PDA

View Full Version : How to deal with Panics!



Bill
29-08-08, 04:36
I just put this in a reply to a thread but afterwards I thought maybe if I put it in it's own thread it may be of more help to others because often the same questions arise.

A crowded gig can cause a feeling of being trapped.
Feeling trapped causes stress because you feel there's no escape.
Feeling there's no escape will cause fear.
Fear cause more stress which then causes panic.
Panic cause a feeling of being ill and dying.
Feeling ill causes more stress.
More stress intensifies the panic.
After the panic attack subsides, fear still remains.
This remaining fear will cause worry.
Worry causes stress.
Stress causes panic and so on in a cycle.

When you have a panic, you have to remember it's just a normal reaction to a stressful situation but once the stress is removed, the panics will also stop.

However, you also have to remember that if you let the attack worry you, you could induce further panics which could mean you feeling you need to retreat to a place of safety.

However, this place of safety is actually a "trap" like being in a crowded gig because you become afraid of leaving it because of fear of more panics. This worry then causes more panics every time you try to push your boundaries.

Therefore, when you suffer a panic, it's important to remember it was "normal" reaction to something caused you to feel stressed and Not to worry about it but instead carry on as you were before because if you do this, panics will never make you feel so afraid again because you'll know what's really happening and that it Does pass.

To ease symptoms of panic, just slow the breathing taking deep breaths through the nose and releasing through the mouth because all that's happening is hyperventilating (fast shallow breathing) which causes an oxygen/carbon dioxide imbalance making you feel you're going to pass out, but that's all that would happen if you don't slow your breathing pattern.

Panics can be caused by various stresses. It could be too much stress at home or in the workplace. It could also be caused by too much "emotional" stress such as a previous experience that had caused hurt. However, after one panic has occurred, fear of them occurring again also causes stress that can actually cause them. :hugs:

Wenjoy
29-08-08, 11:16
This is so true- I have began having panic attacks again after 25 years free of them. Cant remember what brought them back but being in a hot stuffy place not near an exit escalates the panic that I have to get out. I try and sit it out and close my eyes if its toomuch. I usually stay but am on a very high anxiety scale whilst there. I wish I could learn not to be afraid of fear which will escalate the feelings of panic!

Wenjoy x

relic
30-08-08, 23:53
Absolutely. Good advice but so hard to put into practice.

Wenjoy - I'm also someone who was free of attacks for several years before they came back. Even having prior experience and knowing the best way to deal with them doesn't make it any easier to deal with. :sad: An anxious thought is a powerful thing... but a positive one can be too.

Bill
01-09-08, 04:11
Sometimes when the fuel is left on, the fire is harder to put out.

I'll explain....

When I used to work in a very stressful job together with lot of stress at home, I used to have this terrible fear of needing the loo when I got to work. This fear was something I'd always lived with since my primary school days because I was frightened of picking up germs from public loos,even school loos. This fear carried on into my office jobs and it became a big problem for me.

I'd eat so much fruit the nights before to make sure I'd use the loo at home before I set off to work but because of my fear I became so anxious again on the journey to work that I ended up needing the loo as soon as I arrived. Once in there I'd be covering the seat with loo paper and using so much that I'd end up blocking the loo and having to try clearing it. Of course then I was late starting work and my boss would say I was supposed to be there at a certain time to Start work, not to be in the loo! This just increased my anxiety so that each day I became more anxious about needing a loo and more fearful of losing my job.

Just as someone fears panics, (which I also later experienced), my initial fear was of needing the loo so that every time I left home, my fear would take over making me need the loo just as fear of panics makes panics occur.

As you've said in your replies, I wish I could learn not to be afraid of fear, just as I wished about my fear of needing a loo. My fear Made me need the loo just as fear Makes us panic.

So going back to my initial statement. I found that after I gave up my job and having a period to sort myself and home life, my stresses decreased and then so did my fear. Later I returned to work in a job I enjoyed and the fear was no longer there.

It was actually "stress" that increased my "fear". Stress was the fuel that kept my fear burning but once I tackled my stresses, the fire decreased to something I could manage.

Stress maybe caused by a boring job or a busy job we hate, or both. It may also be caused by "emotional" stress that has been stored and left undealt with. Either way, these stresses will increase our fears until the stresses are dealt with.

Also stress will cause health anxiety. I'm not sure why but whenever we feel until too much stress, just like a parrot in a cage who pulls his feathers out, we also feel trapped by the stress so start pulling ourselves apart looking for health matters to worry about. Again though if we treat the stress, the worries also decrease.

Stress has alot to answer for. It's the fuel that keeps our anxiety fires burning but often we're not aware that we're actually under so much stress.

Fear is also very powerful because when we feel under too much stress, we become afraid of actually dealing with it. For instance, if our job is creating the stress, our fear prevents us from changing jobs because it means "change" which affects our "security".

Panic is a symptom of too much stress. Identify the stress and you are better equipped to put out the fire.

Fear likes to keep in control of us but if we face it, we actually find it's false. It just deceives us because it likes to control us.

If we adopt a positive mind and face our fears with confidence, the fears will run away but it's also important to stop the fuel by tackling the stresses that are causing our fires to burn. Without the fuel, we can learn to control our fear of panics just as I did with both panics and loos!:hugs:

HeatherMc
01-09-08, 16:18
:D
I enjoyed reading this, nothing in it that I did not know already but sometimes we need to see the reasons in black and white from another persons angle, it reassures me a lot, very very hard to put some things into practice at the height of an attack, but it slowly sinks in, and I find that the attacks are still there but not as intense if that makes sense.

thanks Bill

:hugs:

Wenjoy
02-09-08, 17:01
Hi Bill
Yes I understand what you mean - and the more we work ourselves up to an event we create the panic wihtin ourselves - we chose to panic - our mind makes it happen. I know all you say is true I just want to stop fearing the fear - stop saying "what if...! in my mind all the time - to saying "so what...>!
I think I worry what other people think of me - I worry if I walk out of a place I panic in that people will look at me and think Im a failure.

I will keep trying though!
Wenjoy x

Elaine19825
02-09-08, 17:33
Totally agree - i can talk the talk, just cant walk the walk......yet!

E x