That it took me until now to get my disability payment

[Flyndaran]

After literal years of living by my mother's good graces, I finally got to go before a judge. She presided via an internet connection.
Eventhough I've had severe anxiety since my teens, the hospital lost most of my records. They only had some going back to 2002.
Still I'll call it a partial victory.

[AFPheonix]

That's awesome!

[daleduke17]

Wait, judges will preside over cases via the internet now?

[BroomJockey]

Wait, judges will preside over cases via the internet now?

Well, I believe it'd be more teleconferencing. Just facilitated by a computer.

I think.

[anriana]

Well, as he is petitioning for disability for anxiety so crippling it keeps him from leaving the house on a regular basis, maybe this is a special situation.

[Flyndaran]

Well, as he is petitioning for disability for anxiety so crippling it keeps him from leaving the house on a regular basis, maybe this is a special situation.

I was just lucky. I had my mother and my girlfriend with me, until I went into the small room with only three other people.
The whole thing took only 10 minutes as this judge likes to approve help.

[telecom_goddess]

as an anxiety sufferer myself I'm curious -- what type do you have exactly? Is it agoraphobia, social phobia, general anxiety??

[Flyndaran]

as an anxiety sufferer myself I'm curious -- what type do you have exactly? Is it agoraphobia, social phobia, general anxiety??

Social phobia and generalized anxiety. I don't have agoraphobia, because no matter how anxious I am, I never think I'm going to die.

[Boozy]

Is that the difference between agoraphobia and social anxiety? I have been misinformed.

I had thought that agoraphobes felt intense anxiety when leaving their homes, whereas those with social anxiety could leave their homes but felt anxious when interacting with others. I didn't realize the difference was quantitative instead of qualitative.

[Flyndaran]

The word agoraphobia may come from the greek for fear of the market place, but the medical definition is one of avoiding places where one may have a panic attack.
A panic attack is different from intense general anxiety due to what one thinks at the time. Anxiety is easy to explain as intense fear in non-dangerous situations. Panic attacks is severe anxiety with thoughts of impending doom or even death.

[telecom_goddess]

The word agoraphobia may come from the greek for fear of the market place, but the medical definition is one of avoiding places where one may have a panic attack.
A panic attack is different from intense general anxiety due to what one thinks at the time. Anxiety is easy to explain as intense fear in non-dangerous situations. Panic attacks is severe anxiety with thoughts of impending doom or even death.

I too thought that agoraphobia meant fear of leaving your house, kind of a combo of fear of open spaces, fear of crowds and fear of social interaction. Agoraphobes almost never leave their house.

Anyway semantics aside does that mean you don't leave your house very much? I don't recall now if you've said whether or not you work outside the house?

[Flyndaran]

I too thought that agoraphobia meant fear of leaving your house, kind of a combo of fear of open spaces, fear of crowds and fear of social interaction. Agoraphobes almost never leave their house.

Actually that's a myth propogated by tv. Many work outside of home, but may avoid driving on freeways, or speak publically in fear of panic attacks. Not all of them are socially phobic.

Anyway semantics aside does that mean you don't leave your house very much? I don't recall now if you've said whether or not you work outside the house?

I worked out of the home for at most eight weeks part time at a dog day care. I was woefully non-asseritve, paraphrasing the kindly old woman owner. But nowadays, I rarely leave the apartment, because of social phobia mostly, with a "minor" in increased anxiety.
I don't know if I told this wonderful example of the severity of anxiety... During a long attack that lasted 9 days, I lost 13 pounds. This is after accounting for any lost water weight.

[telecom_goddess]

wow.....I'm sorry it's that bad. I leave the house to work and do grocery shopping but I have no social life.....that's where I fall apart. Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a hermit but it's hard to pull out of that.

[Flyndaran]

wow.....I'm sorry it's that bad. I leave the house to work and do grocery shopping but I have no social life.....that's where I fall apart. Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a hermit but it's hard to pull out of that.

Medication can be virtual god-send. My generic Paxil may not let me leave the apartment much, but it does make life orders of magnitude more enjoyable. I would fight to the death to keep it or something at least as effective.
What's really weird is how a trial med worked perfectly for one and a half weeks before severe side effects appeared. It reminded me of just how different and relaxing normal really feels.

I've heard that talk therapy can help with bad habits accrued from a life of avoidance. It doesn't see to work very well for me. I already know all the techniques at calming oneself. They just don't work for me.

[PepperElf]

always thought agoraphobia was a bit of a a mixture
the "can't leave your house" side is the far extreme.

and like all issues like that, there are going to be various levels of phobia and some things that trigger one person might not trigger another.


a good example i have is actually a tourette's example. one of the guys on my first ship use to always cough.

Him: *small cough again*
Me: Are you sick?
Him: *must have been tired of always being asked that...* No. It's Tourette's.
Me: It comes in various levels?
Him: Yes.
Me: OK. *ignored the cough from then on*