How to Help Myself with Depression, Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Posted by littleonefmohio @littleonefmohio, Mar 19, 2018

I have had depression most my life. I have took medication for it but I do not stay on it long because of being scared of the side effects or the withdraws from coming off of it. I do not want to become addicted to medication. I have never been addicted to anything so not sure why I feel that way. I have my ups and downs like most people do with mental health I guess. Its hard to talk about it to doctors because I do not trust them either. So how do I get help for myself. I always feel alone even though I am not. I was blessed raising my granddaughter 3 years ago which has helped me stay focused off of me and on her but I constantly feel alone. I live with my ex husband because he helps me with my granddaughter both raising and supporting her. I never want to go anywhere. I have no friends. I have siblings but they have their own life. I do go out once in a great while just to get out and I do enjoy it when I am out but then I come home and right back not wanting to go anywhere. I feel guilty all the time about my life for one reason or another. I have panic attacks, anxiety, along with the depression. I have tried talking to doctors that just want to talk it out but I don't stay long with that because I feel guilty talking about me and my problems and my past. So can someone tell me what they do for this that works if anything? Thanks for letting me vent this.

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aczatx47131 | @aczatx47131 | Mar 20 9:19am

In reply to @mimigirl63 "I started having really bad anxiety about 4 months ago. I’m not sure why. I’ve taken..." + (show)

Hello, Mimi girl 63,
For years, I woke up with deep despair and with little if any desire to live. I had traumatic childhood abuse. In the last six months, that has all changed. I no longer wake up in despair. I do have anxiety related to medical appointments because fake medical environments were used by my abusers, but the anxiety is not nearly as bad as it used to be. I have never taken meds.

Right now, Breath Work, Wall-sitting, mindfulness, and binaural listening are very helpful. All of these techniques are described in the Smart Patients conversation, Resources for Anxiety. On Smart Patients I am ClaireATX. You can read more of my story there.

Please keep me posted on what you try, what works and what doesn’t.

In the Breath Work article, there is a breathing exercise developed for panic attacks.

Binaural music is great because all I have to do is listen. Each earphone of the headphones play two tones that are within 40 Hertz of each other. This helps the brain to calm down.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy really helps when I have panic attacks or just a flood of emotion and I don’t know what’s going on.

The Action for Happiness calendars helped me to move forward. One of my favorite calendar reminders are: See life for what it is but look for the good.

All these resources are described in this conversation:
https://www.smartpatients.com/conversations/resources-for-anxiety#top
This work is not easy. Keep trying different strategies until you find the ones that work for you. Things will get better. I will help in whatever way I can.

Claire

floralou | @floralou | Mar 21 8:37am

In reply to @rashida "@gailb my biggest fear about taking an antidepressant is weight gain. Everyone I know who has..." + (show)

Welbbutrin will not make you gain weight. Prozac will pile weight on.

dfb | @dfb | Mar 21 12:39pm

I have wrestled with major depressive disorder my whole life. I am now sixty and recently had my first experience with crippling anxiety. It was so bad I couldn't leave my house. After a good deal of research, I concluded that the initial bout of anxiety followed the discontinuation of venlafaxine. When it was restarted, for a variety of reasons, my anxiety shot through the roof, again an effect of the venlafaxine.

I have come to believe that humans are the sum of their biology and their environment. If something is wrong with me, as there is right now, I look to those two areas of my life for the source of the problem. Is the problem rooted in the environment I have and do live in or is it biological?

Given that each affects the other it is often both. I am suicidally depressed. I feel worthless. That makes me more depressed. Medication can interrupt that process but unless I can change the factors, biological or environmental, that caused that thinking, I'll likely feel that way again.

Figuring out the anxiety was simple (but not easy) because it was new. Trying to solve the depression continues to be a mystery, I despair will never be solved.

I hope you live in peace and good health.

rashida | @rashida | Mar 22 2:20am

In reply to @floralou "Welbbutrin will not make you gain weight. Prozac will pile weight on." + (show)

@floralou what about the generic of Welbutrin? Would that be different as far as cause for weight gain is concerned? My health plan does not cover brand names of any drugs.

dfb | @dfb | Mar 22 2:07pm

In reply to @rashida "@floralou what about the generic of Welbutrin? Would that be different as far as cause for..." + (show)

Generic Wellbutrin is called Bupropion and is commonly substituted for Wellbutrin. Most insurance companies cover it.

I've been taking it for years and it seems to be the least disruptive of the many psychiatric medications I have taken. If you do end up taking it, mornings are best. It can disrupt some people's sleep, though it has not had that effect on me.

May you live in peace and good health.