Ok this is why I don't date......

Does anyone else think cleaning helps them when they are having a panic attack? I also have OCD so I think that is why I find cleaning so relaxing and such a part of me. I had a panic attack today and after (crying)[Sigh...] I cleaned my tub and felt alot better. Go figure;) Any ideas?

Also THIS is why I don't date...... guy comes over...I freak....Can I clean something so I don't hyperventilate and die??........[:I][8D] Hope someone got a kick out of this...

If nothing else...I will survive.

To: SSJHSMH-U are light and my heart and strength. I will protect you in this life or the next always.

Hi Mack, I think the adrenaline rush you get with the PA's is probably kicking in with the OCD urges making you want to clean - quite a powerful combination, I hope you are getting some help dealing with both. I have PA's but when I do I generally want to hide rather than be active but each of us is different and copes in our own unique ways!

As for dating - do you lack confidence generally? Maybe some help with that might help? There are some great people out there and even the most confident potential partner will have his own fears (spiders/sharks/beautiful women like you!! - oh, I'm assuming you are a girl, apologies if not!! but you know what I mean!...)

Hey Mack, you can deal with the hyperventilation easily by relearning how to breathe properly. This will lessen the severity of your PAs and help you feel more in control. And sorry, but you will not die as the result of hyperventilation, but you will feel lousy, par for the Panic and Anxiety assault course. As you say you will survive, and surprise, you will!

The cleaning you do is also an emotional control strategy IMO, is that your OCD, or is it something else? Either way cleaning has to be better than a PA. As Louise said this is down to adrenaline and also to cortisol in your bloodstream, all dressed up and nowhere to go. Get the free ebook I always mention and that should point the way.

And remember you have a right to be here as much as anyone else, and a right to enjoy a life free of major anxiety and full of as many dates as you can handle!:D

alicia

This helped me (so I don't go on about it!):
www.alphadynamics.com

Thanks for the suggestions.... I might look into the book! Yes, I am getting help for the OCD and PA's which come from the Social Anxiety I have. As for the whole dating thing(yes Louise I am a girl!) it was more or less a self-deprecating joke. [Sigh...] If you can't laugh at yourself who ya gonna laugh at?[:P]

By the way since alot of people wonder at my gender.... I'm Amanda. Mack and Cody are the love of my life......my horses.

If nothing else...I will survive.

To: SSJHSMH-U are light and my heart and strength. I will protect you in this life or the next always.

Hi Mack, cleaning definitely helps panic. My cure is to throw a box of cornflakes on the floor and hoover them up! Sounds drastic, but it really works, within minutes I'm that busy cursing the bloody cornflakes that I forget about the panic! With the breathing problems, I sit with my back straight and head tilted back, longer breaths out than in and just breathe myself through it. You can learn to re-train your breathing to make things more bearable.

Les

mum cleans when shes anxious, helps her distract and burn off the adrenaline.
I on the other hand used to hoover my room with the little attatchment! id be there on my hands and knees for about a hour!! did the trick though!
Becci x