Has anyone had panic attacks their whole life?

[Cconnie]

I started panicking when I was very young and I don't remember what started it off, just wondered if anyone else was like this or have had panic attacks for a long time?

[Annie0904]

I think mine started when I was about 14 I am now 55.

[harasgenster]

I started panicking when I was very young and I don't remember what started it off, just wondered if anyone else was like this or have had panic attacks for a long time?

I showed symptoms of 'distress', if you like, starting from when I was about 6. I had frightening attacks at night that were not the same as panic attacks but were more like aural hallucinations - lots of voices shouting at me, basically (although it has been explained that this was not an hallucination but 'cognitive somethingorother' that can affect children under stress...)

Personally, I don't think having symptoms for a long time has a negative effect on your prognosis. I'm fine nowadays and don't consider myself to be unwell anymore. I live a pretty normal life and I feel pretty content - there's nothing holding me back anymore. I found it useful to get therapy, though, and to work out what starting it all off and how it was maintained so I could make my own decisions to stop following the patterns that were causing me to be unhappy.

[Cconnie]

I showed symptoms of 'distress', if you like, starting from when I was about 6. I had frightening attacks at night that were not the same as panic attacks but were more like aural hallucinations - lots of voices shouting at me, basically (although it has been explained that this was not an hallucination but 'cognitive somethingorother' that can affect children under stress...)

The more I think about it, that is probably what I used to have I always said to my mum that people were shouting at me and she told me that nobody is shouting, thank you for your post :)

[trish1955]

I think mine started when I was about 14 I am now 55.

I was 12 now 58 do you no why you started having them I search my mind over I no my fear as been death all these years making it hard to really live x

[Catherine S]

My fears started when I was very young...and now i'm very old so yes, my whole life, but I have learned to cope with them better as ive got older...obviously not completely or i wouldn't be on the forum lol! But I think its the fact that its been such a long time that ive kind of realised that i'm not going to die because of panic. They still have the ability to floor me when they happen though :scared15: I just think that some people are much more senitive than others, and we anxies tend to think about the worst thing that could happen...at least with me, I always predict a bad outcome before I do anything or go anywhere and that's what keeps me locked into it.

[Tanner40]

CConnie, I've had some level of anxiety since I was eight years old. I know that anxiety will always be a part of my life but it's up to me to decide how I want to deal with it. When I stick my head in the sand and do nothing to help myself, it gets worse. When I actively accept the anxiety and I use the appropriate tools that I have learned to cope, then the anxiety tens to go away and hide.
What are you doing to help your anxiety? Counseling, CBT, meditation, deep breathing, journaling, exercise, etc...?

[Cconnie]

What are you doing to help your anxiety? Counseling, CBT, meditation, deep breathing, journaling, exercise, etc...?

I've never done anything to help my anxiety, I can't even really talk about or I feel like I can't. I've just had enough now so I'm trying to combat it, I've applied for a counselling but waiting to hear back from them. I'm doing more exercise and trying meditation but also going to try out different methods, the main reason I joined this site is to see how people deal with their anxiety and to see if their methods work for me :)

It's also nice to have people in the same boat to talk to, as I also felt as I could never tell my mum or friends what my anxiety was like as they wouldn't understand. My friends who I've known for nearly all my life didn't even know I had panic attacks until late last year.

[Tanner40]

CConnie, you made a wise decision in joining NMP. It's very difficult to talk with people when you feel like they won't understand. You will find a lot of people here that will totally understand what you're going through. I have personally found medication helpful when my anxiety was at it's worst. CBT has helped me immensely, to calm down my mind and to learn to talk back to my irrational thoughts. Distracting myself by watching something funny for thirty minutes a day does wonders for me. I'm glad to help anytime.

[Cconnie]

Thank you very much, people are very understanding in here :) yeah, thank you

[MissChampers]

Mine started when I was 19 totally out of the blue and I didn't have a clue what was happening to me. I probably had about 2 or 3 attacks every day for months and as a result lost a lot of weight, came out in rashes and suffered with insomnia where I'd literally be awake all night long. That was 23 years ago and I haven't had a panic attack (touch wood) for about 15 years now. I don't know why I suffered with them and I don't know why and how they stopped. I never went to see a doctor because I was so ashamed but they somehow just stopped on their own.

[Antonio2301]

I can remember thinking of death at the age of about 10 years old..I then remember stood in assembly at school and had this wierd feeling every so often like numbess and tingling all over and a feeling like I was going to pass out plus I couldn't breath properly. This was very infrequent though, kept it to myself but by the age of 19 I was getting this a few times a day, that is 22 years ago .Ok now I know they are harmless and control them much better nowadays but they sure messed up my life as in terms of what I can and can't do
much better now than before as I know and accept what's going on

---------- Post added at 18:34 ---------- Previous post was at 18:32 ----------

Oh I see you're a new member Cconnie :welcome:

Antonio