To the Editor: Re “All Children 8 and Older Should Be Screened for Anxiety, U.S. Task Force Says” (Well, nytimes.com, April 12): I remember my first panic attack.
I was 7. I sat by the toilet and chewed saltine crackers, confused as to why I was so nauseated. Here’s the thing: Even with all the symptoms I presented or saw in myself, it still took me years to get any kind of help.
I saw a therapist for the first time at 13. I was diagnosed at 15. And nearly 10 years after that first panic attack, at 16, I’m still slogging through the debilitating symptoms of a panic disorder on a daily basis.
Early intervention would have gone miles to prevent this. But I didn’t get that intervention, and many of my problems went unnoticed.