acgrundy is 100% right.

[Smoke Break]

it's like they are just part of a person's personality, not a sickness. You get what I'm sayin'?

For example a symptom to a disorder may be:
Prefer the known to the unknown
Very discreet and deliberate in dealing with others
Comfortable with habit, repetition, and routine
Emotional coldness, detachment or reduced affection.

lol I have whatever this is, and I don't think that's a bad thing. You're right that a lot of that is just personality traits, but unfortunately our society expects you to be a different way. Personally I can't stand people that are overly friendly and outgoing, theres something wrong with them.

[Al Bundy]

I'm not trying to mask the problem. I'm using them to try and break my habits. It makes it easier to talk to people and just be calm. I won't be taking them forever.

I know you're not, like you said you're using it to help break the habit. I was just saying that the medicine is only one part of the equation, if you don't force yourself to get outside of your comfort zones you'll likely end up masking the problem. Theres a reason that there's such a high rate of alcoholism with anxiety disorders, it provides a quick but temporary fix to something that needs more than that. You should combine your medication with physical practices. Like you said the medicine makes it easier to get out and talk to people; which is the important part, becoming used to doing it. The more you do it the more you'll become desensitized to the process and thats an effective way to break the habit.

I have. I go outside (i'm not a complete shut in)

[Smoke Break]

lol for sure, i just meant make it a point to do what would usually make you uncomfortable

[jeromechickenbone]

I think a combo of meds / counseling / stopping drug use can cure a lot of anxiety disorders.  I believe that the meds are VITAL because if you've ever been victim of true anxiety, you know that is crushing and all consuming.  You're scared to do ANYTHING because you're worried of having an attack.  If you have meds and take them as prescribed, it can at least give you some relief and let you know that you can get out of it. 

Combine that w/ cutting out drug use and counseling and I believe that over a decent amount of time you can be free of taking the meds. 

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

some of yall need to go to city and take psychology 101.   

for reals though.   

Bundy, do what you gotta do dude.  i hope the best for you patna.   

[Chief]

yeah this is a touchy subject, and in the end 7even is right. for the simple fact you cant compare yourself to another person, because you dont know what they been through or whats goin through their mind.

i agree with what you sayin aswell NIK, because the mind is strong and can do alot of things, but what you goto also realise is people dont just fall into depression and slip out of it, it happens over time, and to get out of it also takes alot of time... doctors usually prescribe shit, to make the time pass quicker, when someone is depressed or have some sort of mental disorder, they are not themselves, i believe anxiety/depression can be cured over time if you're strong enough and have a foundation to place your feet on, but shit like that is a roller coaster ride, if you're in the healing process and do feel down, what if someone does something stupid?

i think thats why docs prescribe meds, to make the shit quicker so you dont have to live in pain.

[Dubz]

some of yall need to go to city and take psychology 101.  

for reals though.  

Bundy, do what you gotta do dude.  i hope the best for you patna.  

seriously man. some dumb dudes tryna touch on this.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

if you don't force yourself to get outside of your comfort zones you'll likely end up masking the problem.

Exactly. I don't understand how people can disagree with this. If someone is deperessed, and they take Zoloft, it'll make them feel better...But do you realize how much worse it is once you get off that Zoloft? It's not an answer...Just look at all the reported cases of people killing themselves after stopping prescribed antidepressants...I'm only offering my opinion, and as someone who has experienced many of these symptoms myself at one point or another, I can say I truly believe it is 100% a psychological issue...and if you disagree with that, fine, but there's no need to get all mad or avoid what I'm saying...I never said it was easy to break out of the habbit, but is it possible? Yes. You obviously don't want to listen to anyone or hear what they think. You have your mind set up and you're obviously not changing it up anytime soon...But you NEED opinions...PeACe

[ZILLA THA GOODFELLA]

There is such thing as chemical imbalance in the brain. But not all imbalances you're born with. It's usually not from your nature, it's the nurture, it's what you've gone through and what your character has turned out like. Something simple such as stress can cause an ever-lasting imbalance. Each emotion you express has a hormonal response. Like if you're angry all the time, you act on that emotion and release that "fighting" hormone that wants to take flight. And when you drink alcohol for example, an upper, it triggers the emotion you've been dealing with all that time. You ever wonder why stupid hoes always end up droppin their pants when they drink up? Because they've had hoe tendencies all this time. They've been horny ass bitches for a while, all alcohol did was cause a push in the chemical imbalance where the chemical that had the horny ammo stored overshadows the other levels of chemical in your brain, therefore there's a real imbalance now. Then you might conclude that everyone is born with equal balance of chemicals in the brain and they control it all. Well no, it's not all equal, and for the most part, it's not too much of an imbalance, but genes do make up imblances and at times do structure the way chemicals re-act and how much their level starts out with.

Both side of the argument on this are correct in some way and wrong in others. If all people knew how to control chemical imbalances then this world would be heaven, but to control the brain is easier said than done. If you have a violent father and believe you have a chemical imbalance in the "anger" levels of the brain, then you could train yourself and most likely improve and live a better life than your father's. But your average human being could give a fuck about all that, when life gets hard, that chemical imbalance will re-act and there is not time to analyze how your brain works.

[ZILLA THA GOODFELLA]

HAPPINESS IS A DECISION, NOT AN EMOTION.

But I do understand the other side of the argument, some things are genetical and get raised to an unstoppable level by nurture. They are almost impossible to try and fix on your own, that's where zoloft and all kinds of other drugs come into play. But if you're dealing with a human being that understands what to do to re-fresh his or herself, which is super rare, then it's a different story. At the same time we mustt understand that some people simply can't do without help, they can't fight the battle, and will prolly lose the war.. you can't point a finger at them based on that.

[The Watcher]

i have the same condition that Al Bundy has, but I don't use the drugs for it because i'm scared of a) being on them for life and b) coming off the drugs and being worse off

the worst thing in my life is having to be around ANY people, because I get nervous as fuck. i can't goto busy shopping centres without freaking out, starting a new job is a nightmare for me. Al bundy is probably the same, I can't walk down the street without flipping out. people on here talking about how easy it is to get over it or how easy it would be to deal with have NO idea, its like living in hell every day. people at work know what im like now so it's getting easier for me to deal with now, since i spend 75% of my time there. you find as you get into a routine and you become comfortable in 2 or 3 environments (work, home, a friends house) its gets easier, but the simple thing of going to the corner store for a drink becomes like trying to do a triathalon

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I never spoke of the difficulty levels in overcoming it.

[Elevz]

The problem is that many people, including you Nik, don't wanna realize that the brain is just another organ, an organ in which chemical and physical things occur. It's just not as blatantly obvious as disfunctional legs and shit.

Shit, it's not like Bundy is brain dead or anything... Why compare it to someone with dysfunctional legs?

I know you're all into this "we're all just molecules - it's all chemical" type of stuff, but does the mind make the chemicals or do the chemicals make the mind? You can't deny that you actually do fulfill an active role in controlling the functioning of your own body; it's not like humans are the damned puppets of the randomness of internal chemical reactions... In other words: sure, using medicines to alter your chemicals could make it easier to change, but the change will have to come from the body itself and not from its medicine.

[7even]

The problem is that many people, including you Nik, don't wanna realize that the brain is just another organ, an organ in which chemical and physical things occur. It's just not as blatantly obvious as disfunctional legs and shit.

Shit, it's not like Bundy is brain dead or anything... Why compare it to someone with dysfunctional legs?

I know you're all into this "we're all just molecules - it's all chemical" type of stuff, but does the mind make the chemicals or do the chemicals make the mind? You can't deny that you actually do fulfill an active role in controlling the functioning of your own body; it's not like humans are the damned puppets of the randomness of internal chemical reactions... In other words: sure, using medicines to alter your chemicals could make it easier to change, but the change will have to come from the body itself and not from its medicine.

The body can produce and set free certain chemicals, or you can just take certain chemicals. It really doesn't make a difference when it comes to how you feel. Now, if some people aren't fit to produce certain chemicals by themselves on a natural basis, they can inject them. Of course it doesn't work out as perfectly as this, because the human body is more complex than just "substance A lacks, inject substance A, done"... we ain't robots.

For evolutional purposes, humans get rewarded with happiness for various things. That's how it is supposed to be. Like it is supposed to be that you feel pain after various incidents. Now, if the brain has a special condition, "or if the personality of the person is shaped that way" (if you prefer that wording) those chemicals can lack and shit. I am not a neurolgist and I can't get too deep into it. But anyways, if certain happiness-related chemicals aren't really triggered, which can be for a variety of reasons, the person will be depressed, unless he or she gets those chemicals triggered by injections, pills, etc.

[Elevz]

Nicely put, 7even. That does leave me with one question: how curable is Bundy's condition? Will he be forever dependant on medicines to turn his chemical balance into something that makes life enjoyable, or could there be a point where his brain catches up and 'learns' to do this independantly? That's really the question for me: are we talking about a disorder through a lack of development of certain brain sections, or are these brain sections symply not capable of functioning properly at all? It's an interesting point, knowing that most development disorders are highly influenced by controllable properties.