It seems that today we hear more about this than ever before. Thirty yrs. ago when I was a kid, and times were much simpler, I never heard of this happening in my family, friends families, acquaintances, etc.

Nowadays, it is everywhere. A few members of my family experience it on a regular basis, one is a very severe case, they are considering putting her in a mental hospital. She is only 32 yrs. old...

We have some close friends that suffer from it as well. Everyone is on meds for it. Many folks are so bound by it that they even have difficulty leaving the hose for any reason.

What are your thoughts on it. Is it in the air we breathe/food we eat/water we drink? Gov't conspiracy?

Life is not fun anymore...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/2010 09:08PM by juicerkatz.

Some of it is a societal thing...

People are not as connected with - - people. Children spend less and less time with their working parents and busy siblings. People move more than ever for jobs or other reasons, leaving communities where they had roots. People also change jobs often, unlike older generations that stayed with one company for life. Media absorbs a lot of time that would have been spent in relationships with others. Many people don't know their neighbors' names. In the US, individual freedom is valued more than community. All of that combined puts a lot of pressure on people to cope with things on their own. Of course that is an over simplification and an overgeneralization, but I think it plays a part.


My favorite raw vegan

I second the lack of community/family theory. We are disconnected. Also from nature and our place in the natural world. And nutrition, certainly. EMFs from machines and invisible signals flying through the air. S Hawkings says our only hope of survival is to conquer the stars as we are quickly draining this planet of her resources and will soon be facing irreparable damage to the earth. I think we are certainly part way there but I think we are an integral part of this world, we feel that damage within ourselves. The more of a mess we make of our external world, the more it is reflected in our internal world.

Hypoglycemia, the use/abuse of drugs, unexpressed grief/anger all catch up to you. They can be the most terrifying experiences you will ever have. You can feel like you're going to die/pass out/go crazy. By being completely sober (no alcohol,nicotine, caffeine, pot, Xanax and other pills), using meditation, turning off the boob tube, getting into nature, eating plant-based diet, no sugar or refined carbs, exercise...you can triumph over chronic anxiety.

i had terrible anxiety and panic attacks years ago, very severe, i was afraid to go anywhere should it happen in public. i'm really sorry your family/friends are suffering. my own thoughts on where this comes from? i guess it can be different for different people but somehow i believe there's a truth in this....there are no emotional disorders of themselves, there's always a physical component in conjunction, and even as the root cause.

in my case, it was a symptom of other physical problems, not emotionally based. much had to do with liver congestion and stones, actually my nightly panic attacks resolved after flushing the stones out. once the stones where gone, and with continued healthy diet, with time all the anxiety resolved.

i really hope they find relief and recover, the experience of living life feeling that fear all the time is horrid. there may be adrenal/thyroid issues as well, that can cause bad anxiety. i hope they get better!

I see the common theme that you all have posted;

community/family theory/stresses/tv/media - the list goes on...

I recently read that only 3 to 8 % of the population is afflicted with anxiety/panic attacks. The number is different depending which reference you read, some giving up to 15%.

That is still a fairly small number; Why is most of the population not affected? Why such a small number of people suffering from it?

What is the difference between these two groups that one is able to function normally in society while the other struggles with these attacks?

tough questions...

JuicerKatz: This may seem a bit farout to you and some others, but I believe in past lives and that we don't come here with a blank slate. And just like this lifetime where we have traumatic experiences, the same baggage can be brought here from other lives. I used to have this strange experience when I was a child. I would occasionally get a spasm on one shoulder, followed by this wave of complete hopelessness accompanied by everything going black. It was just a brief sensation, but I would have to brace myself against a wall in order to stay conscious and upright. It stopped when I became a teenager but I never forgot this experience. It could be that it was a remnant of a lifetime where I was stabbed. I think I was a soldier in some war because I am uncomfortable with loud noises that sound like gunshots and I cannot stand the idea of guns. Maybe those with the most anxiety are the oldest souls and therefore have the most baggage. I also think that there is a genetic predisposition for anxiety related to serotonin availability, but even this may originate in the soul's past experiences influencing current ones.

banana who,

Totally get what you mean. Also, I have this feeling that the predisposition to having panic attacks may date back to one's treatment in the womb--was mom calm and eating well, or in a high anxiety state all the time?

Banana -

Not really sure if I buy into the pat lifetimes theory, but that is quite a story about your shoulder spasm.

You mentioned about the serotonin availability; I wonder if the medical community has i.d. a common chemical imbalance amount all affected individuals...

Or would they withhold "the cure" ? (see johnny mnemonic)

After all, a patient cured is a customer lost... sorry for being so cynical, but it is evident that they want everyone doped up to the max, even little kids...

...there is an answer somewhere...

@ Tamu - I believe that could be a close guess, at least for some folks...

I just think of some people as young souls. They tend to be people who are entranced by money and power. No matter how much the Universe shows that it's not enough, they continue to strive for more things. And are enthusiastic about it. A few people I know (and I) are no longer impressed with living a materialistic life. We are not easily amused. And all of us suffer for this. The younger souls tend to be oblivious and like children, bounce back with fresh zeal for things, name, and fame. And those of us who feel like old souls cannot muster the energy or interest in gaining things of the world. Maybe that sounds pretentious; I dunno. But it is sooo true. And it makes it hard to be understood by the masses.

haha - i love 'money' and 'things'...

does that mean i'm not on as high a spiritual plane as others who shun the 'materialistic' world...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2010 07:10PM by KidRaw.

Well, I am not living in a cave, so I doubt that you and I are very different in terms of interacting with the world. It's more a state of mind than geography. I was just in downtown Chicago and I enjoy the hustle and bustle; I want to live in the country but I have lived "where the action is" (well, the suburban version of it!) for all my life so I cannot fathom living in the middle of nowhere. I'd probably want to live near a college town where I could go for stimulation if I felt like it. But the point is that I am not ambitious in a worldly sense; I don't see any true bliss arising from material conditions. I guess it boils down to that old adage: be in the world, not of the world...

I know how to stop an Anxiety Attack -

Put a paper bag over your head and count to 1000.

KidRaw,

Shall give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are joking . . .

Also, if one loves money and material things, one is, necessarily, on a lower spiritual plane than someone who reserves love for living beings and has few material attachments. Duh

Cannot one love money and material things and love living beings, too?

Also, isn't Nature 'material things'? Because I love Flowers so I'm obsessed with landscaping and am 'buying flowering plants' for my yard with my 'money', is that not nature? When I was obsessed with crystals, I bought many rocks with my 'money', and went out on walks and collected rocks and crystals and shells at the ocean, so is that 'material things' because it's 'bought' or not 'material things' because it's free from 'nature'? Isn't Money the same as a Tree.

So is Loving Living Beings the highest form of spirituality? Then maybe Loving Nature would be next and then maybe Loving Money and Material Things would be the lowest?

Or is it that if you love Money for what it can buy, even if it's say 'Paying for a Spiritual Workshop or Retreat' it's base?

How about if I love Money So I Can Give it All Away to Others Less Fortunate - is that lesser than just loving others, but more than just Loving Money? So is it 'what you actually do with the money', like if it's for 'selfish means'?

KidRaw,

If you had just expressed it in that ebullient way from the beginning, that would've been different!

And, no, money is not the same as a tree, or I'd be able to pay for my gas with a tree

It does give me an idea for a poem, however:

I think that I shall never see,
Money as lovely as a tree

Hmmm . . . I have a feeling it's already been done . . .

My guess on the increasing incidences of these disorders is also affected by the perception of powerlessness and loss of control over situations being experienced. As mentioned in several posts the support system of friends and community that could at least lend a listening caring ear and a shoulder to lean on to lessen the burden is not as strong as it was in the past, if in fact there is a support system.

Facing multiple issues at the same time, such as economic problems, employment uncertainty, global issues creating a sense of insecurity, dysfunctional interpersonal relationships, spiritual distress, etc, could also make it challenging to decide which ones can be tackled or deciding that none could actually be even resolved.

Wishing you vibrant health

All diseases/ailments are on the rise in my opinion compared to a decade or so maybe a few decades.

My opinion is more toxins than were around years ago, there only used to be a few auto-immune disorders now theres dozens. Obviously some of these ailments have genetics and predispostion elements also.

KidRaw: I am not allergic to money. But it's only a means to an end. We need money in order to exist in the Material World. But should we become attached to money beyond the basic need it provides (survival)? If you identify with how much money you earn, that is where it gets precarious, IMO. Same with identifying with your possessions and feeling that your worth lies in that arena (and judge others' worth by what THEY have). And those flowers you talk about--do you want to plant non-native species that you have to buy and turn your nose up at dandelions or other wild flowers? Some people devalue anything that's free. Someone once told me that they charged for meditations seminars because when they were free, Americans didn't respect them!

I started to get panic attacks after giving birth to my fourth child. I did'nt know what was happening but I felt as if I were going to die. I started to breath fast and my heart started racing, then I would get very afraid and my mind would very quickly feed on the panic until it was way out of control. These things would happen in the evening mostly and I became afraid to leave my house because I felt as if I were going to die. I would call my father and read the bible because these things would sooth me and distract my mind. I found taking a shower also calmed my attacks. I began to read about panic attacks and just the information made me aware of the panic attac enough to not be afraid any longer and for some reason they left me. I do have an adversion to leaving the house but have found that eating a raw food diet changes that feeling of wanting to be reclusive.
Panic attacks are not fun sometimes just knowing its a panic attack helps calm a person. I was at a store and a woman was showing distress, as I talked with her I felt she was haveing a panic attack so I held her hand and told her it was just a panic attack and she was going to be o.k. she eventually began to feel better. Fear is a huge factor in panic attacks. Just to hold a persons hand and tell them they will be o.k. and if they believe you then they will begin to breath slower and feel better.

when visiting my mother, I eat like a king (depending on the time of year,lol) because there are fruit trees everywhere, oranges(the most prevalent), figs, pomegranates, peaches, kiwi, apricots, walnuts, and almonds,lemons and limes, and im sure a few others im forgetting at the moment, and I go up to peoples houses as i see the fruit falling off their trees and rotting on the ground, and i ask them if I can pick some, they say sure, often telling me to take as much as I want, and more often than not im asked "why would you want to do that?" I reply "cause fresh fruit is awesome!" and they usually reply with something along the lines of "if it was that great why doesn't anybody pick their fruit?" I often dont even know how to reply to that other than with "cause their crazy?" its very seldom im able to convince people to try the fruit off their own trees...its kind of disturbing...

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Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

In BC we had to organized parties of volunteers to pick the local fruit trees and clear the fallen fruit or we would be overrun with bears that then had to be "put down" for human safetly. It's actually kind of hard to clear a tree entirely and use that fruit up unless there is a crew of people to do it. Who can eat 6 bushels of apples all at once? Or store it all and eat mealy fruit when fresh is available year round at the grocery store? It's a funny world we live in, so far removed from sustainable, natural living. It's no wonder to me that people feel disconnected, alienated, panicky and weird. I feel disconnected, alienated and weird.

I second that last part... although the first part, must say, I LOVE apple chips with a passion... also, with the correct tools, I can clear 9 large apple trees in around 8 hours, or used to be able to...best summer/fall job ever!

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Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?