I used ativan for several years. It's a great med for panic. Just take 1/2 a dose(or even less) to start to get an idea how you'll react. If you had bad reactions to ssri's or AD's.......... this is different. It will likely not make you more anxious at all. It's a well know and studied benzo to work well. Killed panic/anxiety for me. Once I got a much better understanding anxiety I was able to transition to valium for occasional use only. Alankay