Do you ladies mind if I get this thread going again? I've been diagnosed with moderate depression and general anxiety disorder, and I've been medicating for both for a couple years. I believe that my anxiety level has plummeted since I've been on meds, but the depression never really seems to go away.
Also, I have a specific phobia for which I had to seek therapy. My doctor suggested that general anxiety can give way to phobias if you let them escalate. That is, if you panic over something once, you're anxiety will be higher the next time you encounter it, and you're more likely to panic again. It's a vicious cycle.
Anyway, if you know that certain things/events trigger panic attacks, I highly recommend looking for a specialist (a therapist, not just a medicator) who can help you focus on overcoming that fear. The University of Texas has a phobia clinic that was able to help me. Of course, the hardest part is looking for help, because in order to overcome your fear you have to face it. That part sucked (a lot), but I feel that dealing with my phobia helped with my overall anxiety.
I don't know if anyone's anxiety here is phobia-related, but if you're having panic attacks it seems very possible that something you fear is triggering them. If that's the case, medications alone probably aren't going to work. I guess I'm just trying to encourage everyone to face their fears (with help) even though I know that's much easier said than done.
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