Hello everyone,
     I was in a chat room/forum the other day and had a very interesting experience. This room was for and about Rock & Roll. The thread was entitled "Something's not Right" and began with a short blurb from a thirty five year old guitar player/businessman named Sam who was suddenly "freaking out"for no apparent reason and with increasing frequency. His heart would race, he'd begin to sweat profusely and he'd feel an almost uncontrollable desire to run and hide. He'd had several of these experiences recently, thought that he might be in serious trouble of some kind and turned to his Internet-friends for advice. Now, advice is a funny thing. Good advice can often change your life in pleasant ways---bad advice can sometimes destroy you. The advice that this guy was getting seemed a bit odd to me and I'd like to share it with you.
    The first response was from a fellow who'd diagnosed the problem like a true professional: "Stage fright, it'll go away, don't give it another thought".
     The second response was a bit more interesting as it strongly suggested "the possible use of drugs in years gone by and the ever-present danger of flashbacks". 
     Post number three was, again, from Sam. He thanked the gentlemen for their advice but told them that he felt the problem might be heart-related as he could feel his heart racing, thought that he might be having a heart attack and felt like "MONSTERS" were about to bite his head off. 
     The next several posts found Sam's plight a bit entertaining and made some rather crude comments about committing himself to the Looney bin for observation, and one even asked if he was seeing pink elephants as well. At this point I was forced to come out of the closet.
"Hey Sam", said I. "Sounds an awful lot like anxiety attacks to me." After some banter back and forth regarding symptoms, Sam asked how I knew so much about anxiety attacks; I told him that I'd been dealing with them for years. Endless trips to the ER, heavy depression, light-headedness, serious MONSTERS and days filled with uncontrollable fear were my way of life. I welcomed him to the club and told him that at last count, roughly 7 million of us shared the same disease. 
      Why am I telling YOU about this? Because, if you've read this far you possibly suffer from "The Monster Syndrome" yourself, or you know someone who does. After all, I have it, and you know me. Anyone who hasn't experienced anxiety attacks themselves can begin to truly understand them. I've often been asked what, exactly, you feel when you're having one? While I can speak only for myself I'd like you to imagine this scenario. Picture yourself swimming peacefully in the ocean with your family, everyone's having a wonderful time and life couldn't be any finer. Now, add this to the equation; a huge shark suddenly appears ten feet behind your child, jaws opened wide and headed directly for your little one! Try to imagine the unbelievable horror you'd feel in the time that it took that shark to travel those ten feet and grab your son or daughter. While the description might be a bit scary or difficult to comprehend, it's very real for millions of us. Welcome to the world of anxiety attacks. Many of us live with that very feeling every day.
      Imagine having that massive dose of panic hit you while you;re driving down the road, sleeping, eating in a restaurant, taking part in an important business meeting, etc. Get the picture?  Zing doggie daddy---it ain't no fun!!  The worst part about this disease is getting it diagnosed correctly. I spent years listening to doctors tell me that they couldn't find anything wrong with me, years!! And then I went to a neurologist who, after I described the symptoms for the millionth time, turned to me and said: "Yeah, I know what it is, I have it too." The tears of relief streamed down my face and my life BEGAN to turn around that very day. 
    As I watched A&E the other night I noticed several interesting commercials running for the first time. One was for Xanax, another for BuSpar, both of these are anxiety-fighting drugs. I thought about those ads for quite awhile. If these drug companies are suddenly spending BIG money on TV advertising it must mean that the market for these products is expanding. 
     Please know this. You don't have to live like our friend Sam. You can find people right here in the Southern Tier who can help you get the monster out of your head. It's nothing to be ashamed of and your quality of life can, usually, be fully restored. We'll talk more about that next time. Until then, write to me if you'd like to. Need more info? Email me and I'll tell you where you can find help right here in the Southern Tier. DO NOT let this thing ruin your life.