zine about depression, anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, etc etc etc
Hi guys!
I was in the process of scribbling out my outline for a anxiety/ panic disorder zine that I am doing when I realised that the reason I am doing this is because I find that reading other people's experiences with anxiety, their symptoms, their coping mechanisms, what meds they take etc etc - is a really really big help to me. Often just knowing that someone feels the same way as you do is a big enough help in itself. And I would absolutely love to have people's input on this. So, behind the cut is a list of questions and if you want to participate - email the answers to disorderzine@hotmail.com.
Everyone who contributes will get a free copy, postage paid on my behalf (I'm in Australia, so postage can be a bitch - if this doesn't prove to you how keen I am to do this, I don't know what will!) And if you don't want to contribute but want a copy - let me know so I have an idea of how many to organise. If not a great deal of people are interested - the zine will be free to everyone who wants one. If it's more popular than I expect - I'll charge a small fee payable via paypal, bank deposit (australia), money order etc. But really, I'm going to try and distribute as many copies as I can free of charge.
finally, should i make updates about this project via this community, or would you guys prefer to join a seperate one to keep track of progress? or should i contact the people interested via email? let me know your thoughts.
you can answer whichever questions you like, but i'd prefer if you could answer them all. in brackets are prompts to help you answer, just to let you know what i am kind of looking for. also, if you have suggestions for any other questions that you'd like to see answered - let me know. and if you know of any other communities, or people (whether it be livejournal or elsewhere) that may be interested in this project - please let me know! or at least get this info out there so that i can get as many experiences together as i possibly can. whereas i am primarily dealing with panic and anxiety - i am happy to have anything on any other disorders as well (bipolar, depression, etc etc etc). i'm about to investigate myspace and see whether there's any groups on there that would be interested in participating. i want this to be huge!
01first of all - would you like to remain anonymous? if you want to share contact details, or a pen - name, please scribble these down here. also, if you would like a copy of the finished product, please advise me of your address (kept completely confidential)
02what do you suffer from? (short answer) (ie: panic attacks, generalized anxiety disorder, bipolar)
03what has been your history with this? (age that it may have started, relatives (parents, siblings) that suffer also, is there a particular thing that triggered the onset? (family tragedy, new job, vehicle accident)
04what do you experience when suffering from a panic attack (or other)? (feeling smothered, hearing voices, dizziness - list them ALL!)
05do you take medication? what has been your history of medication and did they, or did they not work for you?
06what techniques do you use to control a panic attack (or other) when it's happening? (breathing techniques, relaxation, what have you tried that hasn't worked?)
07what other steps have you taken to manage your anxiety (or other)? (yoga, therapy, sports - please go into detail about what you have tried, what has worked and hasn't worked, what you highly recommend to others, what have you tried that hasn't worked for you?)
08is there anything else you'd like to share? (books, websites, groups you have found useful. anything at all - further stories, excerpts from helpful texts, experiences)
I was in the process of scribbling out my outline for a anxiety/ panic disorder zine that I am doing when I realised that the reason I am doing this is because I find that reading other people's experiences with anxiety, their symptoms, their coping mechanisms, what meds they take etc etc - is a really really big help to me. Often just knowing that someone feels the same way as you do is a big enough help in itself. And I would absolutely love to have people's input on this. So, behind the cut is a list of questions and if you want to participate - email the answers to disorderzine@hotmail.com.
Everyone who contributes will get a free copy, postage paid on my behalf (I'm in Australia, so postage can be a bitch - if this doesn't prove to you how keen I am to do this, I don't know what will!) And if you don't want to contribute but want a copy - let me know so I have an idea of how many to organise. If not a great deal of people are interested - the zine will be free to everyone who wants one. If it's more popular than I expect - I'll charge a small fee payable via paypal, bank deposit (australia), money order etc. But really, I'm going to try and distribute as many copies as I can free of charge.
finally, should i make updates about this project via this community, or would you guys prefer to join a seperate one to keep track of progress? or should i contact the people interested via email? let me know your thoughts.
you can answer whichever questions you like, but i'd prefer if you could answer them all. in brackets are prompts to help you answer, just to let you know what i am kind of looking for. also, if you have suggestions for any other questions that you'd like to see answered - let me know. and if you know of any other communities, or people (whether it be livejournal or elsewhere) that may be interested in this project - please let me know! or at least get this info out there so that i can get as many experiences together as i possibly can. whereas i am primarily dealing with panic and anxiety - i am happy to have anything on any other disorders as well (bipolar, depression, etc etc etc). i'm about to investigate myspace and see whether there's any groups on there that would be interested in participating. i want this to be huge!
01first of all - would you like to remain anonymous? if you want to share contact details, or a pen - name, please scribble these down here. also, if you would like a copy of the finished product, please advise me of your address (kept completely confidential)
02what do you suffer from? (short answer) (ie: panic attacks, generalized anxiety disorder, bipolar)
03what has been your history with this? (age that it may have started, relatives (parents, siblings) that suffer also, is there a particular thing that triggered the onset? (family tragedy, new job, vehicle accident)
04what do you experience when suffering from a panic attack (or other)? (feeling smothered, hearing voices, dizziness - list them ALL!)
05do you take medication? what has been your history of medication and did they, or did they not work for you?
06what techniques do you use to control a panic attack (or other) when it's happening? (breathing techniques, relaxation, what have you tried that hasn't worked?)
07what other steps have you taken to manage your anxiety (or other)? (yoga, therapy, sports - please go into detail about what you have tried, what has worked and hasn't worked, what you highly recommend to others, what have you tried that hasn't worked for you?)
08is there anything else you'd like to share? (books, websites, groups you have found useful. anything at all - further stories, excerpts from helpful texts, experiences)