Hillary still remembers the first day she suffered from an anxiety attack.
Hillary still remembers the first day she suffered from what she later learned was an anxiety attack. She had been busy making preparations for her sister’s wedding which was to take place the next week and had also been very excited about her own wedding, the date for which had been set in the coming month. Hillary had been driving down to pick up her sister’s wedding dress when she suddenly felt a shortness of breathe and found that her palms were sweating.
Thinking that she just needed some fresh air, Hillary rolled down her car window a little more but she started feeling worse. Her mouth felt dry, her heart was thumping and Hillary felt sure she was having a heart attack. Afraid of crashing the car, Hillary pulled over to the side and was about to call 911 when she felt the panic subsiding. Hillary was relieved and quickly ascribed the episode to the hectic nature of the last few days. She put it out of her mind and went back to her normal routine.
To Hillary’s horror however, that was not the last of it. She started to have these attacks more frequently and every time, she felt it was just stress: stress of her job, stress of her sister’s wedding, stress of her own wedding preparations, etc. But slowly the intensity of her attacks started to grow. On the night before her sister’s wedding, Janice was in such bad shape, she insisted she was having a heart attack and was rushed to the emergency room of the local hospital. After undergoing several tests, Hillary was told that there was nothing wrong with her, physically.
This now became a regular pattern for Hillary. Without any warning of any kind, Hillary would suddenly have a panic attack. The more she thought about them, the more intense and more frequent her attacks became. Hillary started staying away from the local super market, the malls, even movie theaters and restaurants. She took too many days off from her work and even if she went to work, when she felt an attack coming on, Hillary would quickly hide in the bathroom until it subsided.
As days went by Hillary started getting worn out by these panic attacks. She even started thinking she may be going crazy. Finally, Hillary’s fiancé Hal insisted that she meet a therapist to understand what was going on, though she was very unwilling to do so. Hal even threatened her, saying he would postpone the wedding, if Hillary did not get help. Being forced thus, Hillary finally went and met a therapist.
Finally, Some Answers
Hillary had had some unpleasant experiences with therapists before and she was not looking forward to meeting another one. However, Dr. Silverman was not only sympathetic but also reassuring and was not quick to immediately prescribe medication for Hillary. She took time in speaking to Hillary, understanding what she was like as a child and asking her to describe her experiences with her parents, friends and family. She explained to Hillary that her problems were not physical but psychological – that she was suffering from what was called panic disorder or an anxiety disorder. Dr. Silverman also took great pains to assure Hillary that with the proper combination of cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy as per a good anti-anxiety program and as last resort, medications, she will soon start experiencing relief and that the frequency as well as the intensity of attacks will come down.
Hillary was one of the lucky few who actually met a therapist in time and who gave her the right advice. There are many in this country and over the world who are in great distress but suffer in silence, being both ignorant of the condition and the fact that it is treatable, and for fear that they may be considered crazy. In fact, patients with anxiety disorders who are treated effectively through cognitive-behavioral therapy and medications find that their attacks are much reduced over time and in some cases, completely disappear.
