Cognitive behavioral therapy is shit. The only thing that work for severe panic disorder is benzodiazepen es. SSRIS( antidepressants such as prozac) are useless in long term treatment for patients with this severity. Even antipsychotic’s are no where close to effective. Would you have a patient in endless amounts of panic and disabling symptoms with long term tolerance and dependence…which helps the patient ultimately….or have the patient self destruct and react irrationally with alcohol or illegal narcotics?

Anxiety is often due to thyroid disease … Have you had your thyroid tested? You need testing for ANTIBODIES as well as TSH. TSH ‘norm’ should be .3 – 3 (w/ most feeling best at < 2) but would not matter if antibodies are present. Indicative of Hashimoto’s Autoimmune Thyroiditis…main cause of HypOthyroid & is worse (…OR Graves Disease – HypERthyroid).

WARNING: Doctors seem not to want to find/treat thyroid disease. You may have to go to more than one doctor before you get the right tests, interpretation, and treatment. Best wishes.

Ck these:
http://thyroid.about.com/bio/Mary-Shomon-350.htm
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/
http://www.thyrophoenix.com/index.html

God bless

If you have/had anxiety or panic disorders, what treatment or medication has worked well for you? I’ve had attacks for about 5 years & its very hard to deal with especially since I had my daughter, she is almost 6 months old. I get so paranoid about everything and everyone tells me I need to relax but I can’t. I’m scared for her to try everything & I don’t want to be that kind of parent I want her to have everything and live life to the fullest! I am also scared of taking drugs I used to take larazapam (about 1 year ago) I used to be a bad drug user with cocaine & other things and I overdosed that was about 4 years ago after that I am scared of everything I hate taking medications & I am to afraid to live my life! I’ve finally got a great life going a happy family amazing husband and daughter and a good head on my shoulders but I am too afraid to live life. I just want my Anxiety Attacks and fear to be gone. I will take prescriptions if I have to, but it would be so much nicer to have a natural way that would get rid of them for good. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking your time to read & answer my question.

If you panic and anxiety is that bad, you really need to talk to your doctor about medicine. My daughter has been taking medicine for anxiety since she was 7, she is 13 now and doing fine. I have Panic Attacks every so often, and have a prescription for xanax. I only take it on occasion, maybe like 12 a year at most. My doctor did tell me that if I needed more than that, he would per scribe Zoloft. It is a very mild antidepressant that works well for anxiety. My daughter started taking it when she was 7. You could also go to therapy. My daughter goes, and the therapist teaches her relaxation techniques to help her calm herself when she gets anxious. Deep breathing and thinking about something pleasant is one thing. Talk to your doctor, you daughter will be better for it!

I have been suffering from depression and Panic Attacks for 2 years now and always ill. Me symptoms are ,
constant dizziness and feeling nervous to balance me self on me 2 legs when standing
Body shivers and chest pains
chest palpitations
weakness and sometimes a sick feeling in me tummy and chest

I was told that i suffer anxiety/panic and depression attacks and that CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) is a very good treatment.

Can you please tell me in order to receive this treatment where i should be going and how it works

Thanks and God bless you all
Jenn

CBT is an evidence based treatment that works as frequently as medications. It looks at your thoughts and behaviour and how they create or maintain negative emotions, moods or feelings. I am a therapist who has had lots of success in helping people understand what is going on within their mind and body to support negative emotions. CBT assists people to gain the knowledge and learn the skills to become their own therapist and quickly come up with activities and/or more balanced thoughts to improve their moods. Regarding finding someone to work with, what part of the country do you live in?

I have been having Panic Attacks about twice a month for the past 2 or so years.
I usually would have them when I’m alone or at school- not around my parents.
This past week I was on a trip and I had 2 major panic attacks and two less severe ones while I was around an adult chaperone who happens to be a psychologist.
She said I have a severe panic disorder and need to see a doctor to get medication because its so severely affecting my life.
I don’t want my parents to know.. I’m 17. The adults wants to sit down and talk with them.
Can I just go to a doctor without them and get a prescription? How much would it cost?
Should I go to a doctor or psychiatrist?

As a parent, I would want to know what you are going through and how to help if I could.
Keeping your parents unaware of your problems is distrustful and disrepectful. They gave birth to you and have your best interests at heart.
Having panic attacks only at certain places is very normal for this condition. My sister has it.
Tell your parents.

I wondering what would be basically the cheapest option for panic disorder. Im a poor college student with no health insurance and have read about the disorder, symptoms etc.. I run and workout but still get the Panic Attacks, so I know that consulting a Psychiatrist might be a good step towards the disorder. As I’m doing my research though I have found that some say medication works and others say it doesn’t, its been proven to be highly addictive as I can understand that. Are there any other forms of treatment that I could explore? Personally I just want the best treatment possible without paying an arm and a leg.

You’re right, panic attack medication can be addictive and sedating. I used to suffer from panic/Anxiety Attacks for a long time and choose alternative therapies like meditation and valerian. Valerian is known as a natural relaxant of nerves and I’ve found it effective in conjunction with deep breathing, affirmations and a low carb / high vitamin diet. Having someone in whom you can confide also helps ease the tension a bit.

I suffer from Bipolar Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Clinical Depression.
I feel that I need to seek serious treatment for this, more than I already receive.
I’m in Psychotherapy at the moment and take medication.
Please help me out.

Also, please don’t make light of this issue. It’s very delicate for me.

The best source of information for what you are looking for you can find at nami.org which is the site for the National Alliance for the Mentally ILL. On their site you can find the phone number for your local chapter. They are there for support and they have all of the resources that you need. Good luck and good health to you. You should be very proud of yourself for taking care of your problems.

is their like a questionnaire, or a brain scan? and what are the treatments/cures?
i understand a professional has to do it, but what do they do? and its definitlly not an overnight problem.

Unfortunately, there are no definitive tests for GAD or Bipolar Disorder. No blood tests, or brain scans, etc. Although I understand they are working towards being able to use brain scans in the future to diagnose some psychiatric disorders.

A psychiatrist will question you about family history, symptoms, personal history, any head traumas, history of abuse, etc. Based on your health history, family history, and the answers you give him or her about your experiences and symptoms he or she will come up with a diagnosis.

Since the questions are quite specific and thorough, they usually will get the diagnosis right. However, it is also common to misdiagnose Bipolar disorder (particularly Bipolar II) as depression at first, as most people report the depression symptoms but don’t realize that the hypomanic symptoms are symptoms at all.

Often in this case, they will treat you for depression and only after realizing that the anti-depressants are triggering mania do they begin to screen for Bipolar.

I’m 18 yrs old male and I’ve had panic disorder for about 2 years. I was panic free for about a year and a half but now Im back to the lowest point in my life. I just can’t be happy and I am very anxious. I fear of the incoming panic attack. My life’s in fear. I fought this before but I don’t think I can fight it alone anymore. I need some help. Do you think if I start seeking treatment such as therapy and medication, will it help me in the long run? Please help me thank you very much

It’s never too late to seek help, so go for it – of course it will help. Good luck

I have been suffering from panic disorder and agoraphobia for years, trying different treatment methods and whatnot. It recently has gotten so bad that I’m starting cognitive behavioral therapy and medication along with exposure therapy. I don’t want to be a prisoner in my home but until I find a solution It’s nearly impossible for me to find a job. I’ve applied for disability but it’s taking a long time.. Does anyone know of any work opportunities for someone in my position? Please help, I’m desperate!
Thanks.

Kelli, working while applying for disability is a bad idea because they will assume if you can work a little you can work full time and will deny you. You need to apply for assistance at your local social services to get rental assistance, food stamps and medicaid so you can live while you wait on the disability. You need to tell them you have already applied and they will help you with that also if needed. Even if you manage to get a job, it may not last because of your symptoms and you will have messed up your chance to get disability and have to start over. Once disability is approved, you can work part time and so long as your earnings don’t go over $700/mth. they won’t count against you so you can keep your earnings and the disability benefits but you will get denied if you try to work now.