The Disorders and Character Flaws Thread

[CanwllCorfe]

Do any of you have one? I have "Avoidant Personality Disorder".. which gets split up into further subtypes in which I'm considered a "Self Deserting Avoidant". Can't really afford getting help so I just kinda deal with it.

[Freebase Dali]

I have a "Close Depressing Threads Disorder" (CDTD)
But lucky for you... I'm on my meds. (Beer)

[CanwllCorfe]

What? But why?? There's a thread on vodka eyeballing, what drugs you do, etc.. why not one about disorders?

[Freebase Dali]

I was only kidding.

[CanwllCorfe]

Oh.. sorry

[Freebase Dali]

But in all seriousness, I have a bit of an anxiety disorder, but it's not overbearing. When I get used to situations, it's totally non-existent... but in new situations I'm not accustomed to or place importance on, especially where there are large groups of people involved, I'm overly anxious to the point of showing it physically.
I never noticed it until I had joined the military, so I'm not sure if that had something to do with it, but it's one of those things I worry about now because simple things like job interviews feel like they're going to be insurmountable because I want to be as relaxed as possible, which is when I'm my clearest and most articulate.
I think the more I worry about it, the worse the anxiety becomes... like a feedback loop... making things worse.
I don't want to go on meds, and I don't think I need them because I'm not debilitated in any way apart from just being self-critical in particular circumstances due to the anxiety, and I don't want the negative side effects of those types of drugs, but I don't really have any other options than to overcome the irrational fear which is A LOT harder than it sounds.

[Thrice]

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

But in all seriousness, I have a bit of an anxiety disorder, but it's not overbearing. When I get used to situations, it's totally non-existent... but in new situations I'm not accustomed to or place importance on, especially where there are large groups of people involved, I'm overly anxious to the point of showing it physically.
I never noticed it until I had joined the military, so I'm not sure if that had something to do with it, but it's one of those things I worry about now because simple things like job interviews feel like they're going to be insurmountable because I want to be as relaxed as possible, which is when I'm my clearest and most articulate.
I think the more I worry about it, the worse the anxiety becomes... like a feedback loop... making things worse.
I don't want to go on meds, and I don't think I need them because I'm not debilitated in any way apart from just being self-critical in particular circumstances due to the anxiety, and I don't want the negative side effects of those types of drugs, but I don't really have any other options than to overcome the irrational fear which is A LOT harder than it sounds.

Wow. I could have written this word for word myself, including the military part, and the not wanting to go on prescribed meds.

I have some anger issues as well, which I have actually been thinking about trying to fix. I notice it much more when I'm not smoking bud.

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by Thrice

Wow. I could have written this word for word myself, including the military part, and the not wanting to go on prescribed meds.

I have some anger issues as well, which I have actually been thinking about trying to fix. I notice it much more when I'm not smoking bud.

Yea I had the anger issues, especially when I got out of the military. I got to a point where one night I beat the crap out of my dad because he pissed me off beyond boiling point (and I was drunk) and after that night I was pretty ashamed of myself and I realized how much I'd been bottling things up because of the way the military is and how you really can't express any kind of anger or emotion to your superiors without severely negative repercussions.
It took that experience to kind of put myself in check and try to get out of the mindset that I have to hold my opinions back in fear of repercussion, and now I just say what I need to say before it gets out of control.

I'm doing a ton better in that regard.

[Astronomer]

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

But in all seriousness, I have a bit of an anxiety disorder, but it's not overbearing. When I get used to situations, it's totally non-existent... but in new situations I'm not accustomed to or place importance on, especially where there are large groups of people involved, I'm overly anxious to the point of showing it physically.
I never noticed it until I had joined the military, so I'm not sure if that had something to do with it, but it's one of those things I worry about now because simple things like job interviews feel like they're going to be insurmountable because I want to be as relaxed as possible, which is when I'm my clearest and most articulate.
I think the more I worry about it, the worse the anxiety becomes... like a feedback loop... making things worse.
I don't want to go on meds, and I don't think I need them because I'm not debilitated in any way apart from just being self-critical in particular circumstances due to the anxiety, and I don't want the negative side effects of those types of drugs, but I don't really have any other options than to overcome the irrational fear which is A LOT harder than it sounds.

I'm sorry to hear that Freebase I did a lot of research on anxiety in one of my psych essays during my undergrad and I really felt for the people who I interviewed, it seemed very frustrating for them. Totally understand what you mean about the meds thing too... I've been on a plethora of medications for mentally stimulated problems and they all have absolutely horrid side-effects. I hate being on meds.

As for disorders... as a late teenager I started becoming very impulsive, aggressive, and physically self destructive. My family thought I was just going through a moody teenager stage or battling mild depression or something but when I was 20 I was told by a mental health professional that I had Borderline Personality Disorder. To this day I still don't know if I believe the diagnosis, but it's characterised by psychological splitting, chaotic interpersonal relationships, unstable self-image, bouts of anger/rage or other extreme feelings, impulsive behaviour, and self-harm - all of which I do. In most people the condition is provoked by an extreme trauma which occurs in childhood or teenagehood, and yeah when I was 17 something pretty extreme and traumatic happened to me so I guess that would explain it.

Like I said... not sure if I believe the 'diagnosis' because I feel like health professionals try to assign everybody to some kind of disorder these days just to explain stuff. But there you go, there's some depressingly morbid information for your Saturday morning, stuff that I never tell anybody, ever! Ha.

[Burning Down]

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

But in all seriousness, I have a bit of an anxiety disorder, but it's not overbearing. When I get used to situations, it's totally non-existent... but in new situations I'm not accustomed to or place importance on, especially where there are large groups of people involved, I'm overly anxious to the point of showing it physically.
I never noticed it until I had joined the military, so I'm not sure if that had something to do with it, but it's one of those things I worry about now because simple things like job interviews feel like they're going to be insurmountable because I want to be as relaxed as possible, which is when I'm my clearest and most articulate.
I think the more I worry about it, the worse the anxiety becomes... like a feedback loop... making things worse.
I don't want to go on meds, and I don't think I need them because I'm not debilitated in any way apart from just being self-critical in particular circumstances due to the anxiety, and I don't want the negative side effects of those types of drugs, but I don't really have any other options than to overcome the irrational fear which is A LOT harder than it sounds.

I also have an anxiety disorder. I remember my mom took me to see a shrink when I was about 10 or 11 and I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Fits my symptoms almost to a T.

My symptoms are more pronounced during the school year because of essays, deadlines, practice schedules, rehearsals, etc. I stress over things that most people would just shake off. I don't have a problem in social situations though. In fact, I'll admit that I like to be the centre of attention.

For me, it's more of an internal thing. I'm not on any meds and I really don't want to be. Psychiatric medications just mask the problem and make you feel good about yourself when you're really not. They do not cure anything. However, there are very few side effects with these drugs. SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) like fluoxetine (Prozac) or sertraline (Zoloft) can slow down your body's ability to metabolize alcohol and caffeine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selecti...take_inhibitor). Buspirone (Bu-Spar) is a similar drug that is prescribed specifically for generalized anxiety disorder (Buspirone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

I've been keeping my anxiety symptoms under control during the school year by limiting my caffeine intake (stimulants just enhance the symptoms), and by keeping a daily agenda and breaking down my big goals and projects into smaller ones. For me, playing flute and guitar really help me to channel my frustrations and stress out of my body. Regular exercise also helps, and a healthy balanced diet. Well, fairly balanced for me since I don't eat red meat and I can't eat pork

It's hard to get sympathy from people (I'm not actively looking for it, this is just something that I've noticed over the years). Perhaps it's because this is such a complex thing to understand and only people who have it can fully understand what you're going through. I sometimes think that others are being judgemental towards people with anxiety, again probably because they don't understand it.