please help me get through this afternoon

[optician girl]

I can't believe I found this site, I knew other people had panic attacks but no idea about the support you could get. I need some help getting through this afternoon, I've had panick attacks since I was 13 but not had a bad one for years and years ( 1'm 31 now) I don't know what has triggered these ones off, but at the minute i'm totally petrified of driving. i have to drive to work four times a week, it's about 10 miles away, but for the last two weeks my panic attatcks have been getting so bad I keep having to stop the car. I start worring about it as soon as I get up and i'm a wreck by the time I actually get into the car. my lovely boyfriend actually got out of bed this morning just to follow me to work as I was in such a state. I don't know how to get out of this vicious circle. I leave work at 5pm and i'm already starting to worry about driving home. please help me

[bluebell68]

Hi Optitiongirl.....:welcome: to NMP.....i have suffered from panic attacks and anxiety for some years off and on and when i am feeling at my worst, i too have trouble driving, so i understand where you are coming from... but anxiety is cruel and it tells us lies and knocks our confidence, so try not to believe what it is trying to tell you now....although it feels like driving is what is triggering your anxiety at the moment... the symptoms are the real problem, cos you have probably driven for a long time and so know that it is not something to be afraid of..... you will be able to make it home ok but you may feel anxious along the way and it is perfectly ok to stop when you do and take a moment... but try and tell yourself that it is not driving that is making you anxious ... its the anxiety making the driving difficult and panic attacks, although vile and scary, are not gonna be allowed to stop you from doing what you need to do...:yesyes: ..i always put the radio on in the car and sing like an idiot to Radio one to distract me from my anxiety lol..... when you get home tho..log on and have a look at some of the posts and info regarding anxiety and panic, it really helps... stay stong and know that you can do this :yesyes: and you are amoungst friends here....
:bighug1:
Rach
:bighug1:
Rach

[optician girl]

thanks for your reply bluebell I know it's not the car/driving that is causing the panic attacks, when i'm out of the car everything is fine, but as soon as I get in I completley lose any rational thought, I'm even having them when someone else is driving. I've got to go away next week with a friend the journey is about 90 mins and the thought of it is keeping me awake at night. I really dont know why the panic attacks have started in the car, and it scares me how quickly they have escalated.

[optician girl]

I dont think I could manage a taxi hun, i'd be too worried asking the driver to stop if I started having an attack. I've got 2 and a half hours to go before I have to leave work and already i'm freaking out

[honeybee3939]

Hi

Im another that had lost confidence in driving, but im gradually getting my confidence back by doing short journeys. What we have to do is try not to worry before we do it ! When i start to worry before i drive i can gaurentee that i will get to the end of the street and have to stop because of panic. But what i do now is to try and distract my thoughts from thinking about it otherwise i panic like you even before i get in the car. Once in the car i try and distract my self too music or the radio help. I actually stopped driving for quite a long while and i dont think it did me any favours as its taken me a long time to get my confidence back, so my advice is dont give in to the panic, i know its hard but the more you do the journeys the easier it will become and you will prove to your self that nothing bad will happen:yesyes: and that its all in our thoughts. Another little tip i did when i first started driving again was to put a couple of those "sticky post it notes" and stick them on the dash board i wrote on them "i will be fine nothing bad will happen""i can do this" they are good reminders to glance at when i feel the panic rising, and they gave me confidence too.

Good luck you can do it, and stay positive hun im sure you are much stronger than you think so dont let the anxiety win.

Love and hugs
:hugs:
Andrea
xxxxxx

[bluebell68]

Hi again... yeah panic attacks are like that... they just appear from nowhere and frighten the hell out us :ohmy: ... its the fear of a panic attack happening that used to trigger one for me but now i just keep reminding myself that if it does happen it will feal horrible for a while but it will pass and then i will carry on .... by not fearing the panic attack we can avoid creating an enviorment for it to grow.... its not easy but it can be done... are you worried about the journey with your friend cos they don't know about your panic attacks and that you might have one on route and have to explain it to them.. or just that the journey itself might trigger one??, cos if its the first.. i would tell them about it or if thats too difficult feign travel sickness or something that will enable you to ask for a break on route if the panic happens...all i know is that if we give in to the fears, we end up with our life experiences reducing in an ever decreasing circle....let panic attacks do their worst, cos if we refuse to be scared then they can't exist.... rage against them... think s*d this ... im gonna do whatever i want, when i want and the panics will loose their power.. it has worked for me, and if i feel one coming on I just take three deep breaths and then dismiss it and carry on... it is hard to do at first but it can be very rewarding to kick one into touch when it begins......there are loads of other suggestions on the site tho, so have a read and i know that you will find one or many that will work for you...
:bighug1:
Rach

[optician girl]

thank you once again for the replies ladies, good idea about the post it notes, i know it's just the fear of the panic attack itself rather than the car, I think i will print out this post and take it with me in the car so if i have to stop I will read it ..

[honeybee3939]

Well Stay positive hun, and distract your negative thoughts and please let us know how things ago.:flowers:

Hopefully you will be telling us all about it in the success section of the forum when you get home.:yesyes:

Good luck

Andrea
xxxxxx

[optician girl]

thank you honeybee, i'm trying distracting thoughts but it's not working!!

[nomorepanic]

Hi there

A warm :welcome: aboard.

Have a good read of the website pages on the left for loads of support and advice.

You will meet some lovely people here.

[Nibbles]

Hi and :welcome:

You'll get loads of advice and support here while making new friends along the way.

Take care,

Mike :smile:

[optician girl]

Hiya all, thank you so much forall your replies yesterday, I did manage to get home yesterday without even having to stop the car which was great, I had printed off this thread so I could read it if I started getting a bit panicky but I was fine (well not fine, but you know what I mean!) I dont have to drive anywhere for the next couple of days but I thinkI will try top do a short journey tomorrow with the kids-I really need to face this thing head on if I'm going to beat it. thanks again for all your replies. speak to you all soon, I've got a birthday party to sort out today so that should keep my mind off things for a while!

lisa xx

[honeybee3939]

Hi Lisa

WELL DONE for driving home:yesyes: . keep at it and you will get there hun.:flowers:

Andrea
xxxxxx

[Lindalou64]

Hello Optical And Welcome........i Wish Ya Well........linda

[Lilith1980]

Hi Optician Girl

Welcome to NMP :)

Well done for making it home hun :hugs:

Jo xxxxx

[trac67]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum, you will get a lot of good advice here and make some new friends

Take care

Trac xxx

[chalky]

Hi OpticianGirl,

Welcome to the Forum.

:hugs: :hugs: :hugs: :hugs:

You will get loads of support and advice here.
Best wishes,
Chalky