by Andy Orrell

Created on: April 26, 2010

Curbing Anxiety Attacks

I was browsing through the reviews yesterday when I came across this subject. This is something that immediately struck a cord with me. I suffered from panic attacks and severe anxiety as a child through into my teens. It's not something I like to talk about as it brings all those unpleasant memories back to the surface. However when I read a review the other day from a fellow member who still really struggles with these problems, I thought maybe it would be good to share my experiences, and in doing so maybe even help people who still struggle with the same problems on a daily basis. So that's what I'm going to do. It won't be fun talking about it, but if I can make one person's life more bearable, it will be well worth the effort. So I am going to explain the history of my problems, what caused them, what effect they had on me, and probably most importantly how I overcame them.

*Pangs Of Distress*

Up until the age of ten, I lived a very normal happy childhood. I was part of a loving family, had lots of friends, did well at school and was generally a content little boy. Then everything changed. My first experience of a panic attack was when I was visiting a secondary school on an open evening. I had gone with my parents to have a look round the school as a potential next stop after primary school. I remember not feeling myself that night. I kept having hot flushes, and felt a little faint. Being a ten year old boy I had no idea what was wrong. Then about an hour into the evening, when we had gone down several long corridors into the centre of the school, something in my head snapped! I suddenly panicked. I felt I was trapped with no way to escape. I started to pass out, and then started screaming 'I have to get out'. My poor parents had no idea what was wrong but quickly got me out of the building and home.

Over the next few days I was kept off school. My parents were very concerned, not really knowing what was wrong with me or what to do about it. At the same time I was confused, the incident at the school had been truly terrifying, but the most scary part of all was that it was an unknown fear, what had happened to me? That weekend they took me round to visit my friend, a place I was familiar with and often visited. The plan was to leave me there while they went off to do some shopping. As my parents were leaving the sudden sense of being trapped somewhere once again returned. I panicked, screaming that I didn't want my parents to

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