Panic Attacks Bubbling Under The Surface

[icelaugh]

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[Soulcatcher71]

Hi icelaugh - all i can say to help you through this a little is that I've had many, many, episodes of 'waves of panic' if you want to call it that. They always start with something stressful bringing about a full blown attack, and from then on it takes me days to get back down to a normal level, purely because my mind seems to get in the habit of just being in a panicked mode. For me, it does gradually subside, to the point that when I'm better again I can't even imagine how I could of ever got in that state in the first place.
I hope the same thing happens to you - i.e. it subsides of its own accord,
Hang in there ok :-)

[Ditapage]

I know exactly how it feels. Any particularly traumatising attack has me fearing the next one. I know the solution is to stop fearing the fear because fear of another attack is the bubbling anxiety, but I'm just like you - getting very depressed. I just wanted to assure you we are both anticipating another attack which is how panic disorder developed. My first panic attack was actually years before I got panic disorder. I blew it off as exercise-induced, didnt attach any fear and didn't think of it again. When I had the next attack, "what the hell was that?" came to mind and really hasn't gone away since. I wish I had helpful advice, I know the enemy and the coping mechanisms yet I still battle with it as if I know nothing.

[Oosh]

When I had a panic attack I thought I'd gone mad. I didn't find out what it was for a year and to stay sane during that year I used alcohol to get away from "whatever that was".

When I discovered what it was I could start to think about it and find a way to approach it. What I came up with was -

A friend plays a prank on you and jumps out from behind a door and scares the life out of you.
A loud explosion happens on the road right next to you and scares you half to death.
Etc etc

These things trigger panic. But there is an automatic dampening response that follows quick on its heals. It puts the panic fire out like dropping a wet cloth on a flame.

With panic attacks you'll get a suggestion, a memory, am image, a thought etc that will scare you and trigger a panic response.
You'll then fear you will not be able to control its escalation and will feel out of control. Panic escalates.

But what happened to the automatic dampening response following quick on its heals ? For some reason by believing we were at the mercy of the panics escalation we turned off the natural, automatic dampening response.
Then we spend our time fearing it's return, feeling we are at the mercy of a simple panic response.

Well you are not at the mercy of it. Don't believe for a second you are. That dampening response is there as soon as you want to begin to start using it again.

Picture how you feel panic when a friend jumps out from behind a door. Feel the panic in your belly. Then feel how it's put out instantly.
Picture a flame appear in your belly, a flame that could flare up quickly and out of control. Now drop a wet towel on it. Gone. GONE.

It's natural, use it. You are in control. You are in control so you don't need to fear it and give it its power. The power you give it is believing wrongly in the first place that you are at the mercy of it.

I haven't had a panic attack since.

I've had a thousand triggers, from a memory of a room to a feeling to a person I used to be to the atmosphere in a room. Triggers are always there. But I believe I control the mechanism. I RIGHTLY believe I control the mechanism, because I do.

[icelaugh]

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