Anxiety

[Angrboda]

Other than some moderate social anxiety, I don't currently have any serious issues with anxiety. I suffered panic attacks for a decade, but no longer do so.

I'm not sure what I want to say here. First, I'd just point out that according to Wikipedia, is the third most common mental disorder. In spite of the jokes, it is both prevalent, and can be seriously diabling and unpleasant. Even in milder forms, social anxiety and other anxiety disorders can have significant impact on how a person lives, and whether or not they are able to live life to their full potential.

I am not trying to blur or merge the threads here, but it is worth pointing out that in some ways, OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) is an anxiety disorder. The person with OCD performs the behaviors because not doing so causes anxiety. Yes, the two are very different, but there is overlap, at least in symptoms. I myself from time to time, perhaps under depression, have OCD like experiences, where I'll go to bed and lie awake worrying whether I spelled a word correctly, or gave the wrong reference; yes, rumination is a symptom of depression, but this is different; it's worry about things I know I shouldn't be worried about, and a feeling that, say referring to Tantric Hinduism when I meant something else, will shatter people's image of me as a reasonably intelligent person. Hrm, never noticed that: maybe it's a part of my social anxiety. Anyway, I'd also like to point out the related but different disorder OCPD (). I feel my mother had this, and as such, I may have some as well, most likely learned, rather than inherited. My mother is the classic type of person you see on the news as "the cat lady" — she didn't have cats, but our house was inundated with piles and piles of stuff, and she was always collecting more. One time, I picked out only toys that were obviously broken from the basement and threw them out; I found her at three in the morning hauling them back inside. Both my parents grew up during the great depression, and I'm told that "hoarding behaviors" are quite common among people who lived during the American depression. However, each of us, me and my two sisters, show similar tendencies to collect far too much stuff. My BFF came over to my apartment and offhandedly remarked, "Oh, so you're a collector," referring to cabinets filled to overflowing. Despite my best efforts to the contrary, this apple didn't fall as far from the tree as she'd liked or hoped.

Anyway, I'm rambling, and sorry if I "crossed the streams" but it all seemed to cohere together. I'm feeling lazy, having tossed off a Leviathan towards ChadWooters, so I likely won't post in the OCD thread; if anyone feels anything here is relevant or useful there, feel free to borrow or steal any or all of it.

Oh, two afterthoughts. First, it's deemed proper, though often honored in the breech, to refer to someone as having a particular disorder or illness, as opposed to referring to them being their illness, such as referring to someone as a bipolar or a depressive, rather than saying they have an affective disorder or are experiencing episodes of depression; not asking for any politically correct behavior, I'm just pointing it out for the benefit of those who are not yet conscious of that distinction. (The second is that the color code for blue used above is "0000CD". Indeed, 0CD can make you quite blue...) Oh, I almost forgot. Phobias are also classed as anxiety disorders, though they're often overlooked as such, and people with them are often treated differently from people with other mental disorders. (I mean in bad ways; that a person with a phobia isn't viewed as Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs like some people view other people with mental disorders is probably a good thing; but their problems tend to be marginalized and mocked by people in ways that, say, depression isn't. This also applies to social anxiety disorder and the anxiety disorders generally. There seems to be an extra layer of stigma attached to the anxiety disorders, implying personal weakness and other moral or character failings.)

Thanks for listening. We'll keep a light on for ya. ("That goddamned light! I can't sleep! Can't somebody put out that goddamned light?!")