Nurseboy, I can relate to what you said about what your counsellor's questions etc are. I too was in therapy for awhile, my first counsellor was awesome but since moving I've found what I consider to be some real loonies who shouldn't be practicing! One asked if my mother was anxious while pregnant with me as that could be why I'm pre-disposed to anxiety! My question to her was 'what good is it going to do me in knowing that?!' That was 25 years ago, if my mum was anxious (which she wasn't while pregnant btw) then what is knowing that going to do, miraculously make the panic and anxiety go away - I don't think so! I canned counselling and dont' take meds, it works better for me that way otherwise I'd end up hating my family (plus I react severly to pretty much all kinds of meds) - although I know this isn't a suitable way of dealing with it for everyone, we all cope with this in our own way. I find that it comes in waves, I get to a point where Im cruising along fine almost living a normal life then out of the blue the panic comes back then I have to go through the horrible stage of facing and accepting the panic, putting myself in unpleasant situations as I find this is the only way I can get to the next level. I come home thinking, yeah I went in that supermarket today, tommorrow I'm going to go two isles further and so on, and if I fail, well as the saying goes, it is better to have tried and failed than to have not tried at all. I personally think its something that will always be there and its learning the coping mechanisms such as breathing, exposure and postive thought repititions that will get me through the relapses, maybe some of you also find this a way of dealing with it all? BTW, I've heard that some specialists think panic disorder is due to a chemical imbalance in the brain has anyone else heard of this???
