Q: I am a 21 years old student, and I underwent two tests - ECG and EEG, which came normal. For the last one year, I have been under a lot of stress but was manageable. I have been living with anxiety for nine years. Now, I started experiencing chest pain and muscle twitches and jerks in different parts of my body that went away and recurred depending on my moods and emotions. For the last three months, I have developed tremors in both hands. The worst part is that it has affected my left hand more than my right hand. I have consulted a psychiatrist, a neurologist, and a family doctor, who told me that I am experiencing all the problems due to anxiety and it will go away with time. I also experience tremors even when I am not feeling anxious. I have suffered three panic attacks in the last two months. I am really worried about having a disease such as Parkinson's. Are tremors involving both hands linked to anxiety? How can it be treated?

A:Panic attacks which come under the spectrum of anxiety disorders usually have physiological symptoms associated with it. These could be ranging from palpitations, tremors, nausea, dizziness, breathlessness to choking sensation, muscular tension and stiffness. From what you describe, it appears to be a combination of psychological and physiological symptoms that would trap you and it almost becoming a vicious cycle that is hard to break. In such a a situation what works best is a treatment plan that includes medication along with psychotherapy. Medicines would help in restoring the chemical imbalance and counseling would make you more aware of your maladaptive patterns that work against recovery and help you modify them and reconstruct more healthy coping strategies in order to deal with this problem effectively. Alternate treatment modalities like Hypnosis and Past Life Regression Therapy have also shown brilliant results.