My son has gone through a lot the last few years. His father and I divorced, I was in a toxic relationship, his grandfather died, covid, I moved and he started seeing his dad less and is now in a new school for 5th grade. His panic attacks started happening back in May. The first time it happened he was with his dad and his dad took him to the hospital and ended up leaving before seeing a doctor because his breathing went back to normal. The following week I took him to his PCP and while there I realized it was anxiety he was experiencing. I’ve lived with mental health issues myself, and between his “tics” and other symptoms I suggested to his doctors maybe it was anxiety and his doctor agreed. I instantly put him in therapy and it has been helping. It’s just that he’s so young and sometimes he doesn’t understand that when his heart hurts and his breathing is hard, that it’s related to his anxiety. There are periods where he’s now afraid to eat out of fear of choking. He’s lost some weight. I’ve watched my hyper, funny, smart, confident little boy turn into a shell of himself and I don’t know what else to do. If anyone has any advice for me, I would greatly appreciate it. I’ve been so against him being on medicine because I feel like there are other ways to cope and he’s SO YOUNG. But it’s breaking my heart seeing him so miserable. I’m not asking for medical advice, I AM asking for personal experiences to maybe get some ideas on what I can do to maybe bring back some of his spirit.