Thanks for the understanding, but it's all ancient history now. I'm good. :)

I was prescribed SSRI medication while I was ill, but I didn't take them. I did for maybe a couple of weeks, and then stopped. I don't know whether that was a good idea or not, but I thought that since (as you said) anxiety and worry are base human traits, I still needed to be able to feel everything so that I'd know when I was having a good day or a bad day, whether one day was better than the previous one, etc. I used the benzo meds only very sparingly, and only to take the edge off when it was absolutely necessary. Obviously, this is just what I did, and I'm no medical professional.

Keeping a journal helped me, too. For the same reason - being able to track how I felt one day in comparison to the last. Say it was Thursday, and I was feeling super anxious, I could look at Wednesday and go "Okay, well today is worse than yesterday" - but then I could look at Tuesday and go "Oh, well Tuesday was really bad too, and then yesterday I was a bit better - so maybe tomorrow I'll have a better day". And some days that thought in itself - the realisation that tomorrow or the next day might be better - helped. If keeping a journal is just too much right now, she could just use a diary and mark down her anxiety level on a 1-10 scale on any given day (but it's REALLY important to remember to note down when you're having a better day, too).

And yes, it being hidden is a blessing and a curse. A blessing because you can avoid questioning and well-intentioned people trying to help in an unhelpful way, and a curse because you can be on the verge of a panic attack and nobody has a clue until you crumble in front of them (which is the most humiliating fucking thing on the planet, because "you're an adult and you should have this shit handled", right?)