Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Woman's hands in a sweater
~ DGGYST

Is there anything worse than a panic attack? Of course there is. But when one strikes, most of us are willing to sell our own mothers and throw in free shipping to make it stop.

If you are dealing with panic attacks, I know that you are in research overdrive mode and you probably got yourself a fresh bottle of magnesium and a plan and probably a book. Good for you!

Person writing a checklist

No matter how resolute you feel with whatever path you have chosen, save this post. Remember it. You’re going to be processing a lot of information, but bookmark this one. You may need to come back to it.

I started this blog to give the advice I wish someone had given me. This post may challenge some of your core values and I apologize, because that shit is uncomfortable. So when I tell you that the method that is pushed the most when it comes to anxiety disorders is the natural method and not Big Pharma, take a breath and bear with me, baby.

If you don’t believe me, go ahead and google “how to deal with panic attacks.” The first four pages will be everything from breathing techniques to cleansing your aura with crystals. You’ll find antidepressants nowhere in sight.

Put the oil diffuser down, girlfriend, and step away from the door. Mama ain’t trying to take yo’ natural-paleo-detox-super-green-chia-seed-organic-golden-milk. I promise! I just want to give you the advice I wish someone had given me…

1. Give yourself a hippie shit timeline

Girl dancing in a field

Girl, you do you. You want to meditate, yogatate, herbitate, go on a fucking walkabout? Go for it. I am a huge proponent of giving that hippie shit a good try. However, when it comes to panic attacks, baby, you don’t want to have an anxiety disorder on your hands.

So if you find that you can’t downward dog and vegan taco your way out of it, please see your GP. Get a good antidepressant and retrain your amygdala tout suite. Don’t let this continue for more than six months. Trust me on this one.

2. You’re not giving up by showing yourself some kindness

Don’t you love how somehow we think we can keep ourselves in check by being heinously cruel? Like, hey, if you don’t tell your panicking self that you are a worthless piece of shit for calling in sick to work, you may never go to work again.

Our lizard brains have translated being kind with ourselves into “letting ourselves go.”

That. Is. Bullshit.

When you are trying to retrain your amygdala, there is no room for bad mental habits. Imagine bringing a frightened and abused puppy home. It’s barking and growling and crying. It’s cold and hungry and wounded. Would you yell at it? Call it names? Say it was a bad, bad, dog? Of course not.

Reverend Lovejoy fake chiding his dog

Your amygdala is in abused dog mode. While you may be tempted to call yourself names and express your disappointment and self-hatred, understand that just like yelling at the abused dog, it will only make things worse.

Actively stop and challenge any negative thoughts you are having about yourself. Forgive yourself by understanding a very powerful truth: anxiety is your problem, it’s not your fault.

3. It really is OK to go on an antidepressant

As a recovering member of the all-natural cult, I wish I hadn’t let my panic attacks turn into an anxiety disorder because I thought a temporary antidepressant would destroy my health.

Will Ferrell from Zoolander

Six years after acupuncture, massage, seed cycling, lunaception, cryotherapy, raw veganic jogging, supplements, gratitude journaling, herbalists, psychics, talk therapy, water therapy, and whatever the fuck else any guru could tell me to try, turns out I just needed a little Prozac for a little bit of time.

4. The Wizard of Doctor Oz

I get it: we live in the world of Dr. Oz. Our girlfriends swear by juicing, and when you search for “how to deal with panic attacks,” you’d swear that turmeric was not only just discovered, but it’s what actually made Jesus walk on water.

We are “proud” to not treat our mental pains. It “means” something about us. It means we are weak, that we “take pills to solve our problems,” and if we give in, it’s just a matter of time before we tell our doctors that we want a full-strength antacids and to just lop one of our diabetic feet off because we want to eat six pounds of bacon for breakfast and let the pills fix it.

God damn, we do not give ourselves enough credit. You can still be a hippie. It’s not a slippery slope. It’s fine.

This subject is one that is near and dear to my cold, dead heart. If you are struggling with panic attacks, I know. I’m you. It can be a long, unbearable process, and there is a lot of information out there. There is a lot of internal and external pressure.

Please don’t give your life away to anxiety or depression because you are afraid of what getting help might mean about you. Please accept that antidepressants work. I know there are a lot of horror stories but there are also millions of people, including myself, for whom they have made a night-and-day difference.

Feel free to argue with me down below. It’s ok, I can take it. I just took a Prozac.

95 thoughts on “Anxiety and Panic Attacks”

  1. YES YES YES. And add in the religious component of people thinking they can pray it away, or that it’s somehow demonic oppression or a result of sin, and you’ve got a recipe for self loathing disaster. Had a really good good friend who I barely speak to any more because ‘reasons’,….anyway, as she lamented not being able to pull herself out of a long depression through prayer and not wanting to take the anti-depressants she’d been prescribed because she’d be ‘giving up on god and operating on her own strength’….I wanted to yell, “JESUS CAN’T FIX YOU. TAKE YOUR FUCKING MEDS PROPERLY AND YOU’D BE FINE!!!!!!” You so hit the nail on the head with this one.

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    1. Oh Voyagersheart, I hear this so loud and so clear. My brother who has schizophrenia is in the same boat. When he has enough “faith” then he won’t “hear the devil” but he’s not going to “be lead by man’s sin” aka, his medicine. It’s a sad, common, sad, fucked up problem. Thank you so much for your comment, I really appreciate it!

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    2. Amen to that! 😀 I’ve had panic attacks since pre-teen years. No one listened to me so I dealt with it. The lack of listening led to anxiety/depression/ibs. Yeah what a fkng awesome concoction right? NO. It wasn’t until a bad wreck that a doc finally said I had PTSD and put me on an anxiety med. My life was complete. I came off the meds shortly later and things were okay for a while. Minimal panic attacks. But then I had my second child- Hello Post Partum Depression. I was on anxiety/depression meds for about a year and a half and My goodness were they a life saver! I’m off my meds again and doing well!

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      1. Thank you so so much for sharing your story! Apart of the problem is we never hear about the success stories! I’m so glad you are doing well, and thank you for your thoughtful comment! ❤❤❤❤❤

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    3. When I told my mom I had made an appointment with an anxiety specialist (I’m 22 and out of the house, living completely on my own), she got so angry at me. “You don’t NEED any of that stuff! Just pray and read your Bible and you will be FINE! It’s like you’re doubting God!”

      I’m religious, so maybe I’m different from you. But I’ve been praying and reading my Bible and know that the only thing I have left to do is try talking to a professional. There’s a reason those people exist. If God didn’t want us to look for help, he wouldn’t have created people who are trained to deal with the problems we’ve got.

      “It’s all in your head! There’s nothing wrong with you!” she yelled at me. That’s the point. It IS all in my head. And I need to fix my head in order to move forward, and the only way for me to do that is to figure out how to stop myself from overthinking, and for that I need someone to actually talk to me and show me what to do.

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      1. Lauren, good for you! We all are on different paths, and I am so glad that you aren’t letting your beliefs or your mothers keep you from getting the care that you need and deserve. It’s hard for people to identify with anxiety if they haven’t experienced it, just know that anxiety affects people from all religions, all walks of life and we are a team. ❤❤❤❤❤

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    4. I am very happy I stumbled over your blog. Great writing – and another beautiful way to fight these stigmas! I just started with my blog here on wordpress, and absolutely love, love, love the interactions and inspiration given to one another! Thank you for sharing this! 🙂

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      3. Oh nooooooo! I loved your critic on my last article but deleted it by accident!!!!!! 😦 Darn I loved it. Totally appreciated!!!! Maybe it’s buried somewhere, I will get on my desktop and see.

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  2. No arguments here. This is something you truly understand and is therefore well written. I sold my mum years ago though, will invisible kittens make me any money?

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  3. Depression for me has a seasonal component, but after years of side effects that were as debilitating in their own way I am trying some older remedies on which the drugs are made. Having six years of college level sciences and some medical background I am wary of most “hippie shit” although I was kind of a hippy at one time, but was healthy anyway. As a fellow sufferer my advice is to do whatever the hell works be it drugs, yoga, vitamins, or whatever the hell and don’t give up until you find something. I do like your advice.

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    1. It’s such a personal struggle. It’s about finding a balance for yourself. Millenialls really pride themselves on “life hacks” which is great, I love my generation, and I love that they have embraced holistic approaches, but not benefiting from modern medicine is a shame, a potentially dangerous one. Thank you so much for your comment and advice!

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  4. GIRL YESSSSS! One of my biggest things that i can say to people is that MENTAL HEALTH IS NOT JUST MENTAL. Your brain is having chemical imbalances or something – and your brain is an ORGAN. If your lungs or your heart are struggling is it “brave” to NOT go to a doctor? Are you “giving in” by going on that life-saving medication? Your brain is just another organ – and sometimes things fuck up that you may need medical help treating. No shame in it! Don’t get me wrong, Im all for spirituality and natural health…in the same way that i believe in them for your overall health. Yoga is great for stress relief and helping to combat obesity, But if you have diabetes yoga isnt going to magically fix it – and some mental illnesses are the same.

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  8. Dude. You have no idea. If you ever doubt how amazinginly brilliant you are, please feel free to slap yourself upside the head on my behalf. And then slap yourself again, just for good measure. As someone who has been struggling with anxiety since I was 19-years-old, I fucking applaud the shit out of you for writing this hilariously insightful post. The first time I met anxiety I was sitting in a hotel conference room in motherfucking Poland, of all places. Of course I thought my heart and brain were going to explode and that death was imminent, but the doctors best advice was for me to take medicine for measles. Umm, WHAT? That’s ONE zit on my face, and did you not hear me say that MY BRAIN IS GOING TO EXPLODE??! I get all of this. Every last bit. And it is courageous of you to write about something that can be so controversial, because everyone seems to have an opinion. But my opinion is this…those of us who suffer and ride the evershifting wave of anxiety need to speak out. And more often. There is no shame in it, and I proudly wear the I-am-a-little-fucking-nuts badge with honour. Thank you, thank you for writing this, and for making me love you a little more today! xo

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    1. Ok, here is my best shot: Of course you have anxiety, because you are amazing and you feel all the feels and you are a complete gorgeous person. And brilliant, and you just can’t open that many creative awesome sensitive doors in your brain without kicking open some crazy doors! At this point in my life, I’m like ” oh..you don’t have anxiety or depression…..yea, get back to me when you have the full depth of the human experience, you veritable kiddy pool” I just absolutely love you, and if you need a kidney one day, hit me up girl, it’s yours!

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      1. *crying hysterically*

        You totally know how I feel about you, but I am going to say it again. I adore you endlessly, and admire your insane talent so much. I desperately want to carry you around in my pocket, so I can get my dose of you anytime I want. (Did I just make it weird?) I love you and the happiness you bring to my life so, so much! And your kidney? *still crying* This might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said or offered to me. AND I ACCEPT!! It would be an honour to house your kidney. Seriously, thank you. For everything. I just fucking love ya! *still crying*

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  11. Thanks so much for this post. I always beat myself up for going on medication- and I actually just wrote a post about an “anxiety aid.” But I will definitely take in all of these tips, and I love the “no-bs” way they were written. It feels like you get me lol

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    1. Arielle don’t beat yourself up baby! I just followed your blog, you are a sensitive creative, we suffer and feel very deeply and out serotonin levels can hit the floor, it’s ok! We’re just artistic af! lol!

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  13. I love the tone of this post! Yes, anxiety is a serious thing but it can be talked about light heartedly while still being helpful!! I love your bit about just embracing the hippy shit if that’s why you’re into or want to try (I 100% swear by doing tree pose in bathroom stalls when life feels a bit much haha).

    🍉 Pia
    http://gymbagsandjetlags.com

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    1. Haha! tree pose is much easier in a bathroom stall than downward dog lol! (I might be the weirdo doing downward dog in your local barnes and noble bathroom) Thank you for this comment!!!!!!!

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  14. I so love you for writing this. I am that girl- I tried to ‘supplement, downward dog, past-life regression’ myself out of my anxiety/depression/mania for decades. Guess what. I take meds. And I’m still a good person, and I still do do yoga and I still seek out ways to balance all the craziness. But sometimes you just need to take a fucking pill that works. It blows my mind how much stigma there still is around all of this, but that is their problem. We just have to do us, be us and indulge in the moments of post ‘meds took affect’ mode.

    Bless you for grabbing this one by the horns, baby. ;o)

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    1. Brooke, thank you for being brave, thank you for sharing, because this is what it takes, real people saying “Yea, I’m a good person, I’m perfectly lovely, I also have anxiety or depression” This is the human condition, and we need to be able to talk about it without stigma. ❤❤❤❤

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  15. This is lovely and fantastic and what a wonderful following you have! Since I treat this condition regularly, I have also written on talking yourself through panic attacks and it’s all about your inner dialogue- no one has ever died from a panic attack. You have to remember that and just keep breathing. I’m really digging “simple habit” Ap which reminds you to do a little Mindfulness every day – which helps rewire that faulty brain wiring with practice and time. Namaste all!

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    1. The DG readers and I have a pretty serious love affair going on! They make this site the happiest, sassiest place on the internet. I’ll definitely check out the simple habit app Rhonda! Thank you so much for your suggestion!!!!

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  16. I had to respond to some of the “religious mom” stuff, being that I was the one who diverted a schizophrenic patient off an unconscious psychiatrist because mom reduced son’s meds- and I was lucky cause he wouldn’t slug a woman, but he pushed me pretty hard and broke my glasses – the psychiatrist has no memory of the event, that’s called a concussion and is a blessing. But really- science is moving so fast and very soon no one will be having such ridiculous notions very soon- so much of this is as biological as diabetes and hypertension – but until then, internally roll your eyes, say uh huh, yes i will sure pray harder, and take what you need to be able to navigate this crazy ass world with less pain. AMEN!

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    1. 2017 simultaneously feels like the past and the future. We have a resurgence of polio from anti-vaxers on one hand, and nano technology and genetic mapping on the other. We have people with AIDS living full healthy lives and kids dying in prayer circles for their gangrene. It is a strange, strange time, but you are right, you can not stop progress!

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  19. I hope you won’t mind if I share this here- hope it’s helpful to someone:

    Deconstructing the Panic Attack; re-obtaining control
    October 21, 2015 rhondafriedapnEdit

    Every week I see new and older patients who are experiencing panic attacks. When they occur, and especially when they are new, they are terrifying and frightening because the body is out of control and the brain goes into panic mode. That panic mode actually is what causes more panic attacks so we have to understand what’s happening in the body to regain control.

    First lets talk about the panic attack itself and what’s happening. Many people who experience one get very frightened about this bodily reaction to stress and begin to think about what could be causing it. In prehistoric times, the person who had the highest anxiety was often the person in a group most likely to survive. The high alert of the anxious person made them the first one to spot danger and flee, so they would likely be at the front of the pack rather than vulnerable at the end of the pack. Anxiety and a high alert sensitivity was a reaction that ensured our survival. The trait was passed on and many of us have this heightened alert reaction. That by itself would not be a bad thing, except for the fact that we live in a society that is very highly charged and busy. We emphasize achievement far too much and never talk about the benefits of relaxation here. We always praise people for what they’ve accomplished, never for how well they relax. With this overemphasis on achievement, along with all the stimulation surrounding us, Americans barely leave their desks at work for a meal, sometimes don’t even take vacations, but for sure we become forgetful that such a thing as relaxation is important and necessary for our bodies. Even though we know we don’t feel well without sleep, we sacrifice our sleep hours for more stimulation and achievement. In some of the sleep studies with rats that have been done, all that was necessary to kill a rat was to deprive it of sleep for one month. Humans can obviously survive with diminished sleep much longer, closer to 5-6 months without sleep. But we devalue how important sleep is and over-value accomplishments.

    The combination of life stresses, lack of knowledge of how to relax, and overwhelming stimulation can eventually lead the body to rebel in a panic attack. Panic attacks can include shortness of breath, crushing chest pain, shaking, sweating, dizziness, pounding heart, and many other physical symptoms. The person experiencing one for the first time often feels they are having a heart attack or have other physical issues and often go to the ER on multiple occasions and their primary doctor. Once all the medical tests come back clear, the diagnosis of panic attack is made. If someone has already been in treatment with someone in the psychiatric profession, that diagnosis is made much easier and with less time and expense. The primary treatment for panic disorder is an antidepressant medication. These medications often completely control and prevent the reoccurrence of these attacks. Working with a therapist is important to recognize the early signs and learn self calming skills to deal with them.

    First and foremost, what you think when you’re having a panic attack is important. If you allow your mind to run wild and react and think “I’m having a heart attack, I’m dying, I will have a car accident” or any other frightening reaction, that worsens the panic attack and their frequency. The most important thing to do while experiencing these and waiting for the medication to help is to go somewhere you can be alone for a few minutes, or just sit down where you are and concentrate on slowing down your breathing. NO ONE HAS EVER DIED FROM A PANIC ATTACK AND PANIC ATTACKS ARE NOT FATAL. The worst thing that can happen is that you might pass out from hyperventilating. Your body is programmed to breathe. No matter how you feel, you don’t stop breathing because you pass out. So the most important thing is to tell yourself exactly this : “I’m having a panic attack. I will sit down and relax and try to calm my breathing and this will pass in a few moments.”

    People often want to take sedatives to help when they’re experiencing panic attacks. These don’t work that well for a few reasons. One is that the panic attack itself usually subsides in a few minutes and the sedatives take 20-30 minutes to work. So by the time they are working, the panic attack is already over. The sedatives can become overused, and people accidently become mentally and physically dependent on them, and that creates a new issue to be stressed over – how many pills you have and what happens when you run out? Sedatives aren’t really helping the underlying problem, however they do help the person who is having panic attacks feel they have something which helps them feel more in control. And feeling in control is important.

    Now lets talk about your brain for a minute. We have lots of emotional reactions in life and connections are formed in the brain from those memories. Feelings can be triggered by those memories. When you start fearing the next panic attack, that can actually contribute to it’s onset. So connections in the brain and in our memories have to be retrained. This is part of what you’re learning about in therapy, how to calm yourself. Talking to yourself rationally during the panic attack is a new skill you need to develop. And changing the connections and memories can be achieved by incorporating calming techniques into your life. In my opinion, one of the most important and dynamic you can retrain your brain and gain far more control over your thought processes is by practicing Mindfulness. Mindfulness training can be learned by taking a full course (google “MBSR free”) or signing up for a class where it is taught. You can buy and read books on Mindfulness Training, and you can easily go on YouTube and search Mindfulness and choose from a wide variety of techniques you can practice. Yoga, Tai Chi, and meditation programs will also help you gain control over your thoughts and improve your self calming skills. Practicing these skills for 30 minutes three times a week for six weeks actually causes helpful physical changes in your brain. Practicing these skills and incorporating them into your routine is very important to your health. The healthier your brain will be, the healthier your body and thus your life will be. It doesn’t matter how you start, it’s just important to get started in learning how to self calm and improve your life quality. And make the time to get a good night’s sleep! Our brains need this to be healthy!

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    1. wowza, yes absolutely! Actually, I am going to link this this comment into my “hippie shit that actually works” if that’s ok. I can credit and redirect it back to your blog ( come on computer skills)

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      3. and of course, I am a grown up hippie who always wanted to help make the world a better place (when my son calls me a dirty hippie, i think it’s a compliment, thank you) , “we can change the world” from Crosby Stills and Nash is my theme song, and I’m still trying, a little wrinkled and haggard but I’ve done alot of shit to feel less pain and want to help end the suffering one tidbit at a time

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  21. Thank you for posting this!

    I’ve had anxiety and panic attacks for years (I’m 23) and I fucking hate it when people think I have issues from taking medication for it. Before the medication, I would get so frustrated about my anxiety over everything that I was angry all the time and I’d take it out on other people. I was so damn miserable, but I eventually got on medicine and I’m doing great now!

    A couple months back I had a friend tell me I’m hiding from my true self by taking my Zoloft. I was like… ‘Do I want to have anxiety over even little shit? Fuck no! Or panic attacks at any moment and I can’t find a way to calm back down? A no genius!’ So needless to say I told him to worry about himself and I’m doing fine on my own with my medicine, fuck him very much. We’re still friends but we don’t talk about that anymore.

    I don’t get why people think that medication is so awful to take, like it’s shameful or something. Like you said do you and I’ll do me but don’t expect me to not react when you are staring your nose down at me. I do what works for me and that’s what matters. There’s nothing wrong with treating something that incapacitates you with anyway that works for you. If they don’t like it they can fuck off elsewhere and you don’t have to deal with them.

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    1. Thank you so much for sharing your story, people need to be exposed to more success on medication stories and less horror stories! Its hard for people who don’t suffer with anxiety to relate to those of us who do. It’s one of the last hold outs of shameless prejudice. People wouldnt suggest that you stop taking your antibiotics for your gangrene because it’s you “hiding from your future self” lol! But slowly, surely, it will get better! Thank you so much for this comment girl!

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      1. You’re welcome DGGYST! Ha! That’s so true, people don’t make much sense. Though I guess sometimes for them to understand, they’d have to go through it. I figured I should share my story since others had shared theirs. Plus it was a really good post. I couldn’t help myself, like you said, the more success stories with medication out there, the better.

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  23. Pingback: Anxiety and Panic Attacks – Stone in the Road
  25. Pingback: Depression, Anxiety, and Handling Both – Adventures on Quiet Nights

  26. I am struggling since five years but it became worst in the last year.I can’t go outside much. I usually stay at home with my dog and cat. I am not even sure how I can describe maybe I should write later. But thank you for writing on this topic because I feel like I’m all alone sometimes I forget there are other people suffering and fighting it creates a glimpse of hope.

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      1. Yes, and I often visit them because my attacks almost always ends up in hospital. But I am starting a new treatment. Besides the treatments I am practicing Iyengar Yoga. And I strongly recommend this specific genre of yoga against panic attacks.

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  28. This blog is amazing….

    From somebody who deals with panic attacks it is incredibly therapeutic to read blogs such as this xx

    You genuinely might also find my blogs useful.

    Even if you could have a quick read and let me know what you think, as I am very new to this, but want to be able to help others if at all possible.

    Take Care
    Xx

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  29. Girrrrrrrrl. I’m new to the anxiety world. Ironically it wasn’t until after college that I had my first panic attack! Lately they have been so bad I’ve been debating looking into medication. Seriously they strike out of the blue/unprompted! My argument? “I don’t want to medicate myself for having ‘feelings'” /still on that all natural bandwagon. Assuming you take medication personally, or know someone who does, at what point was that decision made? What was your/their deciding factor that enough was enough?

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    1. Hey! I got my first panic attack when I was 24 and wasn’t even familiar with basic nervousness before that. So it was quite a surprise. I went into hippie overdrive mode for 6 years. If you heard of it on natural living magazine, I did it lol. My final straw came a few months ago after waking up with my lunaception light at 9am, going to yoga, eating chia seed and acai berry pudding for breakfast with my herbalist approved anti-anxiety concoction of Tumeric and l-theanine and whatever else, having a perfect hippie day just like the other 6 dedicated years before that, and having a crippling panic attack that came out of absolutely no where that evening for the millionth time. It literally got the point where there was no other hippie thing I could try. 8 weeks on the lowest dose of prozac, I wish I had done it sooner and could have my twenties back. I am so so sorry that you are dealing with panic attacks, They can be really bad when you have them a bit later in life because they can provoke bit of an identity crisis! Give that natural stuff a go, just don’t let it go too long and Hang in there baby!!!

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  30. Absolutely! Anxiety is crippling sometimes, and I feel like there’s to competing stigmas with anxiety and depression – one is the “that shit is fake” camp, and the other is the one where having anxiety and depression is a “fad,” and everyone has it, which delegitimizes the reality of it for those of us who actually battle panic attacks and bought of depression.
    http://www.sarcastablog.com

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    1. Ugh, you are so right! It’s either that we are being “trendy” or need to “toughen up!” Which is ridiculous because I can’t even bring myself to rock boots with leggings, if there was a trend I was going to jump on board with, it would be that one! haha!

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  31. I love this post so much. I struggle with anxiety, though it’s not “diagnosed” (however the fuck you classify someone as undiagnosable when it comes to their own feelings and brain is beyond me), and it’s so comforting to know I’m not alone. Thank you for this!
    rachelwtf.wordpress.com

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  32. Hey, I found your blog, because you liked my blog! I love this post so much. I’m really struggling with anxiety right now. It’s like, every moment I’m awake I’m being suffocated. It feels terrible. I’m actually on an antidepressant, but it doesn’t touch my anxiety. Medications that are specifically for anxiety make me way too drowsy during the day and make it so hard for me to wake up in the morning when I take them at night. I feel like neither the natural stuff or the medication are helping me right now.

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    1. Oh Wednesday, I’m so sorry honey. Anxiety is such a beast and it’s a multi faceted issue. You’re a writer, so I know you are good at looking inward, but take an honest look at your life and see if you can’t identify your greatest source of anxiety. Reach out, keep writing, you are not alone. Anxiety is your problem it’s not your fault

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  34. Fantastically wrote. Thank you. As someone who suffers from a mood disorder and after trying so so hard to “do it on my own” for so many years and finally succumbed to modern meds. I felt a pang of guilt to myself like I’d let myself down some how. I still use herbal medicine everyday but being on the meds allows my to have a life to enjoy herbalism instead of the bouts of mania and crippling depression coupled with the constant companion of panic. Again, Thank you.

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  35. Slowly going through your posts to catch up on your writing – and so glad you wrote this. I have two close friends who struggle with anxiety – one who has thankfully gotten help and one who refuses to ‘get on the meds’ as we like to say. He’s been “dealing” with it for over 6 years now and it’s never gotten better. I may forward this to him to see if it helps him take that step. He thinks he’s better than medication and refuses, but as you said, there comes a point when you need to look at medical help. So glad you wrote this for people to read!

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    1. Liz, honey, thank you so much for your support. I’m sorry about your friend, it can be a very difficult thing to get help for, I get that first hand. Good luck to him and thank you again for this comment

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