How do you handle your thoughts ?

[VictoryIsForever]

As we all know, thought's play most important role in maintaining our panic attack's.
We are afraid of symptoms because we THINK those symptoms will lead to something bad like collapsing, losing control, fainting, screaming, becoming hysterical and so on, so on....
Those thoughts are usually catastrophic and they start with: What If...and Oh my God.
So for example: You feel dizzy and you say to yourself: Oh my god I feel dizzy, what if i collapse here?

so how do you handle those racing though's?
Is there anyway way to change them ? I have found some interesting reads and I am trying to follow advices I have found there, but I would like to hear your opinions and suggestions since I have always trusted more REAL people. People who post of forums and people who have same problems.. not some "experts" who got their degree but they know nothing about panic.

[chickpea]

Mindfulness.
It teaches you that you are not your thoughts, and you don't need to engage with them.
The Headspace app puts it brilliantly - imagine you are sitting at the side of a busy road. Instead of trying to stop the traffic or control it, you simply watch it going past.
It's not about emptying your mind - you simply learn to let your thoughts float past.

[Sunflower2]

I second mindfulness. Without it, I'm not sure I could drive at all! You can learn to not engage and listen to your thoughts. I still get the panicky thoughts and what ifs which lead to panic attacks, but by practicing mindfulness I don't listen to them so much any more and they don't seem as important.

[Amylee1982]

I use headspace but still tryin to master it. Do you have any tips? X

[chickpea]

I use headspace but still tryin to master it. Do you have any tips? X

Headspace is great.
I also use Mark Williams' book - Mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world. It explains our thought processes and why we spend too much time in "doing" mode and not enough in "being" mode - and why it makes us unhappy/stressed.

---------- Post added at 10:16 ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 ----------

Forgot to say - let go of any thoughts of "mastering" mindfulness. Just go with it, without trying to achieve anything.

[jonjones]

let the thoughts come but dont give them any attention or importance. The more attention you give them the more you train your subconscious to send them back again. When you think anxious thoughts say to yourself ¨oh its just another silly anxious thought.¨ And welcome it to stay until it wants to leave.

Then the thoughts will lose their hold on you come back less often until they stop coming altogether1

Best,

Jon

[Amylee1982]

Thats brill thank you x