hystericblue42 asked:


I have been dealing with anxiety and depression off and on since I was 15. I always forge ahead with my life despite it, but in the meantime, it’s very annoying when I go through several-week pockets of it. I think therapy, medication, and friends are important things to combat it. It’s especially awful when I have a bout of it driving at night on the freeway. I’d like to hear from other people who have experience with this– does it feel like your whole body is tense and tired? Like maybe you’re breathing wrong? Fast heartbeat, needless obsessive fear? Tell your story and how you’re overcoming it.
NOTE: Please don’t try to preach to me about why the drugs are bad. The doctors wouldn’t prescribe them if they didn’t think they would help.

layla.celest asked:


Why do you think depression, anxiety and mental health problems have grown to be an epidemic? What do you think would help slow the progression of mental health problems? Do you think mental health problems are genitic, situational, environmental, or is it due to a chemical imbalance? When a person becomes depressed; do you think it is because our brain stops producing certain chemicals or does our brain produce a chemical that aggravates depression/anxiety? Why is it when we feel anxious, our bodies react in strange ways such as pounding heart, dizzyness, can’t breath, and intestinal problems?

corona7w asked:


I’m leaving for college in about a month and a half and the anxiety is rather overwhelming. I’ve never left my parents for long periods of time in my life, and the thought of seeing them only 4 times a year is just depressing, even though the school is around 6 hr drive from home. I keep imagining the moment when we wave goodbye to each other on move-in day, and my mom starts tearing up. (I’m tearing up right now as I write this.) Is there anyway to overcome this anxiety?

purple7 asked:


I think mine might be a somewhat unique situation but I am very very freaked out to go to my brother’s graduation party that will be held soon. My mom is planning it and she has invited a lot of family friends that I haven’t spoken to in a while and some of my old friends. I really am very very scared to go cause I am just scared of meeting old friends and my bro might be coming down for it and I am always scared to meet him too cause we are not very close. I haven’t seem him for about 11 months or so. I am very scared of people. I just do not know what to do. I have been suffering and getting anxiety about this for a long time.

Panic attacks can strike at any time or any place. For people who are prone to them, they can rule their lives. For those who have had more than one panic attack, the fear that another will occur can be debilitating. Here is an FAQ on stopping panic attacks.

FAQ #1: What does a panic attack feel like?

A: During a panic or anxiety attack you can feel a range of feelings, both mental and physical. You may feel that the world is closing in on you. You might feel dizzy. Your heartbeat will likely be much, much faster than usual. You might feel a tingling in your chest. You may sweat. You may want to lie down and at the same time lose your ability to concentrate. Also, an acute fear of dying accompanies the panic attack for some people. Caution: If you do have a panic attack, be sure to remove yourself from a situation whereby you might be of a danger to others (such as driving a car).

FAQ #2: What causes panic attacks?

A: Physiologically, panic attacks usually involve an excess of adrenaline suddenly entering into your system, in combination with a number of other related factors going on in your body. The precise cause of panic attacks is still under study, but the cause does seem to vary from person to person. Some panic attacks seem to come on unexpectedly. Other may be triggered by a traumatic event, such as a car accident. Still others might be situation-specific, whereby the attack is triggered after a certain pattern of circumstances arises for the individual.

FAQ #3: Are panic attacks common?

A: Yes. The Merck Manual indicates that about one-third of adults experience a panic attack each year. Some people, however, have these attacks more frequently and can experience them many times in a given year or month.

FAQ #4: Should I avoid situations that cause them?

A: The common wisdom seems to be that eventually you should try to face situations that tend to trigger your panic attacks so that you can overcome them as triggers for the attack. However, this should be done with caution since you do not want to unnecessarily put yourself through a panic attack. Ask your doctor about this.

FAQ #5: How can I stop one?

A: Stopping a panic attack is not easy. In fact, they can seem to feed on themselves, whereby the more you try to control one the more it takes control. Panic attacks are difficult to stop sometimes because the attack itself causes a series of negative mental states in the person having the attack. Those negative mental states in turn keep the body (e.g., the adrenal glands, sweat glands, heart, breathing, etc.) in an agitated state. This vicious cycle can often be broke by relaxing, doing breathing exercises, and creating positive thought patterns to counter the negative mental activity that the attack can create.

Panic attacks can be one of the scariest experiences but do not always seem to have an obvious cause. This mysterious quality can actually make them even more feared, thereby making them harder to overcome when they do occur. Be sure to take control and do not let your panic attacks run your life. There are ways to overcome them.



By: Susan Willis

About the Author: