Xanax and the Rabbit Hole

[Nikia]

69. Medication is often necessary at first

Acclimation will help most people who are willing to do it. You have to realize that yes you will be very afraid at first. Maybe next time, you will be very afraid too, but maybe it won't be quite as bad and won't be several times from now.
I know what it is like. For a while, I had a hard time going anywhere. I "had to go" to work, but left a few times because I had so much anxiety. Driving to my doctor's office a mile away was a big deal. My level of anxiety was more than enough to get me declared "disabled" but I went to work anyway, and I am glad that they put up with me as much as they did.
I did have Xanax to help me get through panic attacks if I needed it. I was able to learn in time though that I didn't need it because the panic would pass on its own. I was able to learn that even though most people don't feel high levels of anxiety when they go to the store that I could go and buy what I needed despite that. With anxiety disorders, people overestimate the problems that they will face and underestimate their ability to deal with it. Despite the very real anxiety feelings and physical symptoms, going through with scary things can show you that there really weren't the envisioned problems and that you did have the ability to deal with them. I still have anxiety to the levels that many doctors and counselors would want to treat me. In some circumstances, it is a disadvantage, but it is no longer disabling. I have also learned that other people have anxiety too so I don't have to feel so anxious about it.
I know that there are people who have taken medication for a long time. My mother-in-law has been on Xanax for over 20 years and has a severe mistrust of counselors. She is very set in her ways even when they make no logical sense. Maybe she needs her medication and having everything exactly the same to function.