hey warren, bit late on the response but i just saw your post. dont worry im pretty much exactly the same. since i 1st had a panic attack nearly 2 yrs ago i have been obssesed that im going schizo.read my post under this same thread. my main thing was my inner voice being so negative in the things i say 2 myself etc. i obsses about anything & evrything.i have seen 2 shrinks & 1 psychologist who have said im definiatly not schizo just obssesive.i find i have 2 obsees about something all day long & its mainly about mental illness. if you were schizo you would hear a foreign voice talking to you (totally sepaerate from your inner voice which is a normal part of consciousness) you would also be de-void of reality/delusional & im sure someone would see that your behaviour is quite bizarre. & people that question their sanity are not crazy the crazy are unaware.

Hi Warren. "what if" questions are the hallmark of chronic anxiety and panic disorder. I'm pretty sure 90% of the people in this forum struggle with this. You don't have schizoprenia, trust me, there's some of that in my family and it's a hell of a lot more than "what ifs". Plus, you'Re not aware of it if you'Ve got it, you live in your own world of reasoning. I don't know if you've tried the cbt program on this website, but it's the absolute best thing for "what ifs". It's helped me and some others have posted as well that it changed their life by letting them get control of those incessant interrogations. Good luck!

Thanks Debbie I hope you find a good physiciatrist that can help you out. I read that post that you put up about that doctor that told you that you must be getting some kind of pay off from it. I cant believe a doctor would say that. You think that since their a doctor they would know a little bit more about anxiety. I know that it can be so maddening when you are told things like that. My girlfriend you to think that I use to do it just to get sympathy from other people and said the exact same thing that I must be getting some kind of pay off from it or I wouldn't still be going through it. Dam that made me so mad. You know I find it weird sometimes how when people with anxiety disoders dont know at all what were going through when you can tell sometimes that they are going through it too sometimes not just at the same level. Like when maybe somebody really upset them over something and it really bothered them maybe even scared them and they cant get it out of their head and they get really worked up about it but eventually get over it. But for that period of time that they cant seem to stop thinking about it and having it bother them. That is how we feel most of the time just with usually a higher anxiety level. But really if they thought about that maybe they could understand better. Anyways thanks Debbie and I hope you are feeling better.

Hi Warren, I have read people with Schiophenia do not have panic attacks. When I first started having the panic attacks they were coming in waves several times a day, I remember sitting im ny backyard thinking "this is it I am going crazy, I am losing my mind" When I found my physc nurse she said I was not panic disorder make you feel as you are but you are not. When your body is acting up and the panic is rampant it is normal to think these things. My problem is I think I have something physical as you mentioned in your post you thought that at first. You sound like you have a very wise intelligent Dr and that is good, I wish I could find a therapist to talk to and help me, the first and only one I had did not help too much, she was nice but I felt she did not understand the severity of it, she even once said that I get a "pay-off" from my behavior that really made me Mad Warren, there is NOT payoff to this only suffering, I guess when you do not know what to say you say the wrong thing, I saw a phycologist the other night, its too soon to tell whether she will help, it was mostly paperwork and history taking. She did say to "not dwell or focus on myself or symptoms" so much" easier said than done. Remember Warren its just panic and its the panic and anxiety giving you these thoughts and feelings, I have to remind myself of this too. I hope I helped you, I feel like I have not helped many lately. Please take care. GOd bless, Debbie.

Hey everyone I went to see my phyciatrist the other day and she really confused me on what was bothering me. See when I had my really bad panic attacks I didn't know what anxiety was and what was happening to me and I thought that there was something mentally wrong with me. I kind of went the other way then thinking that there was something physically wrong with me and this is very normal with panic disorder I am told. I found out about the mental disorder schizophrenia and I thought that maybe I had that and I panicked a lot because of it. I didn't really know at all what schizophrenia was like and I based my interpretations on what it was like from movies, so of course I was panicking more then what I should have. I started to research schizophrenia and as I didn't have any of the symptoms I tried to reasure myself that I didn't have it. I struggled for a long time with what the research was saying it was and what the movies was saying what it was like asking what if questions all the time. I finally a while ago got all the movie crap out of my head and thought that I understood and assured myself that I was alright. But then my phyciatrist totally told me more about it and made me understand that it was worse than what I thought it was and that sent me back into a panic and worldof confusion. My physcoligist tells me that I have no sign of schizophrenia and that I have nothing to worry about. She said that if I had schizophrenia she would be getting calls from my family telling me that Im acting in a very peculiar way and that I wouldn't be taking care of myself and a bunch of things. So I shouldn't worry about it but I still cant help it. I ask what if questions all the time. I read one time about this post that someone had wrote about a family member that she and her entire family had thought had schizophrenia and they made him go to a phyciatrist or a sicoligist I forget which ne it was, and he put on a brave personna or something and the expert didn't diagnose him with it. I ask what if questions like what if that is what happened with me. Or I think, Okay this is gonna sound weird but, what if the reason that no one has called my physciast and said that Im acting funny is because maybe my entire familly is schizophrenic. I know how d