Anxiety / Depression affecting my daily life

[LSYORK]

I'll keep it brief - I'm 26, master's graduate and studying for professional qualifications in real estate (UK). Due to the current economic situation I had to grab any job I could, which was great at the time because I was one of less than 10% of my course to get a job (I was fairly high up in the class). 2 years on and I've had to postpone my professional exams because I'm not getting the support i need through my work, and my peers are all in with much larger institutions, so I'm getting a bit left behind, even though I was ahead to begin with. I've also made some bad decisions with investments to try and get some cash behind me and am basically broke. my relationship with my girlfriend is suffering and my home life is not so great (I moved back in with my parents) as my mother recently lost 2 of her brothers (one through a fairly horrific suicide in which he set himself on fire).

Anyway, much worse things have happened to better people than I, but my chief concern is the physical manifestations. For thelast couple of months I feel that i am constantly on the verge of either crying or having some kind of fit. I wake up every day after very little sleep and feeling like my breathing is being restricted (like something is wrapped around my chest and won't let me breathe). I also experience tingling sensations down my forearms / wrists very often. I just wish I could have some guidance in how to carry on, particularly in my career, but every time I try and speak to my bosses I am just ignored. since I started having these problems my work has suffered and my firm is losing confidence in me.

I just don't know what to do.

Hope someone can offer some advice, many thanks

[LSYORK]

I was at the docs today, and got a guide on anxiety so I will read this tonight. I'm afraid that if anything I've got worse recently, to the point where I hyperventilated, was sick and nearly fainted on Monday morning as I got so worried about going into work. I took the day off and just lay in bed all day. At the moment thats all I want to do- just lie in bed and disappear forever. I found out at the weekend that another of my mums brothers is terminally ill. Added to this I sat down with my boss on Tuesday and he said that I should seriously consider leaving the firm for my own good, which to be honest I knew anyway as they can't offer ms any progression. I just want to know, do things get easier? Will I ever be happy? I'm supposed to be going to a festival this wkd with my friends, but I'm scared and just want to twinkle away with my girlfriend and never have to face the world again

[LSYORK]

Thankyou Nursegirl. I have booked an appointment with my GP and will discuss it with her. My main concern is the physical symptoms, but I guess when you are anxious and stressed it's bad for the body and all sorts of stuff goes on.

I just feel like I've failed in my life and let a lot of people down who wanted me to do well. I think your advice about eliminating each stressor one-by-one is a very helpful. I should focus on each problem, look at a solution and deal with it. The whole seems to be greater than its constituent parts, and it is this big black shapeless cloud of worry that is weighing me down.

[nursegirl6572]

Hello and welcome to MedHelp and the Anxiety Community!

No wonder you're stressed!  You have been through a lot and basically the way you knew life to be has all changes dramatically.  You have endured a lot of major life changes, that would cause anxiety in anyone.  There are many things you could do to help manage the anxiety....

If you don't typically have anxiety issues outside of these kinds of stressful situations, then I would recommend seeking out some therapy.  I think it would help you very much to be able to explore all of your emotions and fears related to all of the things you have going on.  Plus, a therapist would be able to help you by offering suggestions on steps you could take to minimize stress and things you could do to impove your situation.

Also, I think you would benefit greatly from having a consultation with a financial advisor that specializes in helping people with tough money-related situations like you've found yourself in,  There are a lot of programs out there designed to help people get back on track, and I think that will help decrease your stress level knowing there are things you could do to help you move forward.

You can also always discuss all of this with your doctor to see if perhaps a short term course of an anti-anxiety med would help if your symptoms are becoming intolerable.  Most anxiety that is related to a real life stressor can be addressed with therapy and also resolving those situations.  Once you eliminate some of those stressors, you'll have less to worry about, hence decreasing your anxiety level.

Please stick around and let us know how you're doing.