Recovering from an Anxiety Disorder

Two months. That’s how long my worst panic attack lasted.

For two long months after being diagnosed with social anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and pure-O, I experienced some of the worst physical symptoms panic has to offer: I was so nauseated I could barely eat or drink, so filled with adrenaline I had to release it through full body shakes, and had such a tight chest that trying to breathe in felt like lifting weights. And then came the mental symptoms. Depersonalization so strong it felt like I was wearing VR goggles, and intrusive thoughts so intense I felt like I had gone crazy.

All of the psychiatrists and therapists I had throughout those two months told me I would be spending the rest of my life coping with these symptoms. That my only options were benzos, antidepressants, and management techniques to try to stop the flood of discomfort. 

And yet, here I am, three years later, asymptomatic and panic free. 

I won’t bore you with all of the details of my recovery - the trial and error process of trying to find the right methods, the months of exposure to every phobia I had, the setbacks and leaps forward. 

Much more important than my personal experience is the realization I came to, one that applies to all of us: our biological and psychological understanding of anxiety are wrong. 

There is a massive disconnect between what our doctors learn and what our therapists learn, and for that reason, we have two completely different pictures of what it means to be anxious - neither of which are correct.

This realization was what motivated me to start exploring the subject two years ago and find the reason why anxiety treatment has been at such a standstill for so many years: there are certain unproven assumptions we’ve been holding on to that have been preventing us from properly understanding anxiety. When we remove these assumptions from the equation and work only with proven data, the full mechanism becomes a lot clearer. 

When we have this true picture of anxiety, recovery is all but guaranteed. We can stop focusing our efforts on medication that dulls our symptoms or life counselors that try to sell us on ideas that are more spiritual than scientific. Instead, we can finally address the root cause of our issues, to practice self help rather than relying on others, and get back to leading a normal life.

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For now, I wish you luck on your journey and hope you have a speedy recovery.