Managing stress and anxiety to live well

Interviewee:

Before I even got out of the Air Force, I had started really struggling with anxiety attacks and sleeplessness and fears.

Interviewee1:

Getting out of the military was interesting and exciting and that maybe presented some of the most anxiety I ever felt. It's scary, you know, because you have this whole life that you learned. For me, it was six years active duty in an Infantry Unit. Now I have to all of a sudden go be a civilian.

Interviewee2:

I didn't really notice the anxiety until actually I got back from the academy, probably just a natural reaction, but it seemed overblown to me that like getting stuck in traffic, I was just getting so angry.

Interviewee3:

Well, a lot of my issues were generalized anxiety so, I have a lot of issues with like perfectionism and just, you know, putting too much pressure on myself which is definitely from the military.

Interviewee4:

I think part of it was self-induced stress and I knew I was transitioning. I knew I was getting out. “What do I want to do with my life? Oh my gosh, what's that going to be like?” The big unknown.

Interviewee5:

I got really nervous going to new places and places I hadn't been. I kind of say, “You know, I don't know. I don't know why.” You know, I had friend that would say, “Hey, you want to go to dinner tonight?” I said, “No, I don't want to.” I'd make up an excuse, like, “No, I've got homework,” but really, I was kind of like, “Oh, I'm afraid if I go, I'm going to have an anxiety attack.”

Interviewee6:

With the anxiety, your heart races. I mean it goes just insanely fast. You sweat. You get paranoid. You keep looking over your shoulder. Insomnia; you don't sleep. Your body is so tired especially after these anxiety and panic attacks, it really feels like you ran a marathon, but you didn't.

Interviewee:

I ultimately felt that my anxiety was kind of overwhelming and it was less than I needed to manage it because it was taking all of my energy to manage it. It was taking up my whole day.

Interviewee7:

I had a panic attack; a full-on panic attack and I still don't know what I was doing at that time. I called one of my friends and said, “You have to drive me because I can't even drive.” And that was my first time going to the VA. They diagnosed it as a panic attack and my treatment started from that point.

Interviewee5:

I missed two weeks of school. I missed finals, you know, which the school let me make up later on, but after that, I said, “You know what, I really needed to get help for this.” So, I went to the VA.

Interviewee4:

I got referred to see a couple of Mental Health Professionals and we talked and three months after getting out, I felt more like myself than I had in years before.

Interviewee5:

I started out bi-weekly meeting with a counselor, just I mean it almost felt like we just had a casual conversation. I felt really comfortable while speaking to the counselor that I was with and it really helped out a lot.

Interviewee:

One of the things that was really crucial to me was remembering that I did have a support system. Knowing that I had the capacity to reach out and ask for help.

Interviewee5:

I talked to my family who I'm really close with about it and, you know, I did have I guess my own little support channel outside of the military. I wanted to do better for myself.

Interviewee7:

My wife pushes me. Having that person in my relationship that pushes me, you know, along with the therapy, that's helped me out and that's what I think what's been helping me out the most, you know having that drive to get better.

Interviewee3:

I definitely noticed an improvement and a difference. I would say that especially now after seeking treatment, I've been doing much better at trying to manage my symptoms and cope with them as they happen or even prevent them.

VA-REINGOLD/pti:

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