First- let me start by saying that if you are tying to figure out if you have anxiety or heavy stress that is causing you many problems then please read this. The absolute very step to total recovery is to understand what anxiety, stress and tension in high and prolonged amounts can do to your body.
Most of our new clients have gotten so used to their ways that they do not even realize how bad their mind and anxiety or stress has become. People around you will be able to tell you if you have not already scared them into your way of thinking.
28 years old - sales rep (I'll start here but the story actually goes further back)
I had been married to an amazing girl for about 3 years. and yes she is still my girl and now we have two wonderful little girls, but I can't say that my life has been roses until now, but the story has a happy ending! I was selling building products and doing really well. However I had very high standards for myself. I wasn't making a ton of money but I did amazing ambitions and goals that were starting to look very promising.
It was during this time that I remember a few things happening but I was just worried about the results that I wanted. First and foremost I was very good at public speaking but on the inside I my mind was going 10,000 mph. Did I say that right, did I miss something, did they like it. I worried so much about each and every performance that I seemed to start thinking that way all the time (I did not notice this at the time). I also started to feel like it was up to me to support several different extended family members that were having some financial difficulty. I took this upon myself and got these family members out of a sticky situation. I of course then started to do this very thing more often and of course because I was so persistent I was getting results.
I rose in the ranks quickly was now making about $110,000 per year by the time I was 31 years old. What I didn't realize was how I was holding my body and how tension, stress and anxiety had a really tight grip on me. My body was tensed up almost all the time. If somebody were to ask me my state of mind I would have said this. "I am not scared of anything - I am like a fighter that is ready to get into the ring at any time."
I was lying. I was scared of failure. I was scared of losing everything and even wondered if I deserved all that I had. Maybe my wife was too pretty for me. Maybe I didn't make enough money. Maybe I would lose my job. I also had feelings that I had very often. I was worried that my boss would find out about the real me. Here I was winning all kinds of awards, leading the nation in conversions and still feeling like I was going to be found out. (the question I now ask myself is this - What were they going to find out? I was doing an amazing job!). Still I had those feelings.
At Age 32 I woke up one morning when my wife and I were going to go on a plane flight to see my brother in Connecticut and I literally could not breathe. My diaphragm felt full. I could not expand and contract my chest. The muscles on my right side of my body had locked down. I was in terrible shape and my mind went to the worst possible scenarios. This lasted to where I could not catch my breath for 7 months. I finally took a few pills that a friend gave me - vallium - and took my first full breath in 7 months. I never put two and two together on this! Amazing!!!
My life continued to grow accordingly in great ways with regards to finances and business. At age 33 I started my own business and within 2 years I was making over $300,000 a year and within 5 years I was making the equivalent of over $450,000 with absolutely nothing financed. However I had been wearing the tight shoes too long. And when you wear the tight shoes too long they feel normal! Again when my wife and I were going to go on vacation I woke up in the middle of the night with the most severe burning pain I had ever felt in my groin area. I went to pee and my stream was split and it felt like fire burning through me! I cannot explain it except to say that it was debilitating. That morning I went to see a urologist. He said my prostate was tender but no infection. He put me on flow max and other drugs to relax the prostate. It did not work. 8 months later I was still in agonizing pain. I was starting to think some very bad thoughts. as my thoughts got worse my body felt worse. My feet, stomach and entire crotch area felt like they had been hit with a baseball bat. No doctors were helping. I had been on anti biotics and the works. I finally started physical therapy and that took away the pain enough to live again. I did major stretching of all the muscles. Rest assured I was pulling out all of the stops. I had been chiropractors, herbalist and spent $1,000's of dollars but money was no object because my business doing good.
As a matter of fact the business was my medicine. When I thought about it and worked it then the pain seemed to go away. Therefore I started working until 3 every night (early morning- however you want to look at it) and then getting up again around 7 or 8 and going at it again. I would stop the second my wife came home in the afternoon and then start right back up when she went to bed and then work.
My business was on fire quickly growing to almost 2 million dollars in revenue. I had built my own little internet empire of a business. My business was on fire but so was my groin at many times and my breathing was still have problems and now my neck began to hurt and my hip was starting to stay locked up on me. I was spiraling down physically. It was hurting my personal and social life. I didn't want to do as much and at times didn't want to do anything but work. It was my medicine and it was killing my very spirit. Not because it was bad - because I was using it for the wrong reason. After all at work I was Mark the internet mogul millionaire and at home I was Mark in pain all the time and couldn't much anything physical anymore as I was afraid it would cause me to ache!
The aches and pains of anxiety, tension and stress will keep you from doing anything physical and that is the worst way to look at it but at the time it seems so logical!
At 35 I had my first child and at age 38 I had my second. They were so amazing but as you can imagine the stress and the pride of providing weighed heavier on me that it does on most. It is what I thrive on! I was the caregiver. I wanted to take care of everybody and I was doing it!
Now I was 37 and with a host of physical problems when my physical therapist told me that I would do good seeing somebody that could counsel me for my pain. I was shocked when he said. I wasn't a head case. I was appalled but I never said anything to him. This was the changing of me that I am so proud of today. I went home and told my wife what Joe, the physical therapist said. I was laughing but she wasn't. Even though I couldn't see that I had any type of anxiety problem I could see on her face how much it was affecting our life. I wanted to cry. I had done so many things right and given her a life that many women dream of financially but without your husband what is it worth? I picked up the phone and called the therapist that had been recommended to me. I was in for a war but so was he.
After I started visiting the Dr I started having a lot more symptoms. Tingling of the hands and feet, numbness, rashes, severe pain in the hands and thumbs ( I was sure I had psoriatic arthritis). I had myself tested for multiple sclerosis, a stroke, diabetes and just about everything else I could think of. The amazing thing that many of nurses told me is that the people that have ms and these other diseases usually do not think that they had them on their way in the door. The ones that think that they have the diseases usually, 99% of the time, do not! It is stress, she told me. Most of the time it is stress. Anxiety and stress - the evil twins that come from within!
My list of issues included:
Important to note that none of these lasted a short period of time. The least amount is usually a month!
And probably a couple hundred more that came and went!
I will not give you the details of all of our meetings with the psychiatrist but about the 20th meeting I finally put together the mind body connection that had eluded me. I learned to control my aches and pains at first. It is the most amazing thing. I learned how the stress hormones that are released in your body can wreak havoc on just about every major part of the central nervous system and of course, how to control them.
After 8 long years of pain and suffering for men and my family I finally had an answer that no other doctor could give me. It was my mind. It was me that I had been searching for. It was me that I should be pointing the finger at. I felt relief but had no idea it would be this hard. After so many years I had developed some bad patterns that I used to cope. I did not drink or use drugs but I was a workaholic and wasn't able to relax my mind or even my body. Working was my drug of choice and I now know that the more throw into excessive work the more anxiety I am trying to cope with. Now I have answers.
My life has changed in amazing ways since I learned to get rid of the physical symptoms of anxiety and also learned how to enjoy the things tat I love most and that includes business, children, wife, love, sports, physical activities and much more!
I would also like to take a second to thank my wife from the bottom of my heart! She stood by me when I felt like I was going crazy. She could easily left and been set for life with her half of the money but she did not. Like a true Captain she was going down with the ship if it went down. I was supported enough by family and friends to get help and get back on track!
Many business men are very successful out there yet they are only successful in one aspect of their life. I strongly urge you to "Have it All". Be able to enjoy all that you have. Learn to love the time with your family and friends and get a truly balanced life. It could after all, save your life. Anxiety, stress and tension can kill you, it can also disable you. Let us help you today!
Physical problems include but are not limited to:
Body Symptoms
Face, Head and Neck Symptoms
Eye Symptoms: ( I had so many eye problems that I went to the eye doctor 3 times to get checked for diabetes and ms - Of course I had neither)
An Overview of Typical Anxiety Symptoms (also see broken down sections)
Skin Problems
Stomach Issues
Sleeping Problems
Other Issues
Our Specialties Include:
Reduction of Stress
Reduction of Panic
Reduction of Panic Attacks
Reduction of Physical Pain - Anxiety Symptoms
Anxiety Symptoms
Stress Symptoms
Why You Must Act Now
ANXIETY:
Anxiety Attacks
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety Symptoms
GAD - General Disorder
Stress:
Stress Test
Stress Disorders
Stress Tension Disorders