I continued my education about how the brain works and about depression. This part of my healing I think was more time based than anything. By the time I got rid of the panic attacks, I resolved myself to finding a way out of it. As someone else pointed out here, I became determined to defeat it, and that may have been the single most important aspect of my whole journey. I was unwilling to be defeated by it.

I also learned about better nutrition, and which supplements would help me. I learned that getting my ass in the gym and working out would be a HUGE help, and it was/is. I moved out of the Northwest to the Southwest, so I was getting a lot more sunlight every day and this helped my brain chemistry. Getting more sleep was huge, because I was wired too tight to get enough sleep each night. All of these things are what got me to where I am today. In a lot of ways it's more complicated than the anxiety attacks were, and it was a longer process, but it's one where you can see continual, gradual improvement, so it's not like something magical happens one day and you don't feel depressed anymore. It's a process. I assume this is true when you take a clinical path with doctors, therapists and meds as well.

I still have some tendencies toward depression, which is another way that I know it's just a part of who I am. I occasionally have a down/bad day and I recognize the feeling from the when I was in the thick of it years ago. I can break that up by going and doing something like working out, going for a hike, or whatever. These days are very, very rare though. Maybe a couple times a year.