Need some help please

[Pacific]

I have had really bad anxiety last weeks. Especially the last few days. I started reading a anxiety book today that says to accept the symptoms and fears and not run away from them, and to stop fighting against them and tensing up etc.

Is it normal when u start doing this to feel alot more anxious? I did it before but eventually gave in to the anxiety again cus i felt so overwhelmed. My symptoms seem to get even stronger, i feel even more unreal, more sweaty, very overwhelmed, more dizzy, more derealization and really feel the need to run away and give in to the panic feelings cus i feel like i'm about to lose it

Can someone give me some advice please?
Would really appreciate it

[kittikat]

Accepting the fears and symptoms takes time and practise, it will not happen overnight. You need to learn what is happening in your mind and how your body responds to the 'negative' thoughts. Maybe you are focusing too much on the panic while trying to accept it, making things worse in a way....eg. look at each symptom separately ie..dizzyness/feeling faint, do you understand why this happens? When you go into panic mode, all the blood rushes to your vital organs to 'prepare' you for the fear....fight or flight....this in turn makes you feel lightheaded and dizzy, like you may pass out...this then feeds the fear, you get palps, hyperventilate, shake etc. If you can accept why these things are happening to you, you can then tell yourself it's just anxiety, it won't hurt me, and it will pass eventually. Keep trying, you may find it hard to change your thought patterns, but once you accept, you can learn to cope a bit better. You seem to be trying to do the right things but sometimes you get worse before you start to learn to deal with it.

Stay positive, keep practicing and good luck :)
Kitti

[bottleblond]

Hi Pacific

The answer to that qestion is YES. Normally when we feel panic rising, we usualy make our way pretty quickly to our 'safe place', for me, that would be my house.

By staying where you are and allowing the anxiety to kick it is leaving yourself wide open to all those horrible thoughts and feelings that a panic attack brings. You're not cutting it short by making your way to somewhere less stressful so to you, it will feel alot more powerful.

The key aim of this teqchnique is to finally train our brains to realise that although we feel panic, nothing bad is going to happen to us. We won't loose control or drop dead. lol..The more we realise this, the less we will feel anxious......

Good luck with it and keep us updated.

Lisa

[LAURA48]

I was told by my Psychiatrist to go back "home" - the above advice is exactly was he told me. Since October when my anxiety reared its ugly head I ran back to my safe place - my parents - I am 48 for heavens sake! He told me to go back home and face my anxieties at home - this was 3 weeks ago. I was scared to do this - he said when I felt a panicky feeling coming to go through with it.

Tbh have felt much better being at home - got a long way to go yet but have not got any worse - will be seeing him tomorrow and my husband has to tell him what has been going on - feel like a child at school! I have even been alone at night when husband doing nightshifts - well have my pup for company.

What I am saying is sometimes by anticipating what we think may happen is never as bad as we think it will be? If that makes sense.

You are on the right path and the above advice is the course to take.

Good Luck - Laura

[AngelHeart]

Ive been reading the Claire Weekes book too that tells you to do exactly this . I dont have panic attacks I just feel anxious some days which is really overwelming at times and its hard to believe at the time that nothing is wrong with you. For instant, I was in the supermarket today and I had an overwelming feeling of dread, that I was going to die right there and then and its so hard to accept it and carry on. I tried my best too and got the rest of my shop done. I dont give into my anxiety and run I always stay were I am, continue what I'm doing and try to fight through it. I need to train my brain to accept it , though its so hard to do at times xx

[ems73]

This is the Claire Weekes approach which says you should Face, Accept, Float and Let time pass - I knew within a few pages of reading the book that she had it spot on. It's really working for me. Difficult to accept but it gets easier over time. I'd really recommend Claire Weekes, it's helped thousands of people to recover and it genuinely works. I also find deep breathing works, especially when we wake in the mornings.
Laura, how u doing at the moment ?? xx

[Beckybooboo]

Hi,

I do believe that allowing the thoughts to just "be there" does in a sense make you anxious at first because you're so used to shying them away. It's a good tactic as mentioned above by other people that it allows you to accept these feelings, deal with them and at the end of it, you're still standing, you're still okay.

Acceptance, with any form of mental health illness is key. You need to learn to accept this at the current moment, think to yourself "okay, so you're back again, that's alright I'm going to go and make a drink" and leave it at that. Of course, if they're too hard to deal with then maybe some antidepressants or mood stabilizers will help you feel a little less anxious in the sense of the symptoms.

A good book you should read is "the imp of the mind by Lee Baer" it's really good and it allows you to understand, accept and deal with pro-actively the thoughts and feelings you're having.

You will get through this. Hope is something that's always there, even when every other door seems jammed.

Take care,
Becky