In the months to come, you may be met with the opportunity to share your first-hand expertise, helping to pave a smoother road for those just beginning their challenging journey through panic/anxiety symptoms. There will be people who need the information you have acquired along your own journey. If you remain open to their seeking, they will find you. Here are 10 specific ways in which you can assist:

Listen as they describe their fears and symptoms, and acknowledge the realness of their experience. Fears spoken aloud become less daunting.

Reassure them that they are not the only one, nor the first one, to feel this way. Millions of other people also have experienced anxiety symptoms and have an intimate understanding of what it feels like.

Remind them to visit a physician to rule out any possible medical cause for their symptoms. Encourage them to seek professional psychological assistance. For someone already feeling overwhelmed, opening a phone book to search for a counselor can feel too large a task. Take steps to help them find appropriate guidance for their individual needs.

If they express that they cannot cope, remind them that they already are coping and help them to recognize the truth in this by pointing out the ways in which they are coping.

Explain to them that the physical symptoms they are experiencing are just an exaggeration of their body's normal reaction to stress.

Remind them to focus on the present moment instead of anticipating what may or may not happen in the future.

Teach them how to breathe slowly and calmly, as you have learned to do.

Be patient as they make choices that fit their individual needs, in their individual time frame. Applying pressure, rather than encouragement, may close the door of opportunity and connection which has opened between you.

Applaud them for taking steps which lead them forward, no matter how insignificant those steps may appear to be. Remember how difficult some of those same steps used to be for you.

Be an example by following your own advice.

It is common for those who experience panic/anxiety to have a well-developed habit of using ‘all or nothing’ statements. Pay attention to the way you phrase your own thoughts and notice how often you use the words always, never, anything, everything, everyone and no one. Most people would not consider uttering, "I can always do everything right," yet it is quite common to hear a panic sufferer say, "I can never do anything right." In most situations, the use of these words is a false description and the truth lies somewhere between ‘all’ and ‘nothing.’

Keep your focus in the present moment. Panicky thoughts usually express fears about an anticipated event--something that has yet to occur and in actuality may not ever happen. By directing your thoughts from a non-existent future event toward the present moment which is indeed happening, you will help your mind stay calm and your body will follow suit.

When practicing meditation (or anything else), allow yourself to discover what works best for you as an individual. Meditation is essentially the practice of developing your ability to focus. There is no such thing as failing meditation because everyone is able to focus and there are no rules that dictate how long one must focus. It is an individual choice. No one ever need meditate for longer than is comfortable. If five minutes feels good to you, then meditate for five minutes. If you want to increase the amount you meditate, but still find more than five minutes is uncomfortable, then meditate for five minutes several times a day.

It is not necessary to darken the room, sit in a lotus position, light candles, turn off the phone and attempt to remove all distractions to create an 'ideal' setting. Rarely in life will we locate the ideal setting as we go about our daily activities, yet we do need to be able to center ourselves throughout our day. It can be far more beneficial to practice meditating wherever you happen to be, in the midst of noise and other distractions, so that you can more easily carry your skills with you everywhere you go. For one who experiences panic symptoms, having the practiced skill of calming oneself while in any circumstance is key.

If you are able to focus on reading a book while riding the subway, then you are able to meditate while riding the subway. If you are able to focus on the television in a lit room, then you are able to meditate in a lit room. If you are able to talk while walking, then you are able to meditate while walking. If you are able to write while a clock is chiming, then you are able to meditate while a clock is chiming.

Allow meditation to become a part of your life by joining your practice and your daily life together in a way that works best for the individual you are. You do not need to work for meditation--meditation needs to work for you.

Most who experience anxiety symptoms are quite familiar with the sensation of feeling ‘trapped’ during an ordinary circumstance, such as attending an office party, sitting as an audience member in a concert hall or movie house, or engaging in conversation. Where rules of etiquette seem to be implied, there is a misconception that it is necessary to conform in order to be deemed a worthy, likeable person in the eyes of others.

If you experience this type of discomfort it is important to acknowledge that you have abundant choices; that the implied rules are not necessarily based on truth. All of your own actions, thoughts and decisions lie within your individual control. When you notice that you are feeling trapped, direct your focus toward your vast array of choices. Feeling trapped is your signal that you have chosen to permit an external influence to dictate your decision. Giving that permission, however, is only one of the choices available to you. Ask yourself why, with all the choices at hand, you choose to be so accommodating to those around you that as a result you feel trapped.

The first step toward better understanding your choices is to become aware each time you use the phrase, "I have to...." When you hear yourself thinking these words, question your assumption by considering if this is truly something you have to do, and why you think you have to do it. Ask yourself if this is really the only option available to you. Likely you will discover that you have many choices in any situation and each choice has its own possible consequence. Before you discard options, assuming they will not work, without having fully explored them, look closely at the consequences you imagine may result. Question if they are plausible or if they are based on your own fears. After you examine each choice you can then decide which feels most likeable to you, and hold rightful ownership of your decision. Instead of saying, "I have to---" you can confidently say, "I choose to...."

Having made a conscious decision for yourself, and knowing you can change your mind as the situation unfolds, you have taken your own actions into your own hands and therefore are not trapped by external influence, or rules you thought existed but in truth do not. You cannot be trapped by your own choice. You can only feel trapped by allowing others to choose for you.

If you are experiencing panic symptoms while in the presence of others, it can be surprisingly helpful to express out loud that you are feeling panicky. Although it is common to presume that those around you will not understand, or perhaps even poke fun, in actuality most people respond in a concerned, caring manner. It is more realistic to assume others will react in a compassionate way, such as you do when someone expresses to you that they are not feeling well.

It is okay to interrupt someone who is talking and say, "Excuse me, I am feeling dizzy and would like to sit down." By voicing your discomfort, you will help keep the panic symptoms from escalating because you are acknowledging them instead of trying to ignore them. Also, by speaking up, you are providing yourself with the opportunity to focus completely on returning your body to a state of calmness, rather than attempting to carry on a conversation while secretly hiding the discomfort you are experiencing.

Treat yourself in the same nurturing manner in which you treat others, and allow those around you to participate in caring about you.

You are not your panic. Panic is something you experience, not who you are. If you announce, "I am agoraphobic," you are defining yourself as a medical term by essentially expressing, "I = agoraphobia." Nothing could be farther from the truth. Similarly, you do not "have" agoraphobia, but rather you "experience" agoraphobia. Remember that you also experience joy, sorrow, elation, pain, anger, delight, frustration, and excitement, along with numerous other feelings throughout your lifetime experiences. If you allow yourself to define your sense of self by what you happen to be experiencing today, ignoring the rest, you are only acknowledging a tiny aspect of your life experiences.

So who are you? Are you a mom or dad? You may be experiencing raising a child, but the role of mom or dad does not define who you are. Is this role an important experience? Absolutely, and no doubt it is both challenging and rewarding, yet the experience is only one of many offering you the opportunity for tremendous growth.

Are you your job? With or without a job, you are still you. A job is something you experience, something you do, and it may be both challenging and rewarding, yet it does not define who you are.

Today you are invited to reflect upon who you really are, as opposed to the roles you play and the challenges you encounter. You may find it useful to write down a list of the roles you play and the things you do, starting each item with, "I am...". After completing your list, examine each item one at a time, crossing out what you wrote and replacing your answer with what you have learned through experiencing that role. These second answers will represent more accurately who you really are.

Along with this exercise you are invited to examine the experience of panic, reflecting upon the challenges and rewards the experience offers. As you begin to see panic symptoms as something you experience, rather than the definition of who you are, through the process you will open the door to the experience's ultimate gift--the opportunity for tremendous growth and self-understanding.

Take on the role and responsibility of being your ultimate care-giver by participating fully in your recovery decisions. You are the one who is most intimate with your individual needs. You are the most important person in your life. Listen and learn from the advice shared with you, but when considering your options, trust your intuition to guide you to what is best for you. Panic symptoms are not happening to you, they are happening with you. Therefore you will need to participate in the process of understanding why they are present with you in your life right now, and actively take on the responsibility of choosing your recovery path. You are your ultimate care-giver.

Consider how often you say the phrase: I can’t..., when you are speaking to others or thinking to yourself. The more times you use the phrase, the more likely you will eventually believe it is true even when it is not. Granted there are many things you may not be able to do if you have not yet learned how (like play the oboe or pilot a plane), but as you become more aware of your choice of wording, you will probably discover a tendency to use the phrase, I can’t, in circumstances when really, you can.

Try replacing that phrase with: I’m uncomfortable about... The difference between the two is enormous. Rarely is the phrase, I can’t, a truthful representation whereas, I’m uncomfortable about, is accurate because it reflects how you honestly feel. By changing the wording, you are also changing the possibilities of what will be. When using the phrase, I’m uncomfortable about, a door opens to discovering specifically what aspects you are uncomfortable with in the situation, which in turn opens the next door to one of a new, less limited, comfort level.