Hey Pandas, How Does Your Mental Illness/Disorder Affect Your Life? (Closed)

#1

Each of my mental disorders affect my life differently, but they each affect every piece of my day.
Depression. My depression makes it hard to do really anything. It gives you 0 motivation to do anything. On the outside, it looks like you’re lazy, but you’re begging yourself to get up but you can’t. During a particularly bad depressive period, I could not even get myself to brush my hair or teeth, or use the bathroom at times. I wouldn’t eat for days because it was too much effort. Every single daily task that others don’t think twice about feels as if you have to run a marathon. You also get random depressive episodes where you have to stop everything you’re doing because you’re so upset for no reason at all and have to try to stop yourself from committing suicide, which disrupts your life greatly.
General anxiety. Anxiety makes me overthink things and assume the worst possible case. If one little thing goes wrong, my brain catastrophrzes it. It makes it hard to complete things because you fear what will happen if it’s not amazing.
Social anxiety. Social anxiety makes it so it’s hard to leave the house. Each step out of my house feels like I’m on stage with people judging me everywhere. If someone happens to glance in my direction, I automatically assume they are judging me. If I can’t hear a conversation, I automatically assume they’re talking bad about me. You can’t interact with any human being because you’re so scared of what they’re thinking about you so you avoid it at all costs. I have spent much more money attempting to avoid people, through things like delivery apps.
ADHD. ADHD makes it hard to focus on anything. My brain can’t stay focused on something for more than 5 minutes without getting distracted and thinking of a million things. It causes a lot of problems in work and school obviously, but it also causes problems with people. When conversing, I only hear less than 50% of what someone says to me, because I am thinking about other things or thinking about my response already. It makes it hard to have conversations with people and show that you are interested and care.
I’m currently on medication for depression and generalized anxiety, but have dealt with them untreated for (at least) 10 years prior.

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Brittany

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#2

I absolutely love Taylor Swift. However, her song “The Last Time” triggers my ocd. Often, this is in a car where I can’t do anything to help subside the thoughts. When I cant subside an obsessive thought I can often get a headache and feel nauseous. My sister loves this song, and my mom will never skip the song even though I’m nauseous and have a throbbing headache. This song is 5 minutes long and sometimes the headache becomes unbearable, but everyone says I’m overreacting and need to chill.

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Happi doggi (all pronouns)

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Happi doggi (ve/ver/vis) (Submission author) 2 years ago (edited)

Someone said I’m faking it so I’m just going to explain why it triggers my ocd. I always think “what if I kill all my family?” “This is a sign from the universe my family will die!” No, it’s not a personality, it’s real ocd and real thoughts that don’t align with my beliefs and values.

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#3

I've been battling severe depression since i was a kid.
I'm on meds (SSNRI) to help keep me functioning, but the side effects like brain zaps can make everyday chores like cleaning or cooking a challenge.

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Ak_Teren

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#4

I am a girl in high school I have very bad social anxiety. It gets so bad it starts to hurt (headaches and other aches in my body, lack of focus, dizziness, etc.) When I start to get anxious, my right arm (I know very specific) shakes and I cannot control it. I am a righty, and it gets so bad I end up having to write with my left hand (I am getting better, but it still looks like my 5yo sister wrote it). The best I can do is try hide it. School is hell, and there are a LOT of kids. The hallways are always super crowded and congested, and I walk at the speed to light to try to get out of them as fast as possible. If a teacher puts me in the front of the room, I cannot pay attention because I am worried about what is going on behind me. I also feel like I cannot speak when a teacher calls on me. It takes all my might to squeak a word, and I am always told to speak up, and the volume I spoke at is as loud as it’s going to get. If a teacher calls on me to do something at the board, I have an anxiety attack. The teachers always tell me to participate more, but I am afraid to speak up about what happens because anyone I have tried to tell (around 5 people) have thought I was being over dramatic and tell me to suck it up or that if I face my fears I’ll get over it or to simply just stop being anxious. I just want to sit in the back of the room and take my notes in peace, even if it means sacrificing my grades. I always get the lecture “come on, you have stellar test grades and always do your homework, but your participation grade it at rock bottom. It won’t hurt to participate”. Presentations are like death traps, and I have gotten a lot of points taken off because of volume or “lack of enthusiasm”. Going to stores is also terrible, and my parents would pester me to speak up and not be so awkward. My mom is understanding a little more now, but my dad is not.

I have one friend who is super understanding. He has OCD, and we talk a lot, giving each other therapy in a way. He is the only one who fully believes me and cares, and I am very grateful for him.

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Chicken Nugget

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TheVioletDragon 2 years ago

I was just like that. It's so hard to speak up in front of people you don't know. I'm sorry your dad isn't very understanding It's great you have a friend to talk to! Something that really helped me was going to a psychologist and psychiatrist, and now I am on medication for my general anxiety. Maybe you could ask your mom if you feel it would help.

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#5

I have ADHD. The medicine makes my stomach hurt but I usually have to take it.

I'm extremely impulsive and I can't focus on things I don't want to do while hyperfocusing on things I like. I also always switch between tasks when cleaning and barely anything gets done. I know people have it worse than me, this is just my answer.

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notreallyraine (they/them)

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Ruth Wile 2 years ago

Yes, I have ADHD and it is exactly like that. Although you should probably tell your doctor about your stomach hurting because they can prescribe a different medication that helps with ADHD.

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#6

I'm not diagnosed with anything but when I'm at school and have to get food at lunch I can't do it because I'm way too nervous. I can't do lots of random things either but this is the main issue at the moment

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Aroace tiger (she/they/he)

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Happi doggi (ve/ver/vis) 2 years ago

Are you scared of the food itself or social interaction?

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#7

I suffer from social anxiety (only found out pretty recently), and for the past 2 years at least I’ve realised that I have never actually invited people to a social gathering or even just to hang out. If ever I am in a social situation with someone it’s because they invited me. Even if I’ve ‘invited’ someone to go do something it’s because they brought it up first and I felt obligated to do so. I’m also never comfortable around people, even my closest friends. I constantly feel like I’m walking on thin ice even around my bestie of 10 years. It’s sucks :(

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RiverStyxJix

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Happi doggi (ve/ver/vis) 2 years ago

I feel your pain, I suffer from social anxiety too

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#8

Anxiety. I could be just wandering around, minding my own business, when I get smacked with thoughts like, ‘what if my best friend died in a car crash and I didn’t know?’ and then I have to take a second just to get rid of that train of thought.

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