Whcih Ethnic group you belong to

[hartford_resident]

I know this site  has members all over the world. I would like to know what ethnic group or which coutry you are from and where are you living now, just want to explore if the environmental difference between the country we grown up and and country we are living is one of the reason for panic/anxiety disorder.

  Do you fee your anxiety symptoms are due to change of country because you could not accustom to the present country or because of environmental/climate changes.

If anybody is there in forum who are also thinking on same lines.. please share your feelings.

Lets start with me.

I am bascially from India. grown up in India util I am in mid 20s and living in America for the past 10 years. I didn't had my anxiety symptoms when I was in India although my childhood had ups and downs, I could cope up with them. After being living in America for some time , this disorder started. still battling with it. I sometimes feel, cold weather of north east(where I am living) is one of the reason for my depression and anxiety as my body is not used to it (as India is very hot country with Sun out side always)

what do you say ladies and gentleman.
SK.

[buzzskill]

I am a caucasian American, having grown up in the Midwestern states, namely Michigan. I have been living in Minnesota for 10 plus years now. I first started getting panic attacks, anxiety and depression when I was 15 and living in a small town in Michigan where my family still lives. Ever since then I always associate my anxiety and panic with places in my hometown.
 I love my family very much, but when I go home to visit and I see many of the places that I hung out at when I lived there, it brings back those memories of panic and anxiety and not knowing what was happening to me, feeling so helpless, thinking I was loosing my mind. Afraid to tell anyone. It was truly a horrible time in my life.
 It wasn't until I was in my early twenties that I first even heard of panic attacks and anxiety. After seeing a show on TV about panic disorder I finally knew what was wrong with me and was able to talk to my mom, who is a nurse. She set me up with a Dr. and I got on some SSRI medicine. My symptoms very gradually started to get better.
 Soon I decided it was time to make a change in my life so I moved to a bigger town in Michigan where I met my wife. When she graduated from college, we moved to Minneapolis where we still live today.
 I think with anxiety and panic disorder it is easy to associate our attacks with places or things that we are near when they happen to us. With your situation of first experiencing your attacks when you moved to America or when you experienced cold weather are not the cause of your symptoms but it is because you are associating these things with your symptoms, like I do when I go to visit my family.
 After being symptom free for several years while living in Minnesota I had stopped taking my medication. My wife and I went to a baseball game with some friends. Just as we sat down all together, a singer started singing the national anthem to start the game, when I had a massive panic attack and had to leave. My friends didn't understand an d I was very scared!
 Luckily I have a very understanding wife, and after getting back on medication and suffering through several painful months, I got myself back on track and have since had a beautiful baby daughter, and life is good again.
 Unfortunately I can ad going to baseball games to the list of things I associate with panic!
 I know that anxiety and panic will always be an issue for me for the rest of my life, but I also know that with meditation, medication, relaxation and an understanding family, I can get through anything. I hope the same for you!
 Take care, Steve

[hartford_resident]

Thank you Steve for sharing your thoughts. Yes you may be right, I am associating my anxiety with cold zone, still I believe that I may feel better when I move to hot places permanantly. I dont have anybody in this country where I am living expect my husband and my dear son. rest of my family and relatives are still in India, that home sickness is also effecting me I think.

anyway thanks for your thoughts.

anybody else?