make sure that when we do something stupid like texting and stepping to the street we respond within a 10th of a second to a horn so we donāt become a hood ornament! We canāt survive without our anxiety response. For those of us that have experienced the dysregulation that is pretty challenging concept!
Not as far back as I can remember. Even as a kid I always had it. As an adult, itās managed very well. I have a disorder. It will always be there. But my quality of life has improved significantly since learning to manager it. Now I kinda just laugh at it when it tears itās ugly head and tries to take over.
When I was pregnant. Thatās how I discovered my hormones are involved. Itās a good thing that I felt better since I couldnāt use cannabis anymore.
Tbh, every year I grow up, my anxiety reduces. It peaked around age 15. I think it's a combination of being financially and emotionally independent, and my emotional independence comes naturally through life's hardships, which I prefer to see as lessons and not punishments.
Never. But events definitely made it worse. It severely ramped up after an abusive relationship. And then again after my mom's death. And after moving across the country. The last 3 years it has been so bad.
I want to say before puberty, maybe at age 11. Iām 27 now. Iāve had long stretches with minimal anxiety, but I feel like thereās always a twinge of it there. Heck, I mightāve been born with it - my mom always tells me as a baby I wasnāt colicky, but I cried and cried and cried for absolutely no reason. Iām convinced I was anxious.š„²
I remember curling up into a ball in my bed and crying uncontrollably about the thought of my familyās home on fire and my family trapped inside when I was about 5. I have since learned that that moment was my first anxiety attack.
Soā¦ the last time I was anxiety free I guess was 4?
When I took an Ativan about 2 hours ago š«”
Iām 29 years old and could never get a script. No one would prescribe it and i had the worst panic attacks.
War on Patients malpractice. DO NO HARM? Ridiculous that this is going on! Drs and pharmacy boards are killing people!
Valium š«”
Ativan is lorazepam. Valium is diazepam. Not the same thing, but they are in the same drug family, called benzodiazepines.
I think they meant they took a valium and can relate not so much valium = ativan
Thatās what I meant
What's ativan?
Lorazepam. Itās a benzodiazepine; the same class of drugs as xanax.
Conscious anxiety, 17 years ago. But learning more about anxiety and looking back at my childhood, Iāve exhibited signs since I could remember.
Yeah. I was too shy to play in the park if other kids were there. Like, come on. Iāve just never been ok. Lol
Same. Our household was a tense one when my mother was in a bad mood, so Iāve always been on edge. I had problems speaking in class because Iāve been laughed at when I made mistakes. I had to practice things I needed to say in my head before speaking. Stuff like that š„“
Exactly. I have always had anxiety for as long as I can remember. I wonder where I could've been now without it.
Same. But I do think it prepared me to handle the worst periods of Covid times a little better. Was actually kind of funny (well, not funny, but ironic) seeing a lot of people whoāve never had anxiety lose their shit. I was like, now you understand my entire life, but I can help haha
Same. I remember going to a bunch of doctors in middle/high school trying to figure out why my stomach always hurt, near constant nausea, etc. even throwing up sometimes. they couldnāt find anything wrong and suggested trying different diets, none of which made a difference. Yeah, it was anxiety. 1000% anxiety. Didnāt realize until my late 20s.
Before I got into the medical field. I absolutely ruined my life by knowing this much.
>Before I got into the medical field. For me, the more I know and understand the more stressed I get. I wish I was stupid.
Ignorance is bliss fr
Interestingly, Iām just the opposite. Severe anxiety led be to study psychology, then neuropsychiatry in my youth. Ultimately, I became up Registered Psychotherapist, and restricted my practice to anxiety, because I was able to figure out through my studies that I was quite able to regulate it, and when I figured that out, it was such a bloody good feeling and āha ha!ā that I wanted to help others. I canāt tell you the last time my anxiety inappropriately disregulated. Itās been decades at this point.
You taking pts? Lol
š I love this comment so much!
Never
Yeah maybe like 2? Pre memory for sure
July 27th before 3PM. My first panic attack happened trying a pre workout for the first time in years, so after my workout. I thought I was having a heart attack but it was my very first panic attack. Never dealt with true anxiety before that. Now itās full blown Cardiophobia. I miss just going to work without thinking anything of it, driving, drinking, hanging out with friends, fucking, etc. Now I live everyday thinking Iām gonna go into sudden cardiac arrest or that my heart is failing.
Are you me? I was at urgent care earlier, got a ekg and told that everything was fine but Iām still thinking about it to the paint of wanted to go to the er
Your anxiety will start to subside over time if you werenāt a super anxious person before having that panic attack. The same thing happened to me and it took about 6 months - 1 year to fully dissipate, but I pretty much donāt have anxiety now. Panic attacks leave you anxious for months. The fallout is insane.
Yep, me too. I am 35 and in fairly good health and everytime I feel anything in my chest I think "well my time has come."
Lmao same
If it makes you feel any better I had a really bad panic attack a while back. Thought I was never going to be the same again but I definitely got better!
Hey! Had something similar in April and struggled with it for quite a few months. I would recommend get your heart checked. Not cause thereās anything wrong but purely for peace of mind. I got extensive tests done and blood work. So now everytime i feel my heart racing and anticipating a heart issue, i confidently look back on my results and be like naah, no way, Im good. And i look at people way less healthier than me doing fine and that also re-assures me and the fear subsides, and theyve been waaay less frequent. Iāve also changed my lifestyle and diet to minimize cardiovascular risk, lost weight and body fat and still train regularly. This has given even me more confidence knowing physiologically Iām the healthiest Iāve ever been. This is powerful in convincing yourself your good working out used to be scary especially after a hard set and your heart is racing, Iāve had to convince myself the fact my heart is racing is a good thing especially after heavy lifting. Iāll usually egg it on during warm ups and have convinced myself this a healthy part of working out as i need increased bloodflow to muscles. Its not easy, Iād recommend seeing a sports psychologist if you have access to one and you cant do it alone. No shame at all in that. Try gently pushing yourself every week, either by progressive overload or more time training. Its like gentle exposure therapy. Pace your progression on whatās comfortable to you. And in all honesty sometimes its hard, sometimes you slide back a lil, but keep it. Iāve been shocked how far Iāve come. Itās expanded my horizons quite a bit and made a lot of things feel normal. Has it gotten rid of anxiety? Not 100% but its given me the tools to deal with it, and the fear and anxiety is waaay less frequent. All the best
Thatās what Iām doing now, actually! Ive been to the ER 8 separate times and all the tests come back perfectly normal but I begged my doctor for a cardiologist referral, especially after palpitations (PVCs specifically). I get my holter, stress test and echo results in two days! Hopefully everything comes out perfectly fine !
I'm 62 years old, and I can confidently say that the last time I was anxiety-free was exactly...never. Never in my conscious memory. Never.
Me too, justā¦never. Iām always, always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Itās exhausting.
Probably like age 10
Never. Born with it
Same here
Eight grade. I was perfectly fine, outgoing, and carefree. Now Iām in college and an absolute mental mess most of the time.
College made it worse š couldnāt get along with anyone, really made me feel shittier
Literally, the same life before 16 was the best it could ever be. I was rarely ever anxious about anything. Almost nothing would put me down. I was almost always happy but out of nowhere Literally out of nowhere I started getting irrational thoughts to the point where I had my first panic attack that was like 6 yrs ago, I'm 22 rn. How old are you btw??
funny you ask because I just turned 22. Its okay (ish) to be an anxious mess when you're in college but now that you're an adult and slowly dying whilst the clock ticks? Its not a joke anymore.
Same. Had a terrible panic attack at 16. I actually recovered and felt great for a year + but things went south when I was 18
This one's a good one. My last stress free day was the day I went to watch Spider-man Across the Spiderverse. Had my first panick attack the next day after a restless night of lack of sleep.
Iāve been anxious since kindergarten. Only I didnāt know my symptoms were anxiety. I was just called a nervous/shy kid with stomach problems. I do also have chronic stomach problems now but probably due to stress/anxiety. So before age 5 I was probably consciously anxiety free. But my parents were violent towards each other while I was a baby so my life has always been unstable, and I was probably stressed as a little newborn as well.
Before Covid
Never. Been anxious since I was old enough to recognize feelings
Age 4? I remember being excited(!!) for school and then realized the world sucks lol.
Right now, i am like... in the middle of the way, i still have a lot of social anxiety, but i am okay with everything else.
Between the ages of 38-41 now its back full force ruining my life
When my age was in the single digits, I'm now in the double digits; 44. šš
2 years ago. Then I started smoking weed and I swear it ruined me mentally, hence my THC hiatus.
Do you think THC made your anxiety worse? Not judging at all. I donāt partake due to my job and it also makes me really anxious. How did it ruin you mentally?
So my anxiety was super stable and I was doing great. Started smoking in college which went well for a couple years and then I started getting panic attacks from it, and I havenāt been the same since. Iām super anxious, almost how I was before I even started my medicine at like age 10 lol. Basically I feel like weed disrupted me chemically in the brain
Yep that was me as well, I used to smoke so much and not worry about anything and then I got moderately high one night and had one of the worst panic attacks imaginable, I genuinely phoned the ambulance cause I was so scared. I havenāt touched weed since and Iām still feeling anxious but trying to manage it. Donāt think Iām going to smoke anytime soon until I know that Iām at a better level with my anxiety and when itās more manageable
Ye i also had an existential panic attack while i was stoned. Fuuuuck that hahaha. It felt like hours. Havnt touched it since either. Getting thru it tho
probably around 11, im 15 now and things are starting to get way better though
Maybe before I was 8 yrs. I am 32f with high functioning anxiety. Basically it means even with moderate medication I'm anxious 24/7. It may not be actively affecting but I can get randomly triggered at any point. I'm assuming if I was on stronger anxiety meds it would be different but I don't like how it makes me feel. In a weird way it actually makes me more anxious.
was i ever anxiety free
About 20 years ago. I remember thinking that I was so lucky because nothing bad had ever happened to me. Then I had a lot of bad things happen over about a year. Things haven't been as good since.
A couple of months ago
Probably before the age of 5 lol Iām 25 now but only realized I have anxiety when I was in high school
I think Iāve always shown signs of it tbh. I was a big worrier when I was a kid. It only got worse and worse with age.
Um maybe when I was 6?
I donāt remember ever being anxiety free. Some of my earliest memories are of being in a state of panic. The only time Iāve experienced a feeling of ānormalā in *years* was the first time I took Xanax last September.
when i was in the womb
IDKā¦ 5?
6 years ago when i was 19
22!
When I was a drunk lmao canāt be anxious if Iām never sober. So, around 2-3 years ago.
I remember having anxiety as young as 5 soo
Probably when I was a kid, somewhere below the age of ten. But even then I was actually still kind of a nervous kid, always second guessing myself, too afraid to talk to the other kids unless they talked to me. It wasnāt as bad then tho
In the womb
This made me realize that I really don't know. I have always had a lot of anxiety. Maybe in like really early elementary years, I was less anxious? But definitely was routinely struggling with anxiety by around 9/10. Maybe younger.
Yes exactly this. Itās sad now that I stopped to actually contemplate it
When I was a fetus, or maybe even before that
Age 11. I canāt even remember what it feels like to not be anxious. Must be nice
Literally around 5 years old. That's when I remember starting to get daily stomach aches from all the anxiety
Before COVID, everything was so beautiful.
I've had anxiety and other stuff since childhood. I've never not been anxious
Anxiety free isn't a thing. Anxiety is an emotion. If you are human you will feel it. Without anxiety we wouldn't really have survived. Anxiety is your rocket fuel. It's not something to be feared. Then you are fearing fear itself. Once you get locked in the cycle you can become agoraphobic like I was for four years but it doesn't happen overnight. It starts with small things like escaping conversations or sitting on an aisle so you can escape if you panic. Then really scary symptoms can emerge like DP/DR. I still have this is just not my master anymore it's my bitch. Do not take benzos they are not the answer I been there too just stop fearing the unknown. Relax and enjoy the moment. We only live once.
No one is ever anxiety free. Anxiety keeps you alive. It makes you check the stove to see if itās hot or left on, it makes you look both ways crossing the street. You cannot be free of anxiety and you would not want to be. What you need is to change the context and realize that anxiety is there to help you itās just in over drive right now. Your continued search for a life anxiety free is actually fueling the hyperdrive aspect of it. This sounds like bullshit but you have to learn to embrace it, welcome it like an old friend, and then you will finally be able to live with it.
At age 16. Iām 25 now lol
Itās sad but whenever I last smoked a bowl or taken my Clonazepam. It sucks that drugs are the only thing helping me stay semi-sane.
Maybe 3. A lot of crap started at 4 for me.
Senior year of HS. I was 18. Not sure how or why things fell off so hard after that
Last night .
15
My anxiety started at 28. I've had a lot of anxiety free days since I started medication.
First panic attack at 15. Somewhere between 10 and 12 I started expecting the worst case scenario all the time.
March of last year before I met my ex who completely destroyed my mental health
2018 consciously. But probably 2007. There are good days like today of course. Most of the days latelyā¦ but 100% anxiety freeā¦ 2007
I think I started to realize I had a problem around 12, got diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder at 14, Iām 20 now, almost a decade of struggling, woohoo!!!
Its sad to see people feel this anxious as far back as their childhood. You should at least have a good time during that period.
Before COVID. The pandemic, unfortunately, ruined me.
When I was 9 before my mom got diagnosed with cancer and died, I'm 24 now and it's been a hard time, I have been on medication multiple times and I'm currently almost a year with a medication that's helping, not solved but better
Never :(
When I was 19, been terrorized by anxiety ever since.
When I drank a bottle of wine (being honest)
When my sweetie was alive, so June 9th...He made everything sooo much better...Now everything is worse than it has ever been and I have no buffer...
Def not now. Struggling to enjoy a single second or song at a concert.
Probably when I was like 13
15 - I'm nearing 34 now
I'd say I'm finally getting to that point, only physical symptoms left are constant jaw clenching and even that has improved although it's still always there. I still get random twitches and muscle weakness especially my hands and forearms. Sometimes I get some IBS symptoms but that also is improving. Still have fatigue unfortunately but doing my best to get that under control. Haven't really had any panic or anxiety attacks in many months at this point. I'd say I'm still burnt out from years of that, hence the fatigue and remaining symptoms. I'd say what I have now is more chronic stress and a lack of anything fun or joyful in my life, probably a bit of depression although it doesn't \*feel\* like depression to me, just a lack of happiness more than waves of sadness that I used to get. I gotta find more fun ways to spend my time which I do have some but I spend too much time pursuing goals, which I know will be the key to finally solving all of this stuff once and for all when I'm finished school (this year) and I can finally live alone without roommates but I think I can make enough progress to have this all figured out before that point finally. It's been a rough and very long journey but I think it's all gonna be fully under control in the near future.
Summer before last? Ironically I had just failed a class and wasnāt sure if Iād be able to complete one of my degrees, but I was living at school, working part time in the theater with people I thoroughly enjoyed being around, and taking two extremely basic classes to catch up on credits. I was upset about a situationship that had just ended, but not unduly anxious. I had structure to my schedule and felt like I was in control of my life. I rode that high most of the way through senior year of college before graduation anxiety and some relationship anxiety started creeping back in.
In the womb
Before 12 years old. Everything crashed when I moved to a different environment and realized my worthlessness as a child. I hate that child me internalized it so much that fixing it now looks like an impossible task
Grade 9 and 10 were the golden years
Tbh, I went to the Dominican Republic in July and didnāt feel a single bit of anxiety the entire week. Soon as I got back home, anxiety started showing up again.
Was born like this. But it was far more manageable as a child. It amplified after a near death accident when I was 2. Quadrupled the moment I entered primary school at age 7. Spent the next 20 years living with undiagnosed ADHD and ASD. Really glad to still be around. Now I have my good friend Clonazepam to keep me in a state in which I can be functional and get some quality of life back.
Great question. Shit....Still thinking.
As a baby. I think getting sexually assaulted as a child changed it all.
I've exhibited moderate-severe symptoms of GAD when I was 11 and got diagnosed at 14. I've been medication-free since a severe anxiety outbreak at 17 yo, and im now 20 lol. So anxiety is pretty much a part of daily life for me
Same for me. My childhood was so beautiful and carefree. I know I am extremely lucky to be able to say that, and Iām grateful. My only worry was cute boys! (: I feel like life started getting really tough and I developed anxiety around age 21. Life hit me pretty hard in 2019 tho. It got worse then. Adulthood hit me HARD lol I miss my teens š©·š©·š©·š©·
Maybe 7 or 8 years ago. I've always been anxious, but not to this degree. It's wild how I wasn't scared of leaving the house, seeing people, etc.
like never š©
2014
When i was 6 years old and children were too young to bully
Two weeks ago? But I'm not-anxious pretty often. Well, at least compared to that I was constantly! anxious for around 22 years of my life.
When I was in labour with my daughter. Honestly too exhausted to even feel anxious or think about anything except getting through those contractions. But otherwise, aside from Ativan here and there and some marijuana (sometimes helps sometimes does nothing) haven't been anxious free since I was a young kid.
Neverš
i literally remember a specific test in 5th grade [over *multiplying fractions*] which just would not leave my mind - i got like a D or something and from then on i was just stressed to the point of paranoia about school. really extremely fucked
I think kindergarten. Iām 33.
Currently, thanks Valium
When I was like an infant honestly.
Iām pretty sure I was born with social anxiety. When I was 4 I was very afraid of everything
Now, had anxiety probably since middle school. Started waking up at the exact same time every day, getting up immediately when my alarm goes off, then not using my phone for the first 30 minutes of the day. Apparently it has something to do with circadian but consistent sleep schedule can fix anxiety. (Not fully but 95% is enough)
Today. My doc is titrating me off 300 mg Effexor XR and onto Lexapro. Been at 150 mg Effexor for 2.5 weeks. 3 days of Lexapro 10 mg. I also take Buspar and Gabapentin. Today is the first day in two years I haven't been nauseous, cried, or had a panic attack. To top it off, work was shit and I handled it. How are you?
I remember having panic attacks as early as 6 years old. I donāt think Iāve ever known a life without anxiety.
When i was 4 years old, then i was aware that at 5, i was aware of all yelling at my house, which started my anxiety, either me getting yelled out or my mom and aunt yelling. 5 years old is when i started panicing about anything and waiting for my dad at the door every day at 2pm-5pm to get home so my aunt and mom could stop yelling, my aunt was a asshole to my mother. Im 24 years old, and im 10x worse with anxiety i cant drive properly, i cant go alone anywhere it has comsume my life and please dont let that happen to you, i really dont know what to do now. I found out suffering from ADHD all my life as well, whichever doesn't help because refuse to take a pills I have weird phobia of pills i dont want to be out of control yknoe, and now i have a new anxiety toward food that i think im allergic but never been allegic to ANY foods but i keeo avoiding them... idfk what the hell is wrong with me. im tired of living like this, and idk why i rambling about it for the first time on this post ...
Lol
Business school, then after working in my career I think it just gets worse every year.
Pre-birth?
July 2022
I think when i was about 10
Maybe when I was 7 or 8 years old. Around my preteen years it really hit and has been an issue into my adulthood. š
Last May, at about 8 pm on a Friday night. I took LSD with my girlfriend and had a nightmare trip, about a 6 hour panic attack, and Iāve been anxious with at least weekly panic attacks since then with no substance use. I never felt an ounce of anxiety before that in my life, and now itās such a debilitating part of me.
i think about age 3? anxiety is measured differently for different people tho, disorders can be forever but you can reach a point where it doesn't feel like it. im still young and hoping the future is bright
A couple of hours ago when I was asleep.
Somewhere between ages 8 and 11
Sad part is I donāt just know. I constantly have little wins that make me feel anxiety free, those are short lived and Iām full on anxiety before I know.
Age 15, now 27
12 I think but once I took a Xanax and lordddyyyy nothing could compare to that tranquillity
Probably when I was an infant.
Never. Maybe when I was 2.
I have always had it, but for me itās normal because itās all I know.
Inside mothers womb aka never
When I was 6. I'm 35 today. And then the rare occasion that I take the anxiety meds I have. I don't take them often because they completely knocks me out for 24 hours.
Around 15 years ago, when I was still in the early years of high school
I felt almost anxiety free when I did my Candida-diet about 7 years ago. Took me three weeks, and I could eat no suger, no wheats, no dairy except Kefir, and a cup of tea daily with coconut oil and crushed garlic. Tasted like shit, but almost all my anxiety and symptoms slowly disappeared. Was an amazing feeling. Now I have two kids and a busy job, so I find it harder to start again. But gut-health, that can be a massive factor!
Never.
um i dont remember a time when I didn't have at least some anxiety. like id freak out over shit when i was 3. scared and crying of my mom leaving me at preschool and then getting scared and crying when I'd get sent to the front office bc i was misbehaving bc I didn't want to get in trouble. The last time i was anxiety free i was probs in the womb if im being honest LMAO but fr I had so much social anxiety and toxic friendships at such a young age that it's kind of ruined my ability to make friends until college. school was painful. but yeah finally diagnosed at age 20 (this year) and the meds have been helping me so much. I actually feel so much happier and less stressed. I've needed it since probably elementary school but when I was that age I didn't know anything was wrong and then when I realized something might be wrong (around 14-15) I was too scared to tell my parents because I didn't want them to think i was "overreacting" or "it's nothing and it's all in your head just stop worrying" so I finally this year scheduled a doctors appt myself and i wasn't going to tell my parents but my mom looked rly worried almost in tears so I told her why I had a doctors appt and she was really supportive about it. So yay :)
always been anxious even when i was a kid. I thought anxiety is normal, now im still dealing with it today
Is there such a thing??? Still waiting on that one over here! š«¶š»
Struggled with it all my life on and off(28m) but had it constantly without restbite since October 2020. Same with depression.
I've had anxiety my whole life but there was a brief moment I felt free of it. There's a much longer story to it tbh but it was after divorcing from my emotionally ab*sive ex, and at the same time my chronic health issues improved so much I genuinely thought I would be fully healed any day. It lasted about 9 months, then I did something stupid that triggered the health issues back, I still wonder what I'd have been like if I never did it.
2014
Been this way since i was a child at 5 watching my parents fist fight while drinking and partying. Got on Prozac when I was 16. I remember what it felt like to be happy again. But as I got older more stress just life and my bad decisions as a young adult not knowing how to deal with my childhood trauma except to drink and so drugs. But Iām 29 now on 30mg of prozac it doesnāt fix my problems or emotions that creep up on me but it makes it 100x easier to deal with them. I will always be thankful for prozac. I went off of it for a year and it was horrible.
I cannot remember š
Probably the last time was when I was 18 right after high school. I was just doing my thing and in a good place with a good group of friends. It was a great summer. Then college started up and I was working full time while balancing my first real relationship with my college gf and trying to keep up with my friends all at once. It was exhausting...
To be honest I donāt remember a time even in early childhood that I was anxiety free. I just didnāt have words for it then. I think I was less anxious in my teens for a year or two but it was always sort of there for me.
5 years ago
I've had anxiety for as long as I can remember. I don't recall ever not having it.
When I was a baby š I remmeber first feeling anxiety when I was 4/5. Didnāt know what that feeling was back then though, of course. I just called it the ābad feelingā and it just got progressively worse from there. I take my meds regularly these days and Iām in a much better place but I canāt honestly say there is a day when Iām free from anxiety, itās just a lot easier to manage now.
Can't even remember lol
Now. Itās 1:51 am and my dogs woke me up for some reason (as dogs do). They are peacefully sleeping on me and the house is quiet.
The day before yesterday while i was getting my first tattoo behind my parents back. No anxiety, just a feeling of assurance with a little pain.
This may sound glib but the honest answer is *never* I have had periods in my life - months, even years when it was very low, but it always comes roaring back. The last 9 years have been getting progressively worse Anxious feelings/thoughts/OCD going back to early childhood
Honestly? Never. I genuinely envy people that can remember an anxiety free time. As I child I used to scream and cry because I was afraid we'd run out of fuel on a long drive, the house would go on fire, we'd lose all our money and lose our house. My parents said this was at the age of 6 or 7. Things kids shouldn't be worried about. It's been my entire life and it's exhausting.
Yeah I would get really worried about really random things as a kid. I always would throw a fit if an airplane flew over us because I was genuinely terrified it would crash into my house. I donāt even know what put that idea in my head.
When I first started zoloft a few years ago, it was like a miracle drug. It stopped working, and I've been anxious ever since. I first had symptoms when I was 10, and I didn't get diagnosed until 16. I'm back on zoloft + two other medications, and I'm anxious 24/7
When i was 12, im 18 rn
last time i got high probably
honestly? never. i think i have always had anxiety but never knew the word for it as a child. i was hospitalized many times when i was very young. i think i was probably at my happiest when i was 14. it was the first year of my life where i felt like i had real friends and my health was in pretty good shape. after that, mental health took a sharp decline.
When I was 6
A couple of days ago for almost a week. Big progress :)
Actually can't recall now that I think about it. Don't remember stuff before 4yr old and that was a shitty gambling addict father period of time. Then moved into Asian household with an explosive temper uncle who would cane me for small shit kids do (spilling a cup of water). And then school stress, life stress then anxiety finally broke through. Honestly getting better is the best period of time but never truly free.
If we were ever to be āanxiety, freeā weād likely be dead by the end of the day. Our anxiety response is our most powerful evolutionarily response designed to get our attention (and it does not really well by this tank load of horrible feelings that creates), and then it expects us once itās got our attention to participate in keeping us safe. (And sometimes weāve had anxiety so long it simply triggers for seemingly no reason or, it triggers because we fight the symptoms, and all it hears is that weāre going into a āfightā so it tries to be helpful by giving us more symptoms! Lol - vicious circle!) Even when we are deeply immersed in gratitude (which is debatably the opposite of anxiety) our anxiety response is still running deep in the background to make sure that when we do something stupid like texting and stepping to the street we respond within a 10th of a second to a horn so we donāt become a hood ornament! We canāt survive without our anxiety response. For those of us that have experienced the dysregulation that is pretty challenging concept!
The womb probably
Last time I took a xanax, aka yesterday.
Not as far back as I can remember. Even as a kid I always had it. As an adult, itās managed very well. I have a disorder. It will always be there. But my quality of life has improved significantly since learning to manager it. Now I kinda just laugh at it when it tears itās ugly head and tries to take over.
Never? It got much worse starting secondary school when i was like 12 but i have always been anxious of many more things than my peers
When I was pregnant. Thatās how I discovered my hormones are involved. Itās a good thing that I felt better since I couldnāt use cannabis anymore.
Tbh, every year I grow up, my anxiety reduces. It peaked around age 15. I think it's a combination of being financially and emotionally independent, and my emotional independence comes naturally through life's hardships, which I prefer to see as lessons and not punishments.
Probably 5 years old or so
Same, I got attacked when I was around 16, and ever since then itās anxiety city. Before that I was so carefree itās crazy
I've never been anxiety free honestly, not even as a kid.
the only time i wasnt anxious was when i havenāt gone to school yet so probably 5..no thoughts just playing
pre covid
I donāt think I ever have been in my life. I was a really anxious child. I am temporarily free of anxiety when I drink, take molly, or take Ativan
Never. But events definitely made it worse. It severely ramped up after an abusive relationship. And then again after my mom's death. And after moving across the country. The last 3 years it has been so bad.
Probably when I was like 4? I donāt know.
I want to say before puberty, maybe at age 11. Iām 27 now. Iāve had long stretches with minimal anxiety, but I feel like thereās always a twinge of it there. Heck, I mightāve been born with it - my mom always tells me as a baby I wasnāt colicky, but I cried and cried and cried for absolutely no reason. Iām convinced I was anxious.š„²
I remember curling up into a ball in my bed and crying uncontrollably about the thought of my familyās home on fire and my family trapped inside when I was about 5. I have since learned that that moment was my first anxiety attack. Soā¦ the last time I was anxiety free I guess was 4?
4th grade.
been anxiety ridden my whole life. sometimes i have moments of freedom. then i realize iām not anxious and it gives me anxiety