Is it safe to go without treatment?

[gypsylee]

Hello!
After 7 months of dealing with doctors and looking for answers I have finally given up and acknowledged the anxiety diagnosis. I've had many doctors tell me that it's anxiety and that there really isn't anything physically wrong with me but I never really believed them because my symptoms seemed to physical eg: numbness/tingling (not because of hyperventilation), vertigo, clumsiness, trouble with speech, and fatigue. Now after a plethora of tests I'm starting to reconsider. Now to the point, I've had neurological symptoms since the beginning of this, foggy thinking and memory being the worse. If I don't get treatment such as medication or therapy, will these these symptoms ever go away? I'm hoping after I get a job, car and become more social that these symptoms will start to ease up.
After browsing the internet, I ran across something that kinda made me worry. It was an article explaining how anxiety left untreated will cause permanent brain damage. I couldn't determine if this was just a load of internet bullshit or actually true. Can someone offer me some insight to how this works? Is it actually like IQ dropping damage or is it just a scam to get people on anti-anxiety medication?

Thanks
~Halfslice

LOL at "permanent brain damage". Anxiety can become more severe without treatment but the brain is incredibly resilient and flexible, so this is just not true.

Getting job/car/social life is going to be much more effective than any medication in my opinion. It's just a case of whether you can achieve those things without meds or therapy. If you're able to do it on your own then great, you don't HAVE to do anything. That said, something like CBT can be very valuable in dealing with anxiety.

Oh and something I wish I'd learned twenty years ago is how breathing affects anxiety. Deep (diaphragmatic) breathing is very effective and it doesn't cost a thing or involve any doctors!

All the best
Gypsy x