Purdybird
15-01-05, 18:58
Success possibly….. although I don't want to tempt fate too quickly!
I just wanted to post a quick message to let everyone know that things definitely do get better never ever give up hope.
I am not saying that I have had the problems that some on this forum have suffered, I did not become housebound etc ( although the thought did cross my mind at one point )but over the past three weeks something really strange has happened. Before Xmas I was getting myself worked up again and into a tizzy, putting too much pressure on myself as usual, about visiting friends and family and fearing the “ I’m going to make a fool of myself or die suddenly on their floor of a heart attack syndrome” But when I actually had to visit my friends or when Xmas day actually arrived - I SURVIVED!!!!! And I felt really calm, too calm and it felt very strange! It was bizarre, but I felt really relaxed and wait for it………even enjoyed myself!!!!!!!
Just lately my main worry is being anxious about not being anxious - if that makes sense. I really don’t want to tempt fate, as I feel really in control for the first time in ages. I have been doing loads of reading, really gathering as much info on anxiety as possible ( the fight and flight symptoms especially )and have really tried to instil into my stupid over active, paranoid, anxious brain, that what I am feeling are normal bodily functions, the light-headedness, ectopic heartbeats, heart flutters etc are all caused by my anxiety, they WILL NOT HURT ME!!!!!!!!!!, however much they rear their ugly head. Nobody has ever died of a panic attack. One particular paragraph I found which helped me enormously was ( put into my own word for copyright reasons ) “ The problem with panic attacks is that they occur when there is no obvious physical threat there at all. Your body is reacting as though it was about to be attacked when in reality it is not. In other words it is a false alarm. It is annoying that is all….it is annoying like a smoke detector which goes of at the wrong time or like a burglar alarm that goes of because of a cat, or even more annoying the car alarm that is triggered by the wind. These are all alarms that can be triggered when there is in fact no danger. The problem with our alarm system is that it was built many moons ago when people had to cope with dangers in order to survive, However now days we rarely have the threats our ancestor faced. We have different threats e.g. financial worries, relationship worries, health worries etc which all can be stressful and raise our anxiety levels to a point where our alarm system is triggered. It’s a bit like a stress thermometer - when it reaches a certain level it results in panic “ BUT A PANIC ATTACK WILL NOT HURT YOU, BELEIVE IT OR NOT IT IS DESIGNED TO PROTECT YOU !!!!!!!!!!!
In other words my body is trying it’s hardest to warn me that there is something to be afraid of ……but there isn’t , I am a healthy 28 year old, if I look after myself there is no reason why I should not live at least another 60+ years. ( 60 years there’s loads of fun to be had yet ) .
I realise that the above will not help everyone, different people respond to different things, but I found it really helpful.
I said I wanted to post a quick message and this is turning into a novel - sorry. I want to thank ever single one of the members of this forum that have replied to my messages in the past. I really cannot thank you enough, you really are such caring people. This is not a good bye ( well I hope it is deep down, but as I said before, this is a new feeling to me and I have only felt like this for approx. three weeks ) but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and now really understand what my body is trying to do and in such a short space of time my symptoms are slowly disappearing - I’m definitely not saying I’m 100% symptom free but I do feel very relaxed and calm and when a symptom does pop up I don’t panic because I realise what they are NORMAL REACTIONS TO ANXIETY _ FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSES!!!!!! And guess what, they soon disappear and th
I just wanted to post a quick message to let everyone know that things definitely do get better never ever give up hope.
I am not saying that I have had the problems that some on this forum have suffered, I did not become housebound etc ( although the thought did cross my mind at one point )but over the past three weeks something really strange has happened. Before Xmas I was getting myself worked up again and into a tizzy, putting too much pressure on myself as usual, about visiting friends and family and fearing the “ I’m going to make a fool of myself or die suddenly on their floor of a heart attack syndrome” But when I actually had to visit my friends or when Xmas day actually arrived - I SURVIVED!!!!! And I felt really calm, too calm and it felt very strange! It was bizarre, but I felt really relaxed and wait for it………even enjoyed myself!!!!!!!
Just lately my main worry is being anxious about not being anxious - if that makes sense. I really don’t want to tempt fate, as I feel really in control for the first time in ages. I have been doing loads of reading, really gathering as much info on anxiety as possible ( the fight and flight symptoms especially )and have really tried to instil into my stupid over active, paranoid, anxious brain, that what I am feeling are normal bodily functions, the light-headedness, ectopic heartbeats, heart flutters etc are all caused by my anxiety, they WILL NOT HURT ME!!!!!!!!!!, however much they rear their ugly head. Nobody has ever died of a panic attack. One particular paragraph I found which helped me enormously was ( put into my own word for copyright reasons ) “ The problem with panic attacks is that they occur when there is no obvious physical threat there at all. Your body is reacting as though it was about to be attacked when in reality it is not. In other words it is a false alarm. It is annoying that is all….it is annoying like a smoke detector which goes of at the wrong time or like a burglar alarm that goes of because of a cat, or even more annoying the car alarm that is triggered by the wind. These are all alarms that can be triggered when there is in fact no danger. The problem with our alarm system is that it was built many moons ago when people had to cope with dangers in order to survive, However now days we rarely have the threats our ancestor faced. We have different threats e.g. financial worries, relationship worries, health worries etc which all can be stressful and raise our anxiety levels to a point where our alarm system is triggered. It’s a bit like a stress thermometer - when it reaches a certain level it results in panic “ BUT A PANIC ATTACK WILL NOT HURT YOU, BELEIVE IT OR NOT IT IS DESIGNED TO PROTECT YOU !!!!!!!!!!!
In other words my body is trying it’s hardest to warn me that there is something to be afraid of ……but there isn’t , I am a healthy 28 year old, if I look after myself there is no reason why I should not live at least another 60+ years. ( 60 years there’s loads of fun to be had yet ) .
I realise that the above will not help everyone, different people respond to different things, but I found it really helpful.
I said I wanted to post a quick message and this is turning into a novel - sorry. I want to thank ever single one of the members of this forum that have replied to my messages in the past. I really cannot thank you enough, you really are such caring people. This is not a good bye ( well I hope it is deep down, but as I said before, this is a new feeling to me and I have only felt like this for approx. three weeks ) but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and now really understand what my body is trying to do and in such a short space of time my symptoms are slowly disappearing - I’m definitely not saying I’m 100% symptom free but I do feel very relaxed and calm and when a symptom does pop up I don’t panic because I realise what they are NORMAL REACTIONS TO ANXIETY _ FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSES!!!!!! And guess what, they soon disappear and th