Is it normal for me to get these anxiety attacks... (help)

I started suffering panic attacks in my late teens. At the time, I'd never heard of them. One day, I was describing the symptoms of my "illness" to a friend and he had heard of them. I was pretty alarmed that my own brain was causing these things,, but it sure helped to know. Armed with the knowledge that I wasn't sick,, that my symptoms were entirely due to some 'thought process',, I fought back. I'd had dozens of attacks that I thought were about to kill me and they hadn't. Now I knew they were mere annoyances. Henceforth, when they came I'd confront them mentally with "Bring it on! Do yer worst." n suchlike. Then, as they passed, "Still here, fucker!" It was like positive reinforcement (which I'd never heard of either at the time). It worked, I was getting better by the day and was all but over them within a month. Since then, I've not had an attack worthy of the name in 30 years. Once it a blue moon something will trigger the symptoms and I'll give a weary, "Oh, fuck off!",, and it does. Try it,, it might work for you. If it doesn't, good luck finding another remedy.

Just try to be at peace with what you have for right now. Anxiety is usually fueled by thought. Try to tell yourself you aren't that much of a loser because of this and that, you know what's good about you.

I think in order to begin feeling comfortable we have to acknowledge what we are and who are in the present, we don't need to condemn ourselves, just understand that this is where you are, but that is where you would like to be.

Comfortably numb - Pink Floyd. I started getting anxiety attacks when I was 19 after an unexplained illness and since then I haven't been the same. The simplest thing can stress me out and it sucks. Sometimes I feel like my life is one huge anxiety attack. My fear of failure causes this anxiety, if I don't pass the exam I won't graduate from uni and I will be poor.. things like that then I get a huge headache, nausea then I feel dizzy and faint. It's not just academic stuff that sends me into an anxiety spiral even everyday simple things it's frustrating because instead of being a carefree 21 year old I'm constantly a ball of nerves never knowing when the next attack will hit me. Thankfully I have a mum who keeps me on track but sometimes it can be too much I just have to take some medication which leave me in a state where I go from being moody and drained to a raging extroverted insomniac. This medication gets in the way of my studying so I only take it when I really really have to. I understand the situation you're in. Stay strong is all I can say. Goodluck.

Panic attacks are no fun, but they can often be controlled without medication. One of the best things I ever did was seek therapy for mine. A few months of cognitive behavioral therapy taught me how to cope with them, and I wish I'd done it years before I finally did. Like you, I feared drugs and didn't want to be sedated or turned into someone other than who I am, but CBT doesn't involve drugs; it just involves reframing the attacks in ways that make them easier to manage.

I still have occasional attacks, but now they feel like little speed bumps, not huge mountains. They have a physiological cause, at least for me (they're really closely linked with hormonal fluctuations), and it helps to know that they aren't a sign of being crazy/worthless/doomed. I love Living_Too_Late's suggestion, and it actually has a lot in common with the CBT techniques I use to get through episodes.

Please do yourself a favor and find a good therapist who specializes in panic disorders. You do not have to suffer.

What a dramatic airport.