Is it really possible to get rid of anxiety/panic disorder without medication?

Not OP but i have anxiety and this is how i felt like at beggining but not so sure know because i wake up sweating like crazy and felt scared for no reason. Great job, great social life and no debt...there is nothing to be pussy about and it still keep happening

I'm not OP but I know where you're coming from. I used to say the same thing. But then I met someone who became one of my best friends who confided in me that she had generalized anxiety disorder. I dismissed it until one day I happened to be in her company when she had a full blown attack. It's not that she was faking it or because of her personality, it was something clearly not clicking right in her head that made her breakdown in front of me. I've since tried helping her off and on and have become far more educated on the subject than I ever would have without her friendship. Maybe someday you'll share that experience, user.

He's the kind of guy that doesn't realize how shit it is until it happens to him...then he understands why people become an hero

^This. 1000% this.

I mean you can die.

>CBT
Is it bad if I think of the other meaning whenever I see this?

Just so you know, people who have an actual anxiety disorder have unquiet minds and replay any and all depressing thoughts continuously. So your comment, even as a joke, is LITERALLY hurtful to a person like that, and actual fuel for them to carry out self harm or suicide. The more you know, user.

Hey OP and others, I also suffer from severe anxiety and panic attacks, have been to the hospital for it too. I do better when I exercise, do yoga, do the breathing exercises etc but I haven’t been able to totally escape it. I have bad rough patches, had one recently that I’m getting out of. I think the exposure thing does help a bit, showing yourself that you can confront something and be okay. I’m still looking for a way out of this, it fucks up my life when it gets bad.

You can do it, user. Stay the course.

(Cont.) I also take Ativan when I really need to and always have it on me which also helps knowing I have a kind of eject button if I can’t deal with it with breathing exercises and such.

That's not how it works if you actually have the disorder, and probably a good way to make the problem worse.
I know I'm weak, and there's not much I can do by exposure.

I don't know, but I'm making it work. Good luck, user.

My friend uses Lorazepam and it keeps her level most of the time. But her alcoholism fucks with her meds and she crashes very hard sometimes.

Thank you, I really appreciate the supportive vibe of this thread

I am going to prescribe you 5 grams of psilocybin mushrooms. Post back with results.

Magic Mushrooms. Read.

Yes it's called high CBD indica dominant weed.

I take Paxil for anxiety and it’s ruined my life. Avoid that med as best you can

My wife has panic disorder and we're both clinically depressed - my wife attempted suicide twice in her teens due to bullying and I attempted last August. Fuck you I know what I'm talking about.

I didn't intend offense, user, I merely stated that hurtful comments directed at someone with AD is different than those we casually toss around on Yea Forums, as someone with AD will take the comments to heart more than anyone else and it will only fuel their despair.

I’m sorry to hear that, drugs and alcohol definitely worsened it for me so I’ve been staying sober (aside from when I need my Ativan,aka lorazepam) which has helped me maintain more of a sense of control.

Yes, but it takes time and lifestyle changes. I had it, it went away, came back when I started treated my body like an ATM and cashing out my wellness in exchange for productivity and pleasure, then went away when I made my changes a little more permanent.

Basically I started eating well. I cut carbs and sugars down drastically and replaced them with healthy foods, like salads and lean meats. Those healthy choice meals at in the frozen secrion are my go-to.

I cut caffeine out of my diet entirely for a couple months. Now I have maaaybe a cup of coffee in the morning, half decaf and half caf. Nothing else throughout the day. No other stimulants, lile nicotine or ADHD meds if you take em.

Get better sleep. Go to sleep on time. Don't stay up late when you know you have to wake up early. If you have insomnia, try taking something like benadryl or some other hypnotic, just not alcohol since that isn't good sleep.

Exercise. If you're fat then your fatness might make it difficult to breath in your sleep. If you're weak and flabby, even though you're skinny, then your lack of muscle tone will contribute to your throat muscles collapsing in your sleep, which leads to apnea. A weak central nervous system would also lead to central apnea, which means you could breath slowly and shallowly in your sleep. Maybe you shit like once every other day, or every three days, because your digestive system is all fucked. A healthy dirt and steady exercise will help bring you back from the brink of sedentariness.

Finally, and this is the most important, but stop jacking your dick. Honestly, lay off for like a month and notice the difference. Orgasm and ejaculation are a major contributor to anxiety and most people simply don't know it. Your parasympathetic nervous system is fucked and you need to give it a rest and repair it.

Meds can help in the short term if you need them, but don't rely on them forever.

With the power of stoicism it is indeed possible.

Any tips you mind sharing for dealing with the really rough moments when the anxiety peaks and the panic attack is about to hit? I want to be better armed to help my friend in those moments.

CBT is basically just the doctors modern day spin on stoicism with a few odds and ends mixed in.

Anger helps alot

Anger beats fear

I think of how i am the 5% of human population that have this chemical imbalance which ruins your life for no reason and i get extremely fucking angry and panic attacks panicks and never shows up

"There is nothing to fear but fear itself" -Roosevelt

When I can feel it coming on hard one thing that helps me a lot is to massage myself or use this hard foam ball thing I have to push my back against a wall, specifically under my should blades which is where I carry a shit ton of tension. Enough tension that my chest can actually hurt from the muscles that wrap around and it makes my anxiety worse so when I do that it helps me a lot. Things like that help bring me back to reality a bit, yoga poses with breathing and a chill podcast on helps too.

Thank you for sharing, everyone.

Fuck man, its easier than all this shit.

Got out of the Marines 15 years ago. Somehow got my shit together enough to start a business, get married, and buy a house. Things were not easy and I had to work hard for everything I had. Well got sued and faces losing everything. Thats when the anxiety started. I didn't know it was just anxiety. Neither did the doc. He put me through test after test with no answer. I dropped it and suffered over the next 4 years. Physical manifestations included rashes, heart palpitations. shortness of breath, feeling like I was going to pass out. Finally I decided I was dying. SO either the hospital figures it out or I off myself.

The new doc did similar tests and then sat me down. She told me I have textbook anxiety.

Well fuck,man, that's easy- its just in my head then.

I decided right the fuck there I was done with it. And so that was it. No more problems. I felt the anxious feeling trying to creep in a few times but I just refused it. And i got through it fine.

I had one episode hit me hard one day I was stranded and its a long story- but I did almost faint.

But nothing since and that was years ago
already.

You will find much of what makes us ill is in our heads. Be strong and decide it. Not saying you are a bitch if you can't, you probably aint a Marine. But I think everyone has the ability inside themselves to heal themselves.

Faggot

Also the breathing technique where you breathe in through one nostril while covering the other, switch the nostril you’re covering, breathe out thru the other, then back in through that and repeat has seemed to help me. Forces me to focus on something grounding and evens out my breathing. There’s also something I’ve been trying recently that is a grounding technique that involves listing 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch, smell, taste etc. search grounding technique image and you’ll probably find it

That depends on tonne of factors. More I could list here...

For example. Do you have hyperthyroidism? No. You need medication.

One possible cause and answer down, a million to go.

What's the other meaning? Also yes.

You say that like it’s valuable and hope he “experiences” it.

One other thing that helped recently was that I got a full physical so I can reassure myself I’m healthy and that when I feel panic it’s not my heart stopping or something else like that (which is where my mind goes) it’s axtually muscle tension, indigestion or just the general stress of anxiety. I really hope something I say helps you user. Sometimes it feels like nobody understands what this is like to deal with, that it goes way beyond stress like normal people feel. That it can feel like you are literally dying. But there are people who understand out there and there are so many resources. All shit I have to tell myself too.

A psychiatrist will know better than you about how to treat it plus you can't be objective about your own shit. Meds plus therapy have the best outcomes for depression and anxiety.

Antivan works. I was prescribed but don’t take Escitalopram, Rexulti and Valium. Heard from vets that weed helps w PTSD so am in the process of getting a card

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no

Yeah, absolutely. But your chances vastly increase with therapy. Medication won't make symptoms permanently go away either, just while you are on the meds

Lol and you still suggest suicide to someone else.
And don’t even try to say you fucking didn’t.
There’s a little more than just a depression going on there, retard psycho.

If you don't consider alcohol use medication, then yes.

The only time I can push away my social anxiety is with alcohol. The trick is to learn your limit well before you go in public drinking.

That's a hard lesson to learn.

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This really isn’t what OP is talking about panic disorder is different from social anxiety

I bought a guitar and a subscription to youscisian.

Found distraction is key, I just play guitar and try and learn shit and it takes over entirely

I’m glad someone else was thinking this too lol. I was like huh, that might make it a bigger asshole thing to do

Well I tend to blend my social anxiety and panic attacks together, as that's personally what I've dealt with.

I've only personally had panic attacks due to social stress.

If we're talking about just random panic attacks, I'm sure alcohol would still assist in calming down a person.

Also this is only recent, I had been drinking a lot. I've replaced drinking with trying to learn guitar.

I'm fucking terrible but the program, though super expensive.. is good at keeping me distracted.

Also because I'm learning guitar for two reasons really, as a distraction and to learn guitar..I'm twice as motivated and always find some to practice because it chills me out.

I'm fucking bad though. Seriously.. week 4. I'm very very bad. But it's working.

Also Justin guitar and Andy guitar and Marty shwartz on YouTube are excellent teachers

I’m a guitarist too but unfortunately guitar doesn’t usually help me when it’s really bad. Been playing for 13 years and it hurts that this thing I love and do all the time doesn’t really help save me from full on panic attacks when they get really bad

Alcohol makes my anxiety worse personally and it can make it worse the next day when you’re sober sinc Ellie any drug it affects seratonin and such but I won’t knock what works for you personally. Definitely would not help me though

As with most things in life it only takes one convincing argument to change the way a person views something. It took a friend to show me that my way of previously thinking about "whiners with anxiety disorder" was wrong. Who knows? Maybe some anons will read this thread and take it to heart, too. Thank you for sharing, user.

Keep it up, just keep playing! It gets much easier once you develop finger strength and technique from just doing it a lot.

I also have anxiety and panic disorder. Therapy and breathing exercises and stuff only works a little bit. I only got better when I started on the medication. Therapy is more to get you out of your comfort zone more so those situations do not affect you as much. I felt the best I ever have in my life after being on the meds for a month or so. Good luck to you.

You’re welcome. Thank you for being open minded and understanding. This thread is certainly helping convince me I should go back to therapy.

I second this.
Whenever I get stressed and I don't know the source, I go wait, how many cups of coffee a day have I been drinking? 5? That's way too many

I feel way better if I go cold turkey on coffee for a week or more.

I've tried SSRIs. I don't like the way I feel on them. I find just growing a pair and dealing with it is the best way. If I fail I don't go too hard on myself. I'm 30 for reference.

It's all about giving the right number of shits.

Damn hahaha. I can’t have any coffee, I never drink it so my tolerance is so low that if I have any it’s instant anxiety

Do you have a source on the masturbation thing? It's interesting and counter intuitive if it's true

Yeah lame you're probably too used to it. There's gotta be something similar with a huge learning curve.

Maybe painting or learning a language. Painting could actually be really fun.. even if you're absolutely shit at it, I really think that distraction is the answer

Easy mode is drugs and alcohol but man that's probably not the best route.

Oh shit yeah.. fitness. Get weird about getting huge and start posting on /fit/ the gym and lifting actually helps a lot but it's very hard to keep that motivation up.

I've gotta start again this week.

If anyone's keen we could set up a discord. Maybe just having a talk about shit could help as well

Also Jesus this threads a bit too helpful for Yea Forums

Weird, it's like old Yea Forums

The best option really isn't alcohol, and I know that. But it can be a good way to give yourself a push in certain situations.

Dbt is a psychology training that you can do with a therapist. It has been shown to be there best "cures" to depression and anxiety. But it works better when coupled with some meds. Either way you need some one, otherwise it is a spiral

I'm glad I'm not the same person to think that. This thread is refreshing.