A World Of Worry

What you need to know about anxiety.

- Sydney Loney

JIM FOLK’S MENTAL HEALTH odyssey began in 1974 with an upset stomach. Next came muscle tension, dizziness and heart palpitations. At the time, Folk was 21 years old and working in his family’s auto-repair shop in Regina. When his symptoms didn’t go away, he grew worried. “Whenever I had an ache or pain, I’d freak out,” says Folk, now 64.

After a few months, he saw his doctor, who told him it was just stress and to go home and rest. “But I didn’t feel stressed,” Folk says. “And I couldn’t figure out why every time I tried to relax, my symptoms went full tilt.”

At first, Folk was convinced he had multiple sclerosis, or maybe cancer, even when doctors reassured him that he didn’t. He began experiencing nonstop nausea coupled with debilitating panic attacks. “I’d start trembling all over, feel dizzy and have hot flashes,” he says. “I was in the bathroom countless times, heaving with intense stomach upset. My symptoms were robbing me of more and more of my life.”

Years passed, but his health failed to improve. Folk saw several doctors and mental health professionals and tried an array of pills and herbal remedies. Nothing worked. “My whole life revolved around a few blocks—to work and back home again. I could barely drive, couldn’t visit friends, couldn’t enjoy my family.” Eventually his wife at the time told him he needed to get better or their marriage was over. Folk booked an appointment with a psychologist. Two weeks later—and 10 years after the onset of his symptoms—he was finally diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder.