whats wrong with my friend - afraid he will harm himself

I forgot to mention he gets what he describes as brain fog unable to think clearly a sort of fullness inside the head or it could also be described as pressure pushing down of the head.

Hi Markpark,

Sorry I'm not a medical person - perhaps somebody else could help in that department.

However, many of those symptoms could be attributed to depression or severe anxiety, especially if your friend has been checked out ok medically.

For example, I've heard people use descriptions like 'brain fog', 'fullness in the head', 'chest pains', 'tension', etc when describing anxiety and panic attacks. Also, the body is full of electrical impulses that we're normally unaware of, but when highly anxious it's easy to begin to notice them.

Feelings of hopelessness, difficulty concentrating, feeling tired and run down - these can all be symptoms of depression. A depressed person often doesn't sleep very well, and when they do it's often restless sleep with dreaming. This leaves them feeling shattered.

The trouble is, the person then becomes more depressed and anxious worrying about it all, thus compounding the whole problem.

I'm only guessing here, so if at all concerned, do urge your friend to get himself checked out again, just to be sure.

Nigel

so i guess you are saying that all these symptoms can be created in the mind through anxiety?

He is going to have some tests to rule out yeast, gluten, dairy allergies and will let you know what results.

Also when we go out in a group we all get lively when we had had a drink of beer and he doesnt seems to go morbid and gets really tired like all the energy has been sucked out of him - we went to a nightclub and he actually wanted to go to sleep on the chairs around the dance floor.

Alot of the guys thought that it was a bit strange it was not just like being a bit tired it was like every bit of energy had been sucked out of him - he also had learning difficulties at school as he didnt seem to be too bright - but am now thinking he was always tired as well and has a memory that is so d=bad i have never known anyone like it - for example when we play pool he keeps forgetting what his colour ball is although there are only two colours!

Thanks for any help

Hi markpark,
Your friend is lucky to have good mates looking out for him

"so i guess you are saying that all these symptoms can be created in the mind through anxiety?"

It could be both and it's good that your friend is ruling out any medical reasons of food intolerances too.

"Also when we go out in a group we all get lively when we had had a drink of beer and he doesnt seems to go morbid and gets really tired like all the energy has been sucked out of him"

Alcohol effects different people in different ways, but basically it's a depressant. It slows brain activity, and can cause feelings of anxiety and depression.

In your other thread you said:

"This guy has always seemed to not be normal since being young kids and we are all trying to get to the bottom of it as we all like the guy but he cant seem to function in normal life... "

Many of the milder autistic disorders can make it hard for a person to fit in and interact with other people. I'm not an expert and this is a total guess, but it might be something worth having a quick read about.

Good luck,
Nigel