Is this anxiety/depression?

[bstedstff]

Hello, a few months ago at work I had what my coworkers were telling me was a panic attack. It was very intense, and scared the crap out of me. I'm 29 and this was the first time in my life I ever experience something like this, it was very intense, and scared my very badly to the point i wanted to call 911. Now ever since that day I haven't felt "normal". From the moment I wake up to when I go to sleep I can feel that somthing just isnt right in my head. Sometimes I feel like i'm high when i'm not, i get these weird feelings all the time and worrying about them sometimes makes it worse. I feel tired alot. Sometimes i will get sharp pains in my heart that scare the heck out of me. Slight headaches occasionally, and a weird stiffness in the back of my neck. Ever since that first episode I had, I haven't felt my normal self and I'm worried its something worse than just anxiety. Arent attacks just supposed to happen and go away? Why do I feel horrible 24/7
Any help would be great and thank you in advance.

[niq]

Plenty of other people also get that spaced-out feeling after a panic attack. It can last quite a while after the attack. Try not to focus on it and it will go away with time. Also, some people find exercise helpful.

[Robbed]

Anxiety disorder can take on MANY forms. Some people have occasional panic attacks, but feel okay other times. Other people experience more constant anxiety and symptoms such as spaciness. And others yet experience both panic attacks AND more or less constant symptoms such as anxiety and spaciness. Anyway, because what you are going through is SO common, I am 99.99999% sure that it is being caused by anxiety disorder and NOT something else. So the best thing to do here is to try to worry less about what you are going through in terms of your anxiety. You probably can't shut the worry off. But you CAN worry less. And by worrying less, you gradually diminish your level of anxiety over time. So try not to react to your anxiety symtoms with fear. Yes, they are scary and uncomfortable. But the less you react to them with fear, the less power they have.

Also, consider what might have led to the emergence of your anxiety disorder. Anxiety can be caused by multiple factors. But in the lion's share of cases, it is caused by stress issues. And by stress, I don't only mean workplace or relationship stress. Even something such as the often persistent belief that you are getting older, life is passing you by, and you have not accomplished anything causes LOTS of stress in many people. I don't know what problems might exist in your life. But this is DEFINITELY something to think about. And dealing with any underlying stress could play a HUGE part in overcoming your anxiety disorder. Because your anxiety disorder just came about suddenly from nowhere, I refuse to believe that it is 'in the genes'.