Also, I saw a small TV report about a year ago where a medical doctor (psy.) says that he's encountered more-and-more adolescents coming to see him about anxiety disorders. The TV report's subject was about high levels of THC in Canadian cannabis plants. He seemed to state that there was a link. I am not a doctor, I am an engineer and am ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE that there is a link between THC levels in cannabis and Panic Attacks. Ever since my first panic attack, I have completely stopped smoking pot! Most of the many acquaintances that I know that also smoked pot have also stooped.

I am available for any further discussions on this subject. The amount of people I know (that I have known for many, many years) who also now have panic attacks is astounding. There should be a lot more studies on this matter. A person who has had panic attacks is the only one who knows how scary and devastating an attack is!!!

Comment: I was reading the information at your website and decided I would write you regarding some questions I have. As a teenager, I experimented with LSD and PCP a couple of times. About a week after taking a half dose of LSD, I was getting high on pot when suddenly I felt as if I was tripping on LSD again.

This frightened me very much and I quickly developed a panic disorder problem. I thought I was doomed to a life where I would never be "normal" again. I got help by learning T.M. (transcendental meditation). This helped me to control the panic, but I never really got over the belief that I was somehow not like everybody else. I felt I was somehow different, that my mind had been permanently changed because of the use of these drugs.

I'm in my thirties now, and over the years I had two-or-three episodes where I've developed panic disorder again. It usually lasts a couple of months and then goes away. The latest bout started this past November. I purchased a book about help for panic attacks and it has been a big help. But my question still remains - have other users of LSD, PCP and pot had these same problems? How have they gotten over them? Is there a group on the internet of people with similar backgrounds? I'm interested in talking with others who have passed through similar experiences.

Comment: I first experienced panic when I was 17 after having marijuana. It was so extreme, the word panic doesn't seem strong enough. It was more like absolute terror. I am now forty, and in recent years depression has also been a problem for me. I have tried most of the antidepressants but I just can't seem to tolerate them, even at a very small dose like a quarter of a tablet. They make me feel more anxious and susceptible to panic.

I know I get quite apprehensive about taking them, but I feel that it is more than psychological. I remember taking moclobomide which is supposed to be non-drowsy and falling asleep for 6-hours in the middle of the day. A half a tablet of tolvon put me in bed for 24-hours. A full tablet of Prothiaden brought on a panic attack. Aropax made me feel drowsy and disconnected with things.

I have been in a support group and never known anyone else to have such weird reactions to drugs. In recent years, I have found even antibiotics make me feel more depressed and anxious. I don't experience full blown panic very often, but when I do it seems to be extreme. To say to myself "don't worry it is only a panic attack" seems ludicrous. It would be like the fear of someone holding a gun to your head and really thinking they were going to shoot. That's what it feels like.

I really feel like a freak of nature. Can you explain to me what's happening? Do other people have these kinds of reactions?

next: Personal Stories of Panic-Anxiety