Thank you for your reply Trish. It would be good to chat one on one. My email addy is djsfx@optusnet.com.au

Hi Simon... I like you am a 22 year old guy, and have been having Panic Symptoms on and off for about 4 years. I was in a similar situation to you a couple of years back - I was severly depressed and didn't know where to turn, I was agraphobic (which basically means, like you, I feared leaving my house which I saw as my safe zone) and was quickly becoming a recluse because i was too embarrest to admit i had these problems to my friends, yet as you know they are completely uncontrolable, so rather than go out and risk having an attack amoungst friends I'd just stay in, get depressed and wished i'd gone out. I don't know about you, but when I'm around 'Safty people' like my Dad that know about my Panic attacks and don't freak out when i have one (because people freaking out are just going to make it worse, right?) they seem to pass much quicker and usually not that intense. So what I did was basically sit all my friends down one by one and said, "look I get panic attacks... they're nothing to do with me being a nut ball, but sometimes i'm going to get a little bit uncomfortable and tight chested and need to go and chill out on my own for a little bit" A few of them laughed at me until I gave them links to web pages that explained it a little better than i could, and for the most part they are all very supportive now. SO I solved my problem by making EVERYONE i socialise with regulary 'Safety people' that don't freak out as soon as I grab my chest and start feeling uneasy. Maybe you would feel more comfortable if you were frank and told your peers this? Saying you want to end it all makes me upset and I would like to have a chance to share with you in greater detail how I've made my life liveable again. Feel free to E- mail me on cchapman1@mac.com or MSN me on wsl1959@hotmail.com Take Care Simon, and remember... There's so much more to it then you think ;)... get in touch man. Kind regards Charlie

oops sorry, lisa T not liz, margaret

Hi Liz, its interesting you started having anxiety after getting married, I think that is when all my unable to drive freeways started, but now that was 20 years ago. I am not on any medication, hope I can do this without it. My daughter 17yo is on 100mg of zoloft everyday and does just fine, she suffered panic attacks and feeling out of control and "weird". Thank God she seems well adjusted now but if she trys to stop the zoloft she has a relapse. I am reading a book " panic to Power" I think its great, made me realize how much anxiety I have in my daily life and how I can change it by changing my thoughts margaret

Hi Lisa, Glad you also were panic free and know we can achieve that goal again. Maybe you may need an adjustment in medication, but definitely discuss with your doctor. There are usually stressors in life that will trigger the attacks, monthly cycles, even adjustments in life, such as your new marriage. Perhaps you lived with your parents and now you are starting new with your husband, and have some seperation anxiety over that, or moved after getting married. Endless possibilites to take mental note, to see if this could just be a short time and your symptoms could again subside with no medication adjustment needed. Keep in Touch Trish

Hello, I am new to this whole support group. I am a 29 year old female and have dealt with anxiety for over half my life. My panic comes and goes, however has been sever lately. I was panic free for about 4 years flying and traveling until recently. I just got married two months ago and my symptoms continue to get worse. I take zoloft (25mg) I think I need to increase the dose. I also take xanax when needed yet I try not to because I do not want to be addicted??? I hope to here from you all soon. Please do not give up---I find it ironic that for the most part we fear death and we thing about just that?

Hi Simon, Think maybe my first post I tried was wee bit long. For it didnt go through. I will try to condense this one a bit. First you dont have a fear of people, but the fear of "what people will think of you". You were distressed to learn your parents noticed you being extremely nervous, when in all actuality, they saw more of you being apphrensive, on edge, restlessness. They didn't see the whole "freaking" anxiety episode. But your family and you both need education, by reading, learning from your doctor, support groups, and understanding of what you have. This helped me immensely. You worried over saying things without thinking- that is what we do when we are so frustrated that we feel utterly helpless trying so desperately to control what we have, and it comes out in venting our anger to others. Sometimes, we arent even angry, and words just get mixed up, and wondering if we are even making a sentence sound right. The waking up "not being with it" and extreme nervousness at night, that is the result of not getting a sound sleep day after day, from the anxiety, by the time we fall asleep, our minds are so mentally exhausted, by morning we have little concentration- the haze. I posted alot more, concerning the flurorescent lights, the cant cry even if you wanted too, but feel if I post much more, this one wont go through. But to answer your last question, Will it ever End? Yes. I have been there. Panic free, anxiety free, shopping, driving, life is good. If you need to talk more, please post, and I will give you my email address to correspond one on one.

Sorry, one major thing i'd like to add is that fluro lights seem to set this off a lot.

Hi, I'm a 22 year old male and for the last year or so i have been having a lot of problems. I am constantly "not with it" from when i wake up to when i go to sleep and always nervous. I feel like i am on edge all the time. Everything looks hazy to me and i find it hard to go to the shops and basic stuff like that. I always think that i am going to run into someone i know, and if i do, i totally freak out and feel like i want to run away. I have been seeing a psychiatrist for the last six months and i haven't changed a bit since then. He put me on Avanza, and i was on that for about 2 and a half months and it didn't seem to do anything to make me more focused, all it did was make me go to sleep. I never cry, no matter how upset i am, and this is on or off the anti-depressants. I constantly think of ending it, but the only reason why i don't is because the first thing that comes to my mind is my mum and how upset she would be as she is also my best friend. I'm worried that one day i won't think about that. I am still interested in things that i was always into, so my symptoms seem all over the place. Lately my parents have been seeing my psychiatrist as well but not at the same time. This morning i had to go in with them at the same time for a minute and i was freaking out as usual, but i thought i was doing a good job of hiding it. Tonight they told me that they really noticed that i was extremely nervous. These are the sorts of things that set me back, just when i think i am going good. Today he put me on Zoloft but i am a little worried about taking it after reading a lot of messages on here about it making you more nervous. And i feel that if i got any more nervous i wouldn't be able to deal with it. I can still be happy around friends and stuff so i am not depressed or anything, except for the fact that sometimes i do think about ending it. Lately i have been saying things without thinking first, it just sort of seems to come out. I was hoping that someone on here has the same sort of symptoms as me and tell me how they're going and what sort of meds they are on. And also if this will ever end. Sorry about the length of this post. Simon.