Patti's Panic Place Homepage

Patti's Panic Place: A Place of Hope & Healing

In this section:

• Concern About Anxiety Medication Side-Effects
• Fear or Phobia of Consuming any Medication
• Self-Help Stress Management

Help and Information for Panic and Anxiety Disorders

Now that you have made your way to this page, I hope you find some answers, some comfort, some reassurance and most of all, HOPE.

My name is Patti and I have suffered with panic - anxiety disorder for most of my life. This site is dedicated to reducing the suffering of those who have to deal with this disorder. I am now a "Functioning Agoraphobic" and have collected a lot of information that I hope will be helpful to you. I am not a professional, but I believe others, like myself, can find comfort in knowing that we are not alone. I have included "My Personal Story" because I understand how hopeless sufferers feel and maybe by reading my story it will help you understand there is hope and help. Please don't ever give up!!

I know that there are so many others who feel as I did, that no one understands what they are going through. A good support group is very beneficial in coping with this disorder. This site is written by a person who has been where you are. I would not want anyone to have to deal with this alone, as I did. When I found help I made a promise to myself that I would find a way to reach out to others and help. This is one of the ways I chose. I think experience is our best teacher so I would like to share my experiences with you.

Butterflies

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared and he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further. So the man decided to help the butterfly by taking a pair of scissors and snipping off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been. We could never fly.

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