If you have ever suffered from anxiety panic attacks, you know what a terrible burden they can be. There is nothing quite like an anxiety panic attack. It shuts you down completely, stopping you cold. Sometimes the room begins to spin, other times everything starts to look cloudy. Your heart races, your stomach tightens, your legs get weak and shaky, and sweat starts to pour out of your forehead. You can tell yourself that it is just pure anxiety, but this doesn’t help at all. The feeling is so completely overwhelming and inescapable that no rational thought can conquer it. When I get an anxiety panic attack, it is all I can do to make it home before I completely break down.
Unfortunately, nothing I have done has made the anxiety panic attacks go away. I have tried all kinds of anxiety treatments. I was diagnosed with anxiety panic disorder by a doctor who initially prescribed sedatives for me. Initially, these sedatives made my anxiety panic attacks better, but the effect only lasted for so long. Soon, I became completely dependent on them. When I was off them, I would begin to have attacks of anxiety again almost immediately.
Anxiety support groups have helped me somewhat, but only a little bit. It is nice to have an anxiety support group where you can vent your frustrations at being unable to control your social anxiety disorder, but just being able to vent doesn’t really help the problem go away. Don’t get me wrong – having a social network who understands what you are going through is extremely important. Nonetheless, it is not enough to treat the symptoms of anxiety panic attacks.
Many people seem to promise some novel cure or other for anxiety panic attacks. Many people think that herbs are the solution, but the anti-anxiety herbs that I have tried are no good at all. Some of them are mildly sedative and will help to stem an anxiety panic attack, but then I run into the problem of dependency again. Meditation has helped me quite a bit, but it has not cured the problem for me. When I meditate, I am definitely less prone to get anxiety panic attacks, but I still get them from time to time. I am hoping that through a combination of different strategies, I will eventually be able to cure them. I have begun seeing a psychiatrist and that has helped somewhat, but the results are slow to take effect.