TOO MUCH ANXIETY!

[ManuelXX]

Good morning to you all.
First of all, I apologize if what I write is not completely clear: for long texts, I rely on machine translation.
I introduce myself briefly: my name is Manuel, I am 21 years old, I live in Italy and I am a student of history and philosophy. I have Asperger’s syndrome, a generalized anxiety disorder and a problem in manual activities (all three officially diagnosed). My main problem is anxiety, I suffer a lot from always, but since mid-October it’s really besieging me. I am writing a thesis and this is an extremely unpredictable job, unlike the preparation of exams: research is a constantly evolving work, it is not possible to predict everything, and this leads me to suffer from a lot of anxiety, because changing and unpredictable situations trigger this reaction in me. However, I find the anxiety, the one I have always suffered from and the one I have been suffering from since October, really untenable. I have abdominal pains and headaches very often, I have a very strong tachycardia and I can not feel good with myself. At all times I am tormented by this strong anxiety that prevents me from living well, because it absorbs every moment of my life. Also I know that solving the problem of my thesis would not involve solving the problem of anxiety, which is constantly enveloping my life. As soon as I can solve one problem, my brain produces another, and I can’t feel good. If today I am anxious for a motivation, and tomorrow morning I find that what worried me is not important, tomorrow afternoon I will have a very strong concern because of other motivations that my mind produces. ALso, if the present situation does not cause me anxiety, then U become anxious about the future. And my body is also affected. When I’m with friends or my girlfriend, I pretend to be fine, but when I’m alone or with family sometimes I explode.

I came to need help (as a child I saw psychologists, they will certainly have helped me in the past, but now I am as I described), I would ask you some advice about it: according to you I should rely on a doctor (psychologist or psychiatrist) and possibly also to psychodrugs? What do you think of the psychoactive drugs (those to manage generalized anxiety)? Do you have experience? Do you think I should rely on a different method? Since September I have tried to embrace the road of eastern psychology, with Buddhist meditation, but the only benefit that it has brought me was solving some problems related to sleep, This is not a small thing, but these approaches require long time and I feel at the moment the need for a different approach, faster, to be combined with what I am already doing.
Thank you for reading all this, and I trust you with a piece of advice.
Thank you very much
Manuel

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Hi Manuel,

I work in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The decision for or against medication is very individual, however, I see often that medication can help a lot. Some people don't react well to it and have side effects and/or don't feel an effect. But others do. So I believe that it's worth a try, considering that you're struggling a lot, and provided that you have a good doctor who looks out for you. Generally, SSRI (antidepressants) are the ones which are prescribed for anxiety disorders, such as you describe. Which one might be the best one suited for you would be up to a doctor to decide. It's possible also that you have side effects or don't have a good effect from one medication and your doctor suggests to switch to another one.

I'd always suggest to be very careful when it comes to medication which provides acute anxiety-relief, such as benzodiazepines. They can be very effective in very controlled, acute settings, but cause an addiction very quickly.

Apart from that, psychotherapy can be very helpful for anxiety. Which sort of psychotherapy you use isn't extremely important. More important is that you feel like you have a good connection with your therapist, and they know what they're doing. Maybe try to look for one who's experienced in treating autistic people, since we can need different approaches.

Apart from medication and psychotherapy, general health and relaxation techniques can be very helpful too. Maybe try some form of relaxation or mindfulness technique, such as meditation or yoga. If, like me, you're someone who isn't very good with that, maybe try something more active - the important thing is that it can clear your head. That can also be martial arts, swimming, drawing or dancing.

I wish you all the best!