Suggest remedy for panic attacks and anxiety
Patient: Hi I am a 27 year old male. I have and have had panic attacks for close to two years now. I take sertraline 50 mg once daily, and clonazepam 0.5 mg twice daily. But I recently ran out of my medication, I have no insurance, no transportation, very low income, and I feel lost and have no idea what my next step is. Doctor: Dear young man,First of all let me assure you, it is treatable and curable with the effective support of a Psychiatrist, Psychologist and  your unconditional effort.In this platform, you need to be bit more explicit, then only the professionals available can effectively support you.Whatever you mentioned here are the classic symptoms of anxiety. To put it in right way, anxiety is generated from the animal instinct of "FIGHT or FLIGHT". That is when we see, hear, feel, or think of something dangerous, we feel anxious either to handle it(FIGHT) or to get out of it(FLIGHT). An ultimate decision is taken based on the situation in hand+ the past experiences you had confronted. Without anxiety to a certain level, you will not be able to adjust with the life or to perform well in any sphere of life. Be it in an appearing of exam, reaching on time for an interview, catching the bus or train for a journey etc. If you are not anxious, you will be missing out many opportunities. Even while crossing a road on a busy street, you should have an anxiety to keep you away from the speeding vehicles. For a person to be ambitious, anxiety is the good stimulator.In the normal course of life, we eat something and forget what we had in the square meal. The digestive system has certain juices(Chemicals) which process the food in the stomach and whatever needed is kept and remaining waste is disposed. In the same fashion, we have some chemicals (You need not know the scientific names of it) in the brain which help us to manifest appropriate emotions in any given situation.Fear or anxiety are all such emotions. You can see, you are happy in a friend's wedding ceremony or in achieving something. In the same way, you feel sad, when you are attending a funeral. It will be awkward if you feel sad in a happy situation or feel happy in a situation warranting gloom. This is the way the chemical in the brain balances and functions.Like a balance, when both the sides of it are maintaining the same weight, you are satisfied to buy something. The same is the case with all living beings generally.The situations of life are such that they always try to test your potential. It is like teaching you everything and making you ready for the final test by giving you periodical, slip or surprise tests.A basic understanding of the situations is very much needed in this point of time.As I mentioned earlier, the chemical balancing in the brain can be looked after by a Psychiatrist by the medicines. The medicines you are taking should be able to help you in balancing the chemicals.Consult the Psychiatrist and explain your concerns to him. He may increase the dosage at his discretion.The services of the Psychologist will be beneficial in letting you know of your personality traits positive or negative by taking a simple yet comprehensive peronality and anxiety tests. By this you can come to know what type of personality you are and what are the changes you need to incorporate in your personality to be a fully functional person. The anxiety can be easily reduced by having an understanding and a modification in the behavioural changes as counselled by the Psychologist based on your personality. Be ready for a change and consult the mental health professionals in town for a comprehensive treatment plan. It is always cost effective. You need not incur huge expenditure for this.Get well soon,Dr Rajesh Thottinal KalamRehabilitation Psychologist from India