I would like to know if anyone can relate ...

I am 21 Year old male from Toronto and I have had Panic Disorder since June of 2000. I have made alot of progress with this program and with the use of medication. However I am now off medication as Paxil really didnt help me much in fact made me worse ... I am on nothing but what I have learnt and I have overcome panic attacks , do not avoid things ... live somewhat normally but just cant rid myself of the Generalized Anxiety throughout the day ... In any case ... I have a concern about the past few months about my mood swings .. I find often I wake up feeling sometimes normal or depressed depending .. and then throughout the day I can feel normal then up and good .. then down then up ... its like a rollercoaster throughout the day ... I dont feel any extreme mood changes nothing noticeable by parents or my family but just I can tell times when my mood switches ... is this related to anxiety? can anyone relate? ... I mentioned it to my Doctor and he says I am defenitley not Bipolar or anything and says I am textbook panic disorder and these mood changes are a part of my personality? ... that does make much sense but could quite possibly be true ... but I just am sooo afraid something worse is going to happen with me with this illness like loose my mind or develop something debilitating ... can anyone relate to these frequent rollercoaster mood changes ...


Sincerely,

Sachin

Hi Panicman,

I can't answer your question fully, but I can tell you that I do, indeed, have mood changes. Sometimes I find it helpful to just float through them. I do relate them to my anxiety, but I don't know about how others feel about it. I'll be interested to see other responses.

Good luck,
Helen

I think that, as people with anxiety, we have a tendency to what to "pathologize" everything. We feel something "different" or "wrong", and we automatically assume that it is indicative of some kind of illness or disorder.

I know that, for me, a big part of my anxiety is my very unrealistic expectation that I should feel "good" all the time. But, that's not life. And it's not gonna happen. There are going to be ups and downs, sometimes within hours of each other, and that's okay.

Now, I know that when I am really deep into anxiety or depression, I DO get way more moody than usual. But, I'm a moody person, anyway. Just like *everyone* is a moody person. No one is "stable" all the time--everyone has ups and down and mood swings. I think we just need to accept that as part of life, and not worry too much about it.

I mean, there are far worse things than being a moody person.

Lori

[This message has been edited by Lori (edited 03-16-2001).]