Has anyone ever had one or known people who did.
I think I have one you see. I only have it when I leave the house and I am still OK to go online. So you don't get rid of me so easily.
Sometimes I think it is a bad thing and other times I think that people with nervous breakdowns don't have to go to work do they so that would be good.
Yes, I've definitely had one. Have suffered from anxiety since my 20s and at one point I didn't leave the house for about three years. I spent a week in a psychiatric unit in the late 90s - I asked them to take me in, I felt I needed to be looked after for a bit (like Hurley!) It was nice in there. I liked the people (mostly.) And the meals. And not being allowed to go out!
it runs in the family, both my parents had them too. Funnily enough so did Mr Merry's parents when they were in their 50s. There's no hope for my poor girls is there with genes like these!
Poor Furby 
The only thing I can say is that I did get over it and I'm fine now. The last few years have been the calmest and happiest of my life. I'll always be the sort of person who's happiest at home, but I feel I live a new life these days - so maybe you will too - once you can give up work and please only yourself.
Short daily country walks helped me - not an option for you, I know. And getting the pony (want mine? 
) giving up alcohol, a depressant masquerading as a mood-lifter. A little bit of gardening - the sheer physical work of it - plus the fun of watching things grow. Playing the piano! (badly)
Wish you lived nearer, we could walk together (ulpifting scenery and peacefulness at sunset definitely helps.) Oh, and embroidery - I did a lot of embroidery as I began to recover. I don't really recommend that as you will end up with a lot of crap embroidery. Could you write a book - I know you could - you have lots of humour and insight and probably tales to tell. Furby's Guide to the World.
Hope you feel better soon. If only you could give up work it would be good, dancing to other people's tune is very stressful and to have that lifted away gives a whole new flavour to life. I do go out now, but I choose to, by and large - I don't have to - and that's what makes the difference 
Humans are just not suited to the lives we lead so a breakdown of some kind is inevitable. Sometimes we call it that and sometimes we talk about 'stress', 'mid life crisis', 'Depression' and so on. Some people would go on 'retreats' to recover/rethink their lives.
Remember that song 'Mother's little helper' from the 60s?. It was a reference to the fact that so many people (especially mothers) were regularly taking Valium etc to get by.
Like merry, I lead a different and happier life now. One designed to avoid the things that were crushing me before. A sliightly eccentric life by most standards, but I now do the things I can handle and avoid the rest. I no longer care that I 'should' be able to do those other things. I just know what works for me and what doesn't.
I don't know what you are experiencing, Furby, but I may have mentioned before that I'm agorophobic. I can control it enough to go out (many can not), but there is a gradual buildup of stress which can make it quite difficult and unpleasant.
It's completely irrational, but unfortunately knowing that doesn't help. It triggers the fight/flight response (panic attacks) and depending on the individual can make you shaky, dizzy, sweating, paranoid (as though everyone were staring at you), nauseous and so on. Difficulty in concentrating can be bad enough so that you can't do what you went out for anyway. Standing in a shop staring at a shelf and unable to decide what to pick up.
I think variations on this are common for people under stress for long periods of time. Sometimes they fade if you can get away from the stress for a time and sometimes they don't.
And yes this is the reason I'm essentially unemployable now. I could work and would like to really, but it would be too erratic.
"So you don't get rid of me so easily. "
Bless you darlin' . We definitely don't want to be rid of you. You're a charming and witty conversationalist and a dear friend.
From your description, you seem to be experiencing some agarophobia. What you may read online about this medical problem is a mixture of good advice, silliness, bad advice, new, uncertain, and outdated science.
Merry's statement, on the other hand, sounds very kindly and practical, and I second it heartily.
Agarophobia, as a health problem, is far more common than swine flu. You should definitely approach it as a health problem and seek competent care from a physician.
[I don't know how much the NHS allows for medical shopping until you can find a practitioner you like? Very important in a condition that has a physiologic cause with intense psychologic implications.]
Let me just add to Merry's quite accurate description of a genetic tendency toward developing agarophobia, that in women, the shifting of hormones from fertility primetime through menopause makes us particularly prone to this problem. The good news is: women then tend to get through the physiologic triggers, whenever their hormones settle.
In the meantime, you may need a caring, talented and experienced doctor's care to weather the storm.
Seeking a competent physician's care in this case is a sign of sanity in the patient.
Creature has had 2 periods of extended sick leave because of depression - basically, he didn't want to go out or go to Work, and it was only our Predecessors that gave him a reason to get up in the morning because they needed to be fed and looked after.
In both cases his very kind Employer helped identify the reason for the underlying stress and depression, and took it away, and Creature got better in the sense that things became more manageable and he was able to go out and go to Work again.
He also had a very understanding Doctor.
Creature says it is important you see a competent Physician. It is a health problem and absolutely nothing to be ashamed of seeing the doctor about. If it was him, he would be guided by Merry and Asy.
Good luck!
By the way, I did not mean to dis Paniko's kind contribution at all; I wrote my bit as he was posting, so hadn't read his yet.
Oh I know that, Asy 
It seems to me that when you feel very bad you look around and you think "How come they can all manage so easily?" and the truth is that many of those people just look like they are managing, but have similar worries/problems that they are dealing with. So I think it helps to know 'It's not just me'
Yep, that's it exactly.
Hello Furby,
Just to add my support to that of the others who have posted - though I realise you don't know me very well I have always enjoyed reading your thoughtful posts, which also often make me smile with your lovely dry sense of humour, and I just wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you and hoping you're ok.
Yes - dodgy genes must've done for me - thanks Mumsy 
- I had bad panic attacks for years too (nowadays milder and increasingly rare) - but I have, like Pani and Merry and others have already said - spent a long time gradually rearranging my life in various ways so that I don't have to handle the situations I think are particularly likely to bring it all back again - but finding more things I can do successfully (and with enjoyment) that don't seem to.
I started off with small things. Looking at sunshine out of a window, concentrating on a nice cup of tea, daring to go out for a walk and feel the breeze in my hair... then working part time for a long time in a telesales job where, providing I could make it INTO work ok, the thought that I didn't actually have to SEE the customers (or them see me!) was reassuring.
After a couple too many occasions where I failed to make it actually into work, with no plausible explanations, I decided to throw myself to the lions and admit the real reason to my boss - thinking I'd be sacked on the spot for feebleness - and to my great surprise, he was extremely supportive and said he had suffered from the same problems himself in the past.
I have found again and again, that however much one feels so alone, and that one can't possibly tell anyone (particularly employers, etc) that you're going through a tough time and really need a bit of a break/understanding/support/time out - increasingly I have found that if you do ask for help, you're more likely than not to find it - as well as sometimes understanding and kindness that you would never had expected, and this can make all the difference.
I agree about the importance of finding a good and understanding doctor too; my experiences have been somewhat mixed with this, but I have seen a good therapist who was a rock I clung to in bad patches, and where I found understanding and help to explore how I felt and what was going wrong. (And what I DID want and care about as well, importantly.) I don't think their approach matters so much as finding someone who is a good match for you: mine had a similar sense of humour, which helped - and which the poor man probably needed with years of my moaning!
I used to volunteer on a telephone helpline run by SANE, open only between 6-11pm now, sadly, due to lack of funding (and that's why I no longer do shifts there...!) - they will listen, support, and can also look up information on any relevant sources of help/support in your area, without pushing you to do or talk about anything you don't want to. It's completely anonymous - and people phone for all kinds of reasons: advice, information, support during a crisis, to help through a particularly bad panic attack - or just to hear another person's voice - someone that needs nothing from you and is removed from the situation. (The kindness of strangers?) You can find the number on SANE's website.
Sorry for the long post everyone, but it's a subject close to my heart, you could say. I'm very proud of my Mum (Merry) for getting through her bad years, and so glad to see her so happy nowadays. People do have the darkest of days, and emerge from them - it may be a cliche to say stronger - but perhaps wiser, and in a way more open to appreciating the good times that life can bring.
Sorry if this all sounds a bit tree-hugging, but then I AM nicknamed "STPD"!
Thinking of you, Furby - please don't disappear.
Next Page...