Anxiety! Panic! Depression!

I've struggled with all three for most of my life, and so have an incredible number of other people. Not everyone has all of these, but a lot of us do. There is no cure for any of these conditions, but they can be controlled. You can get to the point that you don't feel that you have a problem with any of these anymore. That's the good news. The bad news is that they can, and usually do, come back. I was repeatedly told that "they were just lurking around the corner waiting for a chance to reappear". Unfortunately, I've found that to be true. High stress situations, pregnancy, or menopause, can start the whole nightmare again. So can not taking care of yourself.

What causes Anxiety Disorder, Panic Attacks, or Depression to appear in your life? There is not a simple answer to this. One thing that they have found is that it usually runs in families. If any of your older family members have had a nervous breakdown, episodes with depression, anxiety, or seemed to be given to hysteria (probably panic) you are at risk. These conditions are passed on genetically.

Severe and prolonged stress can also cause it. With or without the genetic pre-dispositon.

I have also noticed that most of the people with these illnesses have had unhappy lives -usually, but not always, starting in their childhood.

There is a lot of talk about Serotonin. Some doctors are saying that the Serotonin levels in the brains of people with anxiety, panic, or depression, are lower than in people without these problems.

There is also a lot of talk about the Adrenal glands. Once they are subjected to a great deal of stress they can become depleted and cause trouble.

One other thing I have noticed is that highly sensitive people seem more prone to develop any, or all, of these conditions.

None of them can be controlled by will power. There are a lot of people who think you should just 'get a grip' on yourself. That you are weak, and lacking backbone. I even had a friend of many, many years ask me why I just didn't use will power? I did and it doesn't work.

Once we get to the point that we have Anxiety Disorder, Panic Attacks, and/or Depression; our nervous system is a mess, and we need a lot more than will power to help ourselves.

Fortunately, there are many things that we can do that will help us to feel better.

Tomorrow I will get into that and in the meantime I would appreciate some feedback. If you have any methods that work for you please let me know. If you are interested in learning more about this please tell me, so that I am encouraged to go on. If you are suffering with any of these conditions say so, please. I want to help.

You may leave comments anonomously or email me at: http://www.discoverydiva@gmail.com/