by Guy SInes

Created on: February 09, 2007   Last Updated: April 18, 2007

Overcoming Anxiety/Panic "Disorder" Naturally

Anyone who has suffered chronic panic attacks knows how futile, helpless and permanent your situation can feel. This is of course exacerbated by the failure of others to understand your predicament. Accusations, feelings and diagnosis of hypochondria, as well as a myriad of other blanket terms which often assign blame and/or ridicule to the sufferer, only add insult to injury. As negative self-talk and poor self-worth are common denominators in this condition, friends, family members and members of the medical establishment who contribute to this thought process even inadvertently can add to your suffering indefinitely.

The symptoms of a panic attack or prolonged stress are all too familiar to those of us who have experienced this condition: Tightening of the chest, numbness in the extremities, shortness of breath, tunnel or blurred vision, dizziness and disorientation as well as an almost "out-of-body" experience are all hallmarks of a panic attack. They are also symptoms of a number of medical conditions, which causes the sufferer to think they are experiencing a medical emergency. This of course will only elevate your level of anxiety. Many of us have made multiple runs to the emergency room during these attacks, only to be told, often condescendingly, that there's nothing wrong with us. This is often reassuring information at the time, but it quickly becomes expensive and is only a temporary fix. Unless you deal with your condition at its root, your panic attacks will be chronic, and you will continue in this cycle.

But there's good news! You're not dying and you're not going crazy, even though this condition can make you feel as though you are. And, going against established mainstream medical opinion, I even refuse to think of this condition as a disorder, and certainly not as mental illness. Unfortunately, this is how it is most often treated. The patient is given a mental health diagnosis and prescribed various psychotropic drugs, such as antidepressants, sedatives and tranquilizers.

It is important to understand that the symptoms that one experiences during a panic attack are a natural and normal physiological response to stressors. They are most certainly NOT a disorder of the brain. I submit instead that they are symptoms of a disorder in our modern society and its stressful and sedentary lifestyle.

The title of Robert M. Sapolsky's wonderful book Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers (1994 W.H. Freeman and Company)

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