Stop Anxiety and Panic Attacks

I had an eating disorder a few years back and I thought u had gotten over it. I suffer from a lot of anxiety and recently I had a pretty bad panic attack… Im convinced that I have an anxiety disorder and I’m wondering if this could be related to my eating disorder? and how do i know for sure if I have an anxiety disorder ?
oh and i’m a girl by the way.

Yes, other mental disorder often cause or contribute to eating disorders. Sometimes, difficulty dealing with emotions (such as stress and anxiety) is a big factor in the development of an eating disorder. An eating disorder allows a person another (harmful) way to cope with these feelings.
The only way to know for sure is to go to your doctor and get an official diagnosis, but here are some resources that might help you to determine if you have an anxiety disorder:

This website provides the DSM IV criteria (scroll down a little, and the criteria are listed): http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medicalpubs/diseasemanagement/psychiatry/anxiety-disorder/
This is an anxiety screening quiz, which is an unofficial way to determine if you might have or show signs of an anxiety disorder: http://psychcentral.com/quizzes/anxiety.htm
This website has a self-test: http://www.adaa.org/public/selftest_gad.htm
i hope this helped, and congratulations on your eating disorder recovery, and i wish you the best of luck recovering from your anxiety disorder

I have recently started having anxiety attacks. They are occuring every couple of days. I have been taking Prozac for about 6 months, for depression. Could being on it long term be causing my anxiety?

you need an anxiety medicine like buspar or a change in medication. sometimes you become immune to prozac long-term.

Been on Lexapro about a year now. 30 mg. It seems to be losing its effect it once had. It still works just I am back to having social anxiety. What is a good addition? I heard Buspar may work well. Suggestions to talk to my Dr. about?

30 mg. seems kind kind of a big dose. I am on 20 mg. Along with the Lexapro I take a small dose of Klonopin, and it helps immensely. Just half of a .05 mg.tablet works wonders for me.

Blessings to you, my dear.

I’ve tried exercise, guided meditation, eliminating caffeine and simple sugars, anti-depressants prescribed by a psychiatrist to no avail.
Any fresh new ideas out there? Holistic meds, diet supplements, etc?
I didn’t like the meds at all so we discontinued their use about 6 months ago.
Anxiety and nervousness are one end of my issue, severe sadness and crying are at the other end.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Try to start overcoming your fears. This is very important, as it allows you to retrain your mind into letting you again believe that there isn’t a danger in going to the mall, or driving a car. You have told your mind that these things are putting your body in danger, and your body is reacting to the threat. But really, there is not a threat at the time, your mind is tricking your body. If, for instance, there was a real threat then your body would respond as necessary. This is what our bodies are designed to do.

One of the most effective methods used is deep breathing. The following exercise will physically, and mentally calm you.
Start out by breathing through your nose for a slow 3 count
Then hold your breath for a slow 3 count
And then exhale for a slow 3 count. You can do this as long as you want. It really helps.

Good luck.

i believe i have social anxiety disorder. Whenever i am the center of attention (giving a speech or something like that) i almost always get very red in the face, my heart rate increases a lot, my thoughts are not clear, and my voice trembles.

i have researched this disorder for some time and everywhere i look i see stories that it is a horrible disorder, it can ruin peoples social lives, and drugs are needed to HELP this disorder.

i need to know if it is possible to psychologically overcome this disorder. I am only 18 years old, and i dont want to go on anti-depressants and what not, i just want to try and overcome this disorder.

has anyone ever heard of someone that overcame social phobia without the use of prescription drugs?

My friend does little projects to help herself overcome her problems. For instance, when she goes out to eat, she’ll show up a half hour or so before anyone and sit by herself at a table. Sounds stupid, but she’s so shy–this is a VERY hard thing for her to do.

She finally got a job at a retail store part time and is forced to speak with people and give advice on purchases.

It can be overcome in little steps—you just have to find what works for you.

I have always been told I have a natural ability for healing touch. Anyway, I am taking my first Reiki class in a couple weeks and I was wondering something. I have a severe anxiety disorder. Does anyone have any experience with Reiki and self-treating anxiety? Has anyone been helped by that?

Reiki can help with treating anxiety. When you feel anxiety give yourself Reiki.

I have used self-treatment sessions anytime I have an anxiety or panic attack and it does help. The more I give myself self-treatments, the less I have my anxiety or panic attacks. So I would recommend a daily dose of Reiki. I have had to do this even while driving as I get anxiety attacks when I drive.

I have been struggling with social anxiety and panic disorder since I was 16. I am almost 21 now and have been to many job interviews, but have not been able to make it through a single one without having a panic attack!!! I take medications daily, but with no luck!! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Hi Olivia

I’d like to give some solid advice to you about panic attacks, especially as you seem to have a trigger point which is the job interviews. There are many dead ends you can go down tryin to deal with this problem. I have a history of them and now I have dealt with them.

When a person has a panic attack they are frozen in fear. This is not cowardice. Panic attacks become a private hidden secret inner prison that destroys a person’s life and self-esteem. A person tries so hard to hide it even from him/herself. Panic attacks come on like a heart attack without a warning. It is a very similar feeling and hard to detect which makes it even scarier. The chest tightens, there is no way to handle the fear factor, the feeling that is paralyzing and comes from out of nowhere. Physical discomfort like a rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling, hot flashes and trouble swallowing regularly accompany the attacks. Panic attacks usually peak within ten minutes but can last 30 minutes. Sometimes panic attacks can last as long as a day. Many feel very tired and worn out after the attack subsides.
Learning how to stop panic attacks is a priority for the majority of those who have ever experienced them. This is because panic attacks are emotionally, mentally and physically draining. Some have gone so far as to describe panic attacks as emotional nightmares.

Although a doctor is a good port of call first in case there is some health-cause, medications do not always alleviate the panic attacks, especially long term, and those prescribed with anti-psychotic medication are on the road to further problems resulting from the consistent use of chemicals that eventually have a permanent negative effect on the brain.
I am not a doctor or a professional person, but I am a person that lived with panic attacks and has overcome them. I’ve had to read information and misinformation from sources that proscribe to know about panic attacks but they don’t. People give so many varied points of view on how one should deal with them. Persons that have panic attacks not only have to deal with the panic attacks, they have to deal with people who have a lack of understanding and arguments at the same time. Sometimes that even includes doctors!

There are now simple techniques you can learn to help you stop panic attacks quickly and easily and eventually cure panic attacks completely. These techniques have been tested and proven through research and actual application to stop panic attack quickly and effectively.

The deep breathing technique is one of them and is also called diaphragmatic breathing and is a very important technique to learn if you what to quickly know of how to stop a panic attack. The challenge now is when you are experiencing anxiety, focusing on proper deep breathing can be very difficult task. The deep breathing technique requires you to breathe directly from your diaphragm and is the type of deep breathing you do during meditation. This technique is simple and anyone can practice it when you begin to feel the symptoms of panic attack.

I’ve included a link if anybody wants to really get to know more about these techniques and how to stop the panic attacks completely and for good. I’ve been there so I wish you and all those on the search the best, and I offer lots of optimism because this affliction can be overcome.

Good Luck!

I think I might have social anxiety disorder. What should I do?

I have social anxiety disorder i feel awkward my heart race speeds up and I start to feel sick around a lot of people, so what I do is just try to avoid being in places where there isn’t a lot of people and when I am unable to do that I find something and focus on it and soon after focusing for sometime everything around me just seems to disappear

I suffer from anxiety and depression and am always on the verge of having a panic attack. I’m wondering if Prozac would be worth taking and if you can stop taking it in the end without needing it anymore. I’m afraid that in the long run it can cause other mental illnesses like schizophrenia. However, I’m still trying to find a medical cause for my anxiety and depression like thyroid, adrenal, or inner ear problems.

Prozac has some very very dangerous side effects, I would only use that as a very last resort. If you go to http://pi.lilly.com/us/prozac.pdf?reqNavId=undefined and look at what the makers of the drug have to list about it’s effects. I think you’d consider other options real quick. So, with that being said. I want to focus on the cause of your anxiety and depression. Essential Fatty Acid(EFAs) deficiency has been linked with causing depression. People who do not get enough omega-3 fatty acids or do not maintain a healthy balance of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids in their diet may be at an increased risk for depression. The omega-3 fatty acids are important components of nerve cell membranes. They help nerve cells communicate with each other, which is an essential step in maintaining good mental health. In particular, DHA is involved in a variety of nerve cell processes.

Levels of omega-3 fatty acids were found to be measurably low and the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids were particularly high in a clinical study of patients hospitalized for depression. In a clinical study of individuals with depression, those who ate a healthy diet consisting of fatty fish 2 – 3 times per week for 5 years experienced a significant reduction in feelings of depression and hostility.

When researchers monitor eating habits across countries, they find that as fish consumption goes up, depression rates go down. In fact, there is a sixty-fold difference in depression rates across countries from the highest (Japan and Taiwan) to the lowest (North America, Europe and New Zealand) omega-3 fat consumption. Even postpartum depression decreases as women increase their consumption of fish. Many people also report a drop in mood when they switch too quickly to a low-fat diet.

Anxiety and depression is a complex issue, too detailed for a brief answer on here…but any disease or health condition is associated with a vitamin, mineral, or other nutrient deficiency. Address that issue first, do some research, and see what happens. Best of luck…

Hi, I really suffer from social phobia, it doesn’t let me to live normally. Can you help me somehow, please. Thank you beforehand.

Your phobia is a mental "program" that tells you to act and feel a certain way when you enter certain situations. Thousands of people have overcome phobias using hypnosis and subliminal recording. check them out.