Between loneliness and solitude

I experienced panic attacks which led to agoraphobia over 30 years ago.......way back then there was not much information I could find about what was happening to me and the docs certainly were no help. What really helped me was finding someone who had also been struggling with the same symptoms. It made me feel less crazy and helped me understand what was going on in my head and how I could cope. The other thing that really helped me was writing down (and eventually memorizing) passages from books and saying them to myself over and over again to help me through the panic. It is so hard when we are alone with our own thoughts - they can take on a life of their own and I could disrupt them by reading or recalling my favorite passages. Even 30 years later I can remember so many of them and when I get a glimpse of panic now and then those words come to mind and help me make it through.

I do skype chat with a person I met on a migraine forum where we can mutually vent. That support has become very important to me - just knowing there is someone else out there I can reach out to who understands my pain and frustration. I do not know anything about your particular situation - do you have a therapist or friend you can call when a panic attack hits who is trained to talk you through? Because of my migraines I try not to spend much time on the phone but would certainly be willing to email or skype chat...........I am not very familiar with this forum - is there a way that you can send me a personal message? Leslie

Dear Leslie and S,C. thanks for yr replies and inputs. apologies for the late replies as the focus was a bit off this few days due to on and off anxiety moments :-/

i didn't have my email in profil..and rarely hv personal correspondence via emails. don't even check the emails regularly. lol. i've never use skype before. and the msn messenger is kinda redundant for some time now. lol.

the other thing is it seems kinda hard to focus on getting online on the internet and write emails when i'm in the amidst of anxiety or panic. in high anxiety i wld usually feel more at ease to reach for the phone and get a friend or therapist or online counsellors to talk to for that moment.
or just grab a pen and paper and scribble it out on journal.

nonetheless thanks so much for the inputs and suggestions, knowing the email address is there available should we want to write a email note someday is kinda comforting tho., and the suggestion of memorising passages is cool too :)