oanicking ta work, help

[jenii]

hey, i have just got into work and have gone into major panic mode. getting weird paisn in my arms, neck and chin, shaking like a leaf and not breathing properly. have just taken a diaz to try and take the edge off but it isnt kickin in. i work in a hospital so should feel safe but dont want everyone to know about my panic attacks which is making me worse. my sister has just been on the phone bugging me an di am so stressed i have ended up going mental. it feels like something is really wrong and i just wanna run out the ofice but id ont have anywhere to run to

[happyone]

Firstly, you need to stop and breathe deeply and remember that it is only a panic. I know you don't want people to know about them, but people are more understanding than you think. I have had panics at work and I hate it. If you can be honest with a colleague and say you are going to need to take ten minutes out.
Panic CAN be beaten by breathing and reassuring yourself.
Take care
Happyone

[Tony1980]

Hi Jenii,
I used to work in a big hospital and had panic attacks all the time and that was part of my reason for leaving the job. If I never had panic attacks the job would have been brilliant so it's a shame. However, I'm about to go back and start work in a different hospital in a couple of weeks time and with the counselling I've been having and CD's I've been listening to, hopefully I'll be able to control the attacks better and eventually eliminate them once and for all. I believe it's all about keeping the mind occupied by distracting yourself away from the negative thoughts and thinking positively, as well as staying relaxed by breathing in for 3 seconds and out for 6 etc, and telling yourself that nobody in history has EVER died of a panic attack or been seriously ill because of one. When the anxiety kicks in I now ask myself, "why am I thinking like this?" and "what are you panicking for?" which puts me back in touch with the real world rather than giving power to the overactive Amygdula (part of the brain which causes the attacks) in keeping me in my panic bubble.
In the long term, it's a case of distancing yourself from yourself, or the "ME" bit from the "I" bit of you. Sounds weird, but if you allow yourself to look theoretically from a distance at how you're behaving and what you're doing during a panicky moment, you can make more sense of how you act when you have a panic attack and this can lead to greater control over yourself by realising that there's nothing to be afraid of.
Anyhow, I'm babbling now...haha!...so I wish you all the best and I know exactly how you feel about not wanting others to see you're panicky side as I'm going through a similar thing.
Tony

[jenii]

thank you, i did eventually just scarper off to the toilets and sit in there for 10 mins to calm myslef. seems to have worked. the advice is also much help. i think it actually exacerbates my panic working in a hospital as I learn all about these diseases and problems and think, shit have i got it?! very very worried about thyroid cancer at the moment! i know it is so silly but the more i know the more i think i have all these horrid things

[Tony1980]

I used to work on a cardiology department and coupled with panic, I used to get some palpitations, and studying the heart every day, I thought I was gonna drop dead of an abnormal heart rhythm but there are so many down to earth reasons for palpitations and little pains that you tend not to think of these when working in a hospital, you expect the worst because we know more about it than other people.