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Panic/ phobia disorder -- related to motherhood?

2K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  Jish 
#1 ·
I posted this message on one other forum, not knowing where best to post it....

I have a question for all you moms out there -- i know anxiety isn't an unusual component of motherhood. but i have been having a progressively annoying panic problem and phobia problem and i am at the point of needing to address it with the help of a therapist/ healer/ etc. ( i just returned from a meditation retreat this past weekend... my main reason for attending was to take time out of my life and start to look inside and try to understand this problem). if anyone has personal experience with what follows, or knows other moms who have gone through this, please let me know.

i seem to have a growing fear of things that make me feel lost, or trapped, or isolated. i no longer like elevators, i don't like being locked in a room, particularly one without windows, i was in a very foggy place the other day and felt disconcerted because i couldn't see more than a few feet -- i felt panic and actually left an event due to my sense of dread. i was in a store today at closing time and they locked the door so other customers wouldn't come in and a wave of panic came over me. i let it pass, but this kind of thing is happening too often now. i know i need to address it.

but my main curiousity is -- why in the world is this happening to me? i didn't used to be like this. i have an 8 month old and a 3 1/2 yr old. the 1st signs of claustrophobia occurred after having my 1st son, but it was very mild and didn't interfere with my life. but in the last 6 months this phobia thing and panic has taken on a life of its own. i love my baby so much, and i am actually an even happier and more relaxed person after having my second child. i know this seems contradictory... but in the absence of some perceived threat (something that makes me feel lost or trapped), i am quite fine.

any feedback is much appreciated.
 
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#2 ·
I don't have any advice but wanted to share that my claustrophobia has become worse since becoming a mom. Just the other day, dd put a blanket over my head and I freaked out. We went through one of those corn mazes at a local pumpkin patch and I almost lost it.

I hope someone has some advice!
 
#3 ·
i dont really have any advice either, but i feel the same way. i had my 2nd 6 mos ago, and im having a really hard time driving over bridges, anxiety attacks and everything. i've always been a bit high strung, but this constant fear is getting to be a bit much . i hope you find a solution
 
#4 ·
just really glad to hear i am not alone! hopefully this will fade. i am trying to get ahold of my panic when it hits and really assess if the situation warrants the "fight or flight" response! thanks so much for sharing... if i get better at dealing with this i'll post another message on what i did. please, ditto to you, and anyone can e-mail me personally if desired.
 
#6 ·
thats interesting about the progesterone...i thought i was doing pretty well w/ my second, and then @ about 3 mos pp i went on the mini pill (progesterone only) i went off it after about 2 wks, it was literally making me crazy. i hadnt felt that bad since i was a teen and severly depressed. most of the craziness subsided a few days after i stopped taking it, but im still not myself...
 
#7 ·
Yeah- depression and anxiety are different fruit of the same tree. Panic attacks are an adrenyline rush our body creates for the fight or flight reaction to stress. The problem is when your system is worn down, your alarm goes off way too easily. Like a car alarm that goes off when no one is near the car. And that fight or flight feeling would work if the stress was some animal chasing you but not real useful for the elevator at the mall.

So the solution is to use your best GD mom voice and help yourself get past that scary feeling. Just a lot of reassurances, you aren't going to die, it is just a hormonal feeling (like PMS is), watch your breathing- exhale out the toxic feeling, walk, do whatever helps you relax. Do not beat yourself up, berate yourself, feel like you are being silly. Use you gental mom voice in your head- at all times.

Believe me, if women would be as gental and loving to themselves as they are to everyone else- I'd gladly be out of business.
 
#8 ·
I heard a psychiatrist speak not too long ago and I wish I would have written down exactly what he said, cause I can't remember exactly. I know I won't get all the exact details correct, but he said that panic attacks are a result of something going off kilter chemically in our bodies (I can't remember if he said it had to do with our PH levels in our blood, but I think that was it) and our brain thinks we are dying and reacts by releasing adrenalin causing the panic attack. The root cause isn't anything that would harm us, but our brain sort of overreacts. As we all know, panic attacks are terrible, and we worry about getting another. Thus, we tend to look at what we were doing, or where we were at as the trigger of the attacks and avoid that situation. Then if we have another one, we add those things to our list of things to avoid. Pretty soon we are so anxiety ridden about having another that it is hard to live normally and it overwhelmes us.

I'm not sure if I totally believe it or not. I do think that something is off in our bodies, or our brain that causes the attacks, but whether it is our blood chemistry, our brain chemistry or whatever -- I don't know. I went on Lexapro and it worked wonders for me. In the 8 months I was on it, I had one panic attack. It was in the middle of the night and I woke up to a racing heart and a sweating body and feeling slightly short of breath. This one was different because I was able to tell myself that it was simply a panic attack, not a heart attack, and go right back to sleep.

BTW, I was also very happy when my anxiety and panic started. I loved my life. I am totally convinced that my depression was simply a case of my brain chemistry getting off kilter and needing a little help getting back on track.
 
#9 ·
Not sure if it applies here, but I do want to point out that there is a little known variation on PPD called PPOCD (postpartum obsessive compulsive disorder).

In my experience it is very treatable
You can find more information on it here :

http://p068.ezboard.com/fpostpartumdepressionfrm47 http://ppsc.proboards1.com/index.cgi?board=Intro

M

P.S. I just found this forum looking for some information for my wife and had to help with this. Apologies if it has been covered in other threads.
 
#10 ·
Just wanted to add that I have this exact same problem, though the trigger is different. It's not a clausterphobia thing for me but a fear of contaminated/drugged food. But the circumstances seem very similar to yours: I had the problem infrequently after my first baby, and it became a serious problem after my second. What Jish said was exactly what my shrink helped me to see, that a chemical reaction was happening first, and I was attaching it to a certain circumstance, and then that circumstance would start causing the reaction. I had to do something because calming myself down from a panic attack was beginning to monopolize my time and energy. Unfortunately I don't have any great advice for you. I'm on Zoloft, which has helped, but I still have panic attacks. I am starting to wonder if it is caused by some sort of nutrional imbalance(b-12, maybe?) and am experimenting with changing my diet.
 
#11 ·
Zoloft is not the best thing for panic. You may want to switch to something else. I would also suggest Omega 3 oils. Otherwise, the best cure for panic attacks is understanding how they work and working through them. Panic is a shot of adrynaline in your system. It is your body's "car alarm". Once it goes off, you have 15-30 minutes to burn off this hormone that is supposed to be used for fight or flight. As most of our modern stressors aren't like being attacked by a wild animal, that fight or flight thing just makes you feel crazy. Your pulse races, your breathing gets really shallow, your palms get sweaty... it is a very physical reaction you can't just talk yourself out of. You need to look at your watch- know that it happened again and give your self permission to feel it, do what every you need to to make sure it burns off. If you fight it- your brain thinks you aren't taking the message seriously enough and shoots another shot in just to make sure- this can happen again and again until you are in the hospital thinking you are dying. Just know what it is, let it go, take a walk, breath, breath, BREATH!!! And it will pass. The more you work through them, accept them as real- the faster you can conquer them.

I had them 20 years ago- got some help then got them again 2 years ago when I had to put my son in daycare. I know that when I start getting more stressed- I get more panic. It is a good way for me to make sure I am taking care of myself.
 
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