Hi, my name is Plato93!

Plato93

Greetings folks,

I'm not sure how I should start, but if I'm going to fill people in on my mental health problems, that have become intrinsic to knowing who I am, it's unfortunately going to be one of those TL; DR posts.

My name is Paul, (Username: Plato93). I've suffered with mental health issues since my first panic attack at the age of 5 in 1979. I developed claustrophobia around this time and could not sit in assembly unless I was near the exit door. My claustrophobia seemed to disappear around the mid-80's.

Around 1989 I ended up having a complete nervous breakdown. I would suffer heightened anxiety throughout the day, interspersed with panic attacks. I stopped eating and lost considerable weight. I somehow managed to overcome this and start eating again.

The defining point of my whole life happened in January 1990. I was 20 minutes from my home in the town centre when the Burn's Day storm hit, the one that caused such devastation across Britain. The sheer force of it pummelled me through a fence and I thought I was going to die at the young age of 15. I managed to fight through the storm of the century and make it home, though it took me an hour to do so.

The next day I went to go to the shop, and I could not do it. I'm sure there are regular Scope people who give advice with mental health issues, who are reading this who have already ascertained where this is going and what I was/am suffering from.

To those that don't, I had become what's known in medical parlance as an agoraphobic.

At that point in my life, I completely lost my freedom.

I had to leave the last few months I had left of school early as I could not get there. I took my GCSE's from home, (obviously in the presence of a monitor😂)

So, life has been a bit underwhelming these past 35 years. I haven't been to the cinema since 1987; been on a beach since 1989; walked back down to the town centre since 1990; have missed out on being present at marriages and birthdays; have had 10 close people in my family, (including my father) die and I could not attend any of their funerals; couldn't go on holiday with my nephew and niece when they were children.

To add insult to injury, after my father unexpectedly died, I developed chronic obsessive-compulsive disorder, which left me performing nonsense ritualistic actions for 9 hours a night, every night, for five years.

I managed to overcome that though, by going cold turkey. By that I meant I simply didn't give in to the compulsions, and it worked. You're supposed to slowly cut down the rituals, but I cut it all out in one night. So, from that night I was free, just took five bloody years to do it.

So, I 've had a few wins, but obviously the agoraphobia is still a problem.

I'm not sure what else I can say really, but it would be nice to interact with other people on this forum who have mental health issues like the ones I have described above.

I realise I'm new to the community, but I am not new to mental health problems, so have a bit of experience when it comes to talking about them.

I don't think this problem would have bothered me so much if it had happened in my dotage, but at 15 years old, when my whole life was supposed to be ahead of me, is admittedly upsetting.

I hope people know a little more about me now, though.

Bluebell21

@Plato93 Hi Paul, Welcome to the Community. I hope you enjoy your time on the forum. Any questions just ask.

Thank you for telling us your story,

Have a look around and join in when you are ready.

Take care.

Plato93

Thank you kindly for your welcome, Bluebell21!

Albus_Scope

Heya @Plato93 and it's a big welcome from me too. 😊

It's always good to hear a bit more about our community, so thank you for sharing. I can empathise with a fair bit of what was mentioned. I managed to beat the agoraphobia, but it certainly wasn't easy and I'm still not the biggest fan our the outside world.

Plato93

Hello @Albus_Scope,

Congratulations on beating it. I successfully managed to overcome emetophobia, monophobia and O.C.D., but agoraphobia is the one problem that I've had the most difficulty eliminating.

Albus_Scope

You've done so so well to overcome all the other issues, so I'm sure you'll make a deal with the agoraphobia in time. 😊

troublethomas

Wow... you are amazing. This community is exceptional and has helped me so much since I joined. Hope the kind words within this group find you some hope and peace to be able to start again.

Holly_Scope

Welcome @Plato93 😊

I'm really pleased you've felt comfortable to share with us. And glad you're open to these type of discussions, as I'm sure you'll have a lot to offer people that are going through similar experiences.

Best wishes,

Holly.

Plato93

@Albus_Scope @troublethomas @Holly_Scope

Thank you for your kind words.

Jane315STARX

Welcome @Plato93 you will find it a very friendly and helpful place to be here.

Plato93

Hi! @Jane315STARX