Does letting it happen help?

[ana]

This morning, on my way back home, I experienced a severe panic attack with terrible depersonalisation. Doing the opposite to what my instincts were telling me, I didn't stop walking/ring a taxi/engage in a coping mechanism, but carried on walking instead whilst telling myself that it was going to pass soon. From what my therapist has told me, letting the attack happen, observing it burn through you, will convince you that you won't die, that the attack will stop eventually, thus reducing the fear of panic attacks that only further fuel the anxiety.

Has anyone been doing this successfully? I find that, although letting it happen prevents me from freaking out further, it does not prevent future panic attacks, at least not for the time being. I wonder if, instead of desperately trying to calm yourself down/distract yourself, you should do the exact opposite and just surrender to it? :shrug:

[Carys]

Yes, it does work and did work for me. I wholeheartedly agree with the approach and and have infact wittered on this very forum about it, when people have said about having panic attacks.

Gradually is bears good results as you reset your response to feeling panic, and more importantly it gives the chance to develop coping strategies and not take part in avoidance activities (e.g. run home to be safe).

The original guru of anxiety, Claire Weeks, talked about doing exactly this - acceptance.Acceptance helps reduce fear, and self talk is part of that 'so, its a panic attack, oh well I expected that, itll pass soon/won't kill me....I'll carry on with what I was doing'.

[ankietyjoe]

This is the fundamental basis of CBT and very similar to the way meditation works.

It is absolutely the best way to beat anxiety.




Has anyone been doing this successfully? I find that, although letting it happen prevents me from freaking out further, it does not prevent future panic attacks, at least not for the time being. I wonder if, instead of desperately trying to calm yourself down/distract yourself, you should do the exact opposite and just surrender to it? :shrug:

I am of the opinion that anxiety becomes a disorder when the sufferer starts to become anxious of the anxiety itself, and starts micro analysing each and every change or symptom as a 'problem'.

By letting things just happen, your brain eventually learns to not respond and react to triggers. Ultimately this means that panic attacks will diminish and even disappear completely.

This is how I 'beat' my anxiety. It doesn't stop me having panic attacks from time to time, but when I do have them now it's like 'ok, fine, no problem'. I sit it out, and in 5-10 mins I'm back to normal again. I don't ponder it, I don't worry about it, I don't wonder if or when it'll happen again. It took me about 2-3 years to get to that stage though, and for me it was just trial and error, and lots of meditation.


I wonder if, instead of desperately trying to calm yourself down/distract yourself, you should do the exact opposite and just surrender to it? :shrug:

You don't have to choose one or the other. You can try and calm yourself down and distract yourself AND surrender to it. Just tell yourself it'll pass, it always passes, control your breathing and sit it out. You don't have to desperately try and calm yourself, do that calmly too! :)



Yes, it does work and did work for me. I wholeheartedly agree with the approach and and have infact wittered on this very forum about it, when people have said about having panic attacks.



I've wittered on about it too lol.

I think a lot of people try it and because it doesn't offer an immediate result, just say 'it doesn't work for me'.

Now this may sound like dismissive arrogance, but I don't think it's possible for it not to work if you persist and practice. My tired old analogy is dieting/exercising to lose weight. It doesn't show immediate results, but if you do it persistently, it WILL work.

[Ethansmom]

Anna, did it work? riding it out? How did you feel afterwards?

[Catherine S]

Letting panic wash over you was the mantra for Dr Claire Weekes back in the day. Her books...which I've still got from the 1980s. ..are full of her telling us to let panic come and do its worst, to keep going and face it rather than run away from it. With time, this method desensitises the nervous system and the fear starts to fade.

Cath S ☺

[ana]

Thank you so much,everyone,for your replies as they are really appreciated. :hugs: How I felt? It went away,the panic,after only a couple of seconds,which is unusually short. Once it had reached that boiling point,hit the roof,and seeing as there's nowhere further to go,it came straight back down. It was an interesting experience,something to think about... afterwards I felt the usual shakes of the adrenaline in my system,my arms and legs were vibrating but other than that,I was fine. I didn't feel traumatised by the attack,which is what usually happens.
Joe,I like the thought of not having to choose between riding it out and coping strategies. I suppose coping and avoidance are two different things and when you fear your own anxiety, the impulse is to avoid it. I'll see how I get on without Klonopin as that will be the real test! I took one today so that I could go out for lunch but I'm not taking any for at least the next few days.

[ankietyjoe]

Thank you so much,everyone,for your replies as they are really appreciated. :hugs: How I felt? It went away,the panic,after only a couple of seconds,which is unusually short. Once it had reached that boiling point,hit the roof,and seeing as there's nowhere further to go,it came straight back down. It was an interesting experience,something to think about... afterwards I felt the usual shakes of the adrenaline in my system,my arms and legs were vibrating but other than that,I was fine. I didn't feel traumatised by the attack,which is what usually happens.
Joe,I like the thought of not having to choose between riding it out and coping strategies. I suppose coping and avoidance are two different things and when you fear your own anxiety, the impulse is to avoid it. I'll see how I get on without Klonopin as that will be the real test! I took one today so that I could go out for lunch but I'm not taking any for at least the next few days.


Everything you described there sounds like the same turning point that I had.

All of a sudden I realised the solution was actually me, and the cause of most of the problems was also actually me. I've coined this phrase before, but anxiety is often a learned behaviour, reinforced by practice. It's something we have to unlearn.

Once I realised the solution was portable and within myself, it really wasn't a problem any more, even though the odd anxiety attack still occurs.

Good luck, I think you'll be fine.

[ana]

Joe, that sounds like something I've started thinking about recently. I think the key is just accepting it, and eventually, it'll stop being interesting enough for me to observe, pay attention to, and obsess over.