[joanne3]

please help I have been suffering from anxiety and panic attacks for over a year now and it is realy getting me down, I have tried antidepressents and while I was taking them did not feel so bad but wanted to try to deal with it without them I am struggling to cope and i am on a waiting list to see a counseler , but in the meantime I have started to get jumpiness in my muscles around my whole body is this to do with the anxiety or am i just going mad , I have three children to look after and they just want there mum back please help joanne3

[Benjamin Fry]

Iím not sure about the physical symptoms and you should check that with a doctor. It may be another symptom of the anxiety and stress that this causes.

The panic issues themselves are most likely due to unprocessed fear, usually stored up in early childhood when there was little opportunity to express these feelings due to the often frightening environment perceived by the child. There are many suggested ways to deal with these issues but my view is that the most durable treatment is to access the original issues. Otherwise you can be just papering over the cracks.

You should be able to be quite well helped with this by most therapists. The task you face is to identify where these feelings come from and to talk about the issues involved until you feel safe enough to process the emotions directly, rather than indirectly through random panicky feelings. It might seem daunting at first, but it is precisely because you have avoided letting these feelings flow through you in the first place that you now experience them elsewhere. To recover you need to stop avoiding.

If anything comes to mind from your early life that might seem relevant feel free to discuss it further here.