Hello Iam new to this forum

[steve628]

I have been having panic attacks for years.Now they are getting very bad.How do you handle people that do not understand and just say get over it and be a man?

[Rob1978]

Hello, Steve. I don't really interact with many people in real life outside of my family, and while they don't understand how I'm feeling, they are patient and sympathetic for the most part. The couple of times I did open up about it outside of my family, and it was scoffed at as "just" in my mind, I didn't let it bother me. I think if they could live a day in my shoes, they would think "My god, this is what life is like for this guy?!", and understand the strength it takes just to try and face the world with this condition.

[kathique]

Honestly? I'm sarcastic. I make comments like "brilliant. Too easy - I should have thought of that. Ok I won't worry any more cuz it's all in my head. Thanks for giving me my life back."

It shocks the shit out of most people, but hey if they are going to trivialize how I'm feeling they can live with my response. Non supportive people are not worth having around when you're dealing with anxiety.

[lunalady]

I like Kathique's reply. She is a little nicer than me. I think I would tell someone to f off. They have NO idea how hard it is to live this way.