A Woman's Story: Finding Help for Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Woman who found help for anxiety and panic attacks.

"About two years ago my life completely changed unexpectedly and took me down a path I would have never expected. I had been preparing to leave for a service mission in Guatemala that would last 18 months. Prior to my departure date I had spent months getting ready to leave. I could not wait to go.

November 18th finally rolled around and I was off to what I thought was going to be my greatest adventure of my life. The first week was wonderful. I loved everything that I was learning and I also enjoyed the people around me. I remember thinking nothing could get better than this. Then the second week rolled around and everything changed. I woke up one morning and remember feeling different than usual but I did not think too much about it. Another few days went by and I noticed that I was having a difficult time sleeping. Then another few days passed and I began to feel dazed and overwhelmed. Almost anything brought me to tears. I also noticed by appetite was drastically decreasing. I could not help but to question if I was dying. I knew something was wrong.

I went to my program director and told him what was happening. He recommended I see a counselor. The counselor said to come back in a week and see how things go. In my heart I was really hoping that things would get better and it was just a bad couple of weeks; I was not ready to go home, I had just left. That week went by and things just got worse. My body was achy, my chest felt like it was going to explode, I started to lose weight, and my head was spinning. Four weeks after my "adventure of a life time" I was home.

I couldn't understand why this was happening to me. I literally had fallen apart in less then three weeks. I felt so out of control and confused.

In my search for relief I came to learn that I was experiencing an extreme anxiety/ panic attack with mild depression. Everything that I read recommended doing medication. I was fearful of doing that because I was in such bad shape that I thought if the medication given to me made things worse (because some do that) I would not be able to handle the pain of the anxiety and depression anymore. I had heard about neurofeedback through a neighbor so I thought I would try it before I did  medication.

During my training I went twice a week consistently for four months then I came in for maintenance here and there. The first month was rough. My symptoms continued to persist; however, overall the intensity of the anxiety was less. The second month became more manageable. I had so many symptoms going on that even when the neurofeedback would eliminate one symptom the others would become more apparent and I would struggle with those. Within the middle of the second month my depression was completely gone. The third month I was much more capable of controlling the anxiety instead of it controlling me. This allowed me to do things with friends and get out of the house a little more without the anxiety getting to me. Also by this point the majority of my symptoms were gone. By the end of the fourth month most everything was back to normal. Every once in awhile I would have a hard day or two but I was able to take control of them and break the cycle relatively fast.

Neurofeedback was not a quick fix. It took effort and time which made some days difficult. However, I feel it was the best treatment option for me. I did not want a band aid such as Zoloft, I wanted something that I believed really changed my brain. Through the neurofeedback process I learned so much about myself and how to control what my brain does. I believe the training will last me a lifetime and will prevent me from future panic attacks. It has now been almost two years since my experience and I still feel great!"

-Testimonial from 23 year old female