About
My name is Mike Nichols, and I live with my wife and daughter in a mid-sized southeastern US city. I am in my early sixties and have been retired on disability for about four years.
The majority of my working life has been in music, first as an orchestra conductor and teacher, then in a private studio. Between these two were several years in the computer industry, as a publisher of third party manuals, a software developer, Customer Service manager, and Senior VP of Information Technology.
My experience with Anxiety Disorder began about six years ago, after decades of struggling with bipolar disorder. I had always been fearless and outgoing, but suddenly I was so overwhelmed that I could no longer leave the house, speak on the phone, or bear the presence of more than one other person, even family members. The onset was like the proverbial ton of bricks: It was like nothing I had ever experienced! My Story goes into my experience with mental illness in more detail.
This blog provides the information that I wish I had had when I was ambushed by Anxiety Disorders, as I was struggling to hold my life together, as I was learning to regain functionality. I have worked hard over the past six years to fight back against this malady, and have had many successes, though I’m not entirely out of the woods yet.
Over the years I have studied Anxiety Disorders intensively in journals, books and on the internet to better understand my condition. I have written extensively about the Anxiety Disorders and bipolar disorder, as well. This blog is intended to share the fruits of my ongoing research, to provide information that may not be found easily elsewhere, and to help my readers better understand Anxiety Disorders and mental illness.
Though there may be personal entries from time to time, the greater part of the posts are meant to be informational and helpful to the reader. There will be book reviews, current news concerning Anxiety Disorders and mental illness in general, and other articles intended to help the reader understand and overcome this dreadful condition. Posts that are my opinion are categorized under “Opinion.”
Comments are strongly encouraged. In fact, I depend upon you to guide the content of this blog in directions that are most helpful to you, the reader.
You may contact me directly by clicking on “Contact” at the top of the screen. All emails are held in strictest confidence. See my Privacy Statement for details. You may also follow me on Twitter by clicking here or on the “Twitter” symbol in the right corner of the screen.
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I have been reading here today for a couple of hours and thank you for all your efforts and energies in sharing this information.
I will be back to read more.
I am a volunteer email counselor for women in the military who have PTSD and are still able to remain on the job. I work with 4 right now and will refer them to you site.
Very nice to have this resource. good stuff.
knowledge is good.
Thank you, Patricia, for your comment and your kind compliments!
I am always looking for new topics for articles, and if you think of something that you’d like to see, please send me an email using the “Contact” tab at the top of each page.
Hi Mike,
First, thanks for the visit to my blog and your wonderful comment. It seems we share a very similar history with bipolar disorder, anxiety, and our reasons for starting blogging.
If only the internet was full of information when we began going through our personal battles, we may have been able to seek better help earlier.
After fighting with my anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder for years, I too decided to hit the internet and try to share what I have learned. Thankfully, because of blogs like yours, others who come down the road of anxiety will be able to learn and hopefully see a bit of themselves in each of your posts.
I look forward to reading your future posts and will try to become an active member of your blog.
Jason
Mike,
I lost your 1st email you sent. which is the book you advise me to refer.
I am having dizzyness too much. Doctor has put me on Alprazolam 1mg
0.5-0-0.5mg + DEanxit tablet a tricylic antidepressant
Howz life with you now. I see in your story retired 4 years back due to disability why is that. You seem to be healthy & great when I see you on photo. I appreciate your achivements
Can I listen to your music online if you have stored some. Please reply back
Hi mike, you are a lot like me you know, im one for researching and finding out everything about an illness if i have it.
I dont know if you feel the same though about this, but anxiety disorders are one of those things, that simply doesn’t make any difference.
What i mean is, they say “knowledge is power” the key to understanding something is the key to beating it, which is true for most things, but for me at least, as i became an expert on the subject in my desperation to beat it, to stop feeling so horrible, it made no difference. I understood the physical side and i understood the process, but when you go through an attack the knowledge goes, the fear takes over. It truly is (in my mind) a wicked illness, it mimics everything else, its little understood by the medical profession who insist you are depressed, when people who suffer from anxiety disorders only, are usually not, as its usually your fear response mechanism in your brain on hyper alert. thats the worse thing about it for me, you just feel out on your own most of the time, as the doctors try to stick you on yet another antidepressant drug which you dont need.
Warm regards
Steve
Actually, women is neither an impossible category nor asserted through infinite multiples, but rather is, instead, an event inherent in modernity which is to say that the evental quality of women cannot be addressed by changing the scale or units of analysis in play. ,
Mr. Nichols,
Thank you for investing so much time and energy in gathering all this information. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you have done. I also feel your pain as I struggle with anxiety.
MNS
Hi Mike, Just wanted you to have my comment made to another site. it could benefit your situation.
I just finished Therapy from a broken shoulder I got when I had a seizure. I really loved my Therapist.
I think by increasing my Water intake will help stop my seizures.
One of the contributing factors to many sicknesses (ex: diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, etc.) is having high levels of acids within the body. This condition is also known as acidosis. Over time, it can have some very damaging effects on the body, specifically the blood. That’s because acidic blood has a harder time circulating, which then causes devastating harm to vital organs.