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I'm so sorry to hear that. Five years ago I was diagnosed with depression and severe anxiety (particularly social anxiety). I too had some pretty bad panic attacks; bad enough for me to go to the emergency room because I thought I was dying. The plus side for you is that you already know what the problem is. I had insurance at the time and was able to get help through Kaiser Permanente. I was put on anti-depression and anti-anxiety medications. It took about three months to find the right balance of meds, but I'm happy to report that it worked and I've weened myself off of the anti-depressants and I only take the anti-anxiety medication on an as needed basis. In addition to drug therapy, I also went to several classes (sort of like group therapy) offered by Kaiser. Depending on where you live, you might be able to find something offered through a local school or church if your medical provider doesn't have anything for you. As for your family, there's a chance they might take you more seriously if you're seeing a doctor who also says there's something wrong and hopefully they will respect you more if you're getting help. If not, you'll just have to put their bad attitude out of your mind while you work on getting better.

Of course it doesn't make you stupid or mean that you're stupid! I've been working with someone who suffers from severe anxiety and she has found that relaxation/visualisation really helps - you can get CDs or downloads, they sort of reprogram your thinking (not brainwashing, but implanting helpful thoughts in your subconscious mind). I can really see the difference when she hasn't done it for a while. She also uses deep breathing techniques. Good luck with this.

anxiety is bad so don't call yourself stupid.

Show them that you are not stupid