Facts about relief, healing, and dealing with all aspects of panic/ anxiety diso!


Question:

Facts about relief, healing, and dealing with all aspects of panic/ anxiety disorders please?

I am looking for any/all input about dealing with panic and anxiety disorders and other disorders they lead to such as agoriphobia and depression.

I need this information not only for myself, but I want to help others as well.

I began having sporadic panic attacks about 10 years ago. After about 3 years of wondering what was going on (since I was getting worse) I started to do research and assumed a self diagnosis, which was later confirmed by various doctors. My worse period (daily 24/7, was between the time I was diagnosed up to abot 3 years ago. I have been doing meditaion practice for about 8 years and Tai Chi and Yoga for about 3 years. I have had some major progress, but the sensations still come and go. I don't really get depressed, but I certainly don't live my life as fully as most people. I am an agoraphobic and I have been taking alprazolam for situation relief or when I feel like I'm going to lose it during a relapse. Want to write more, but out of space. Thanks


Answers:

I've survived depression and anxiety related to PTSD and have since recovered, so I hope I'm qualified to answer your question. The best treatment for mental illness is really a two-fold approach. That approach is medication and therapy. Both together are more effective than either alone and that's an important point to remember.

See, we can't always change the way we feel, but we can change the way we think and that is key to recovering from most forms of mental illness. I'll give you an example using a panic attack I had yesterday. I take steroids daily for a life threatening illness and one of the symptoms of regular steroid use is panic. The first thing I did was take 1 mg. of Ativan. That's the medication end of it. But in the process, I worked on controlling my reaction to the panic. I focused on breathing to put oxygen back into my body and, using some basic biofeedback, I worked on slowing my heart rate down. In a short period of time, I was back to feeling normal. I can't control the onset of a panic attack as anything can bring on a panic attack, but I can change the way I react to it.

I would encourage you to continue taking your medication to treat your specific problem(s). But I would also encourage you to go through therapy to learn to change the way you think. And on a note concerning helping others, I've learned that I can't keep my recovery unless I share it with others. The act of helping others is very powerful in your personal recovery as it gets you out of yourself.




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