It gets better! But it takes time. I had crippling anxiety attacks, but it turns out the alcohol was the cause - I thought I had an anxiety disorder and was self-medicating, but the anxiety was a direct outcome of my substance use.
I remember sitting in my car with my newborn daughter in the car seat behind me and crying quietly, ashamed... because I saw all the other "normal" dads taking their kids into Target to get them clothes and toys and so forth without a thought. I was so anxious about going inside a building and standing in line that I couldn't get out of the car. I wondered if I would ever be normal. That was during the worst of my drinking. Terrible, terrible time.
5+ years later of complete abstinence from alcohol and working a program of recovery and I haven't had an anxiety attack in years. Life is still hard but soooo much easier without anxiety symptoms.
It takes longer than you think though - you just need to keep finding ways to stay sober while you wait for your mind to heal. You know what worked for me? Knowing how awful it is to be seized by panic, I somehow was able to finally connect the booze with the panic -- once I had been sober long enough (maybe a year?) I was able to see that if I had any alcohol whatsoever, it would be like setting the clock back to "0" on the panic attacks and I would have to endure it all over again. This is how I used some pretty terrible experiences to my advantage - my worst nightmares became a very, very good reason to stay sober. That was enough to hang on at times.
And as life changes, so too do my reasons for staying sober. Just remember that it's a slow process. Your brain will physically rewire the longer you stay abstinent, and that panic response (the release of adrenaline when "fight or flight" kicks in) will begin to diminish as your brain finds new and wonderful non-addictive ways to cope with life's stresses.
I wish you all the best and I know you will feel better. Just stay sober, do for others and practice mindfulness, seek counseling, whatever you have to do to just weather the storms early on. A drink will only make things worse - guaranteed. Hang in there - it's worth it!