A Self Introduction!

I've suffered from Panic and Anxiety Disorder for most of my adult life. I have to admit that being diagnosed and labelled was a good thing; I'd been anxious about my anxiety prior to that. I saw my mental health deteriorating to the extent that I'd eventually end up in our local mental hospital. Apparently, that's not very likely with PAD. But that's the way our minds work; we always go to the worst case scenario as the most likely outcome. Knowing what was wrong was good, knowing it was manageable was even better.

Last year I spent several hours in the company of fellow PAD sufferer and friend. Of course, we had to meet somewhere "safe" so I was okay to go to her house. You might think that a couple of PAD sufferers sitting around for a few hours would be a pitiful thing. It wasn't, though. It was an absolute hoot. You see, when other people laugh at our idiosyncrasies it's mean and insulting. The two of us together, however, was a different story altogether. We had a ball laughing about our eccentric notions and rituals.

There is a blog for everybody out there in cyberspace and I seriously doubt this will be the first one about anxiety. I love blogging and writing and decided to write about some of the adventures - or misadventures - of someone living with PAD. I figure there are a lot of people out there with it who may enjoy reading about it in a light-hearted - but not flippant - way. I further appreciate that there may be some sufferers who are housebound and may spend quite a lot of time in cyber-space. This is a way to link them to another and make them feel less alone.

At the moment I'm quite well. I can go out and about and even travel. This doesn't mean those activities don't make me nervous; they do. I can't take public transport or go to big events like The Big Day Out or Womad. Standing in line for too long or getting caught up talking to people when I'm out and about make me very anxious, too. If I'm incubating a cold or I do something at a different time than usual or, even if it's very hot outside my anxiety levels increase when I'm away from home. Why do those things increase my anxiety? Those are the sorts of questions that will answered as the blog progresses ...