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To: wastoute
I can give you some signs to watch out for. One is in an anxiety patient ask about their Vestibular history including tubes, sinus allergies, Tinnitus, Menieres, exposure to loud working environments etc. Look for a bad startle reflex or reaction. Next is look at their shoes. Sounds silly but I can explain. Vestibular and sensory dysfunctional patients usually have balance issues. This means to compensate the brain has the body positioning to adjust. That many times means feet that hurt even deformed or arthritic to the point of corrective insoles for some. Look for a fear of heights. Why> The brain is amazing in it's self preservation capabilities. Many persons scared of heights never realize why but the subconscious brain does. They have poor balance and the brain knows it whether the patient does or not. The anxiety is a trigger by the brain to danger and as such is not phobic as many think. But it does effect the fight/flight impulses the brain demands responses to.

The next one is more tricky and takes a trained eye to catch it. Vision may be impaired. For example I am only one eye functional but have vision in both. Never at the same time though. I passed two Arrmed Forces physicals and they missed it. I knew about it but didn't say anything because as a kid about 12 years old I had Occupational therapy to learn to adapt. This also shows up in kids playing bases ball. Look for defensive responses when a ball is pitched to them and delayed responses. Like ducking away and swinging late at the ball.

When I was a kid I used to heart of persons having an Inner Ear infection. Most family practice doctors caught it. Now many miss it as the right questions aren't being asked and Inner Ear trouble and sensory processing issues are hard to prove.

I have what can be considered worse case scenario sensory processing issues. It triggers sensory induces seizures which hit my upper Torso like a cattle prod. It can likely be mistaken for Tourettes. Sight and sound are the triggers. Oddly enough the newer technologies seem to be the trigger in this as it likely is in C.A.P.D. You over tax a computer processor you will get a crash. Same thing with the brain. The crash can be simple panic attack or it can be what I refer to as a In The Fog event where you shut down for up to an hour and are in a mental fog. That is scary but harmless. The remarkable brain does many things including taking over for you during that time. At onset I found myself several times not knowing where I was even in places familiar to me, what I was doing there, how long I had been there and why. I can laugh about it now because I understand it and don't fear it. Through what I have learned I have managed to stop these events by adapting my environment to limiting offending triggers. That took some detective work on my part. Forget Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as well. This isn't phobic and CBT will not work with this any more than hitting you hand with a hammer to stop feeling or responding to pain.

I had an uphill battle with doctors especially Shrinks over this. A book I found called Phobia Free by Harold Levinson started me on the road to sorting out what actually happened and medical reasons as to why. The man made the Vestibular/Anxiety link in the mid 1970'S and was pretty much scoffed at by his peers for several decades until Vestibular research caught up. btw he is a Neurologist& Shrink according to his Bio. I found the book in a second hand store. I thought Oh Goodie another it's all in your head pick yourself help book. I started reading case histories and saw I had lot in common with his book. The next hurdle was convincing the doctors. I did manage to convince my therapist who was a seasoned anxiety specialist.

Right now I'm disabled as of 1994, severe Tinnitus, and partially deaf. I got my hearing aids last week. It all started out over 50 years ago with a kid with bad coordination who wore out shoes as fast as parents could buy them {well within a month or so anyway} and inappropiate responses to audio and visual events. If I saw a snake I stopped up my ears. If I heard thunder I would close my eyesand maybe stop up my ears too.

14 posted on 05/22/2009 12:23:43 PM PDT by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgement? Which one say ye?)
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To: cva66snipe
Thanks for your response. Another benefit of being a freeper.

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15 posted on 05/22/2009 12:54:08 PM PDT by wastoute (translation of tag "Come and get them (bastards)" and the Scout Motto)
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