Personal Experience with Anxiety Attacks
My best friend, Diego, is a doctor, just like me. We both suffer from one of the worst psychiatric conditions: generalized anxiety disorder. All psychiatric conditions are terrible, but anxiety stands out as a seemingly normal affliction that hides in plain sight. Diego gave me the best description of an anxiety attack: it’s like dying without actually dying. Anxious patients feel as if their soul is leaving them, their fear of death intensifies, breathing becomes agitated, and their bodies tremble.
I recently experienced an anxiety attack (or panic attack, the terms are interchangeable) myself. My own psychiatrist has described me as “panic-prone.” I have a tendency to overdramatize situations.
The Unpredictable Nature of Anxiety Attacks
Although my recent experience might seem to imply otherwise, anxiety attacks do not have a warning or prelude. At least, that’s been my experience. They simply happen. The rapid breathing, increased heart rate, and chest pain are all symptoms that build up as panic sets in. You feel like you’re fainting and won’t come to again, whether at home or in a public setting. I don’t wish this upon anyone.
Daniel P. Schreber and His Relevance to Mental Health
I turn to a book for solace when it comes to anxiety and mental health issues in general. In Daniel P. Schreber, I see a reflection of my own struggles.
Schreber was a 19th-century German lawyer diagnosed with a condition for which psychiatry of his time had no effective treatment – schizophrenia. His doctors, however, considered it a case of hypochondriasis and religious ecstatic episodes. The solution of the time were “rest cure” clinics, a euphemism for psychiatric hospitals for the wealthy.
To cope with his illness, Schreber wrote a diary about his stays at the Sonnenstein Castle clinic and other hospitals, as well as his interactions with doctors, especially Paul Flechsig, a prominent psychiatrist of the time who treated him during his stays in various clinics and sanatoriums.
Although Schreber never intended to publish his memoirs, an editor recognized their value after obtaining them. Initially circulated as a pamphlet, Schreber soon wrote a second and then a third installment. The book, titled “Memories of a Man of Nervous Disease” (published in Spanish by Sexto Piso), unexpectedly became a read and topic of discussion among figures like Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. The legacy of these memoirs lies in the advancement of mental and emotional health treatment.
By modern psychiatric standards, Schreber suffered from psychosis related to schizophrenia. At the time, his inability to sleep and extreme sensitivity to daily life stress led to his hospitalization. Whenever difficulties arose in his life, Schreber would check into a mental institution. Eventually, he spent the latter part of his life in one.
Despite leading a productive life – marrying and being regarded as an influential lawyer, even politically – mental illness plagued him throughout his existence. His condition led to increasingly debilitating attacks, with his psychotic episodes bordering on mysticism. He conversed with divinity and arrived at profound spiritual conclusions.
Gratitude for Psychiatric Advancements
While I wouldn’t wish mental illness on anyone, I am grateful for the work of psychiatrists. Without them, many of us would lack treatment and be at the mercy of divine intervention or the kindness of others. As Tennessee Williams once said, “We’re all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other mutual protection.”
The Legacy of Daniel P. Schreber and Modern Mental Health
Schreber’s suffering has helped subsequent generations of doctors develop greater sensitivity towards mental health issues, though there’s still much to learn. For instance, Mexico City’s Hospital de la Castañeda was a modern project during Porfirio Díaz’s era, initially seen as an advancement that soon turned into a dumping ground for society’s undesirables – psychotics, legitimate mental patients, homosexuals, and political prisoners alike. Our understanding of the human mind remains limited.
Today, we know that generalized anxiety disorder has genetic origins. Some cutting-edge treatments include herbal remedies like lavender and St. John’s Wort, which have proven effective – even as supplements to increasingly specific pharmacological treatments. Herbal remedies are gaining serious recognition as appropriate treatment options. A cup of chamomile, please.
