Chris Hoy and Panic Attacks!

[orangeblossom]

I found this article after hearing that Chris Hoy - the Olympic gold medal winner who I am sure everyone has heard of - had experienced panic attacks!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1100491/Like-thousands-Britons-Olympic-hero-Chris-Hoy-plagued-panic-attacks-Then-unlikely-cure-.html

"Having seen so many athletes underachieve over the years through being anxious, Chris knew that if he wanted to win an Olympic medal, he'd have to conquer his anxiety attacks. 'Racing was my life and it meant so much to me,' he says."

The above quote really meant something to me - the desire to get on with life and not let the panic attacks beat us.

I find the fact that he has panic attacks and can still win Olympic gold medals really inspiring.

[Patty]

Hi Orangeblossom, :)

Thank-you for the link to that article. What a great story!! :yesyes: :yesyes:

Best wishes xx :hugs:

[Meltdown]

Truely inspiring....

I've just ordered that book he mentions!

DR RICK NORRIS'S book, The Promised Land: A Guide To Positive Thinking For Sufferers Of Stress Anxiety And Depression is published by Author House, priced £10.99.

[orangeblossom]

I'm glad you all liked the article - I found it inspiring and want to buy that book in the New Year too!

I was amazed at the difference caused in the brain - during that MRI scan he had - whilst thinking logically or panicking!!

[HeatherMc]

I will be looking for this book with my christmas money, what an awesome article, I also read over the weekend that the girl who plays Maria in coronation street is also prone to panic attacks apparently she swears by regular yoga sessions, it is heart warming when someone in the public eye admits to suffering like this, just shows that they can happen to anyone, not that you would wish this suffering on your worst enemy of course.

Lots of Love

Heather

[peter_griffen]

Thankyou for that post, I have suffered with agoraphobia/panic attacks for 9 years. I was always a keen cyclist (moutain cycling) and was hoping to start again in the new year, hopefully this will help to overcome my anxiety, and improve my life.
Reading the article has really inspired me, and now have someone to look upto, and something to aim for....

[Cathy V]

An inspirational story. I particularly liked the idea of 'anchoring' and will give it a try.

[decca]

Wow ,what an inspiration.
I find this bit very interesting - " By his own admission, the 32-year-old was a very sensitive child, searching for perfection"
I wonder how many of us are the same - I know I am.

Decca.

[Phil H]

LOL.

all i can say his panic wasnt like genuine cases IMHO.

If you have the mind to overcome panic/anxiety you are not a genuine sufferer sorry if that offends.

[ladybird64]

LOL.

all i can say his panic wasnt like genuine cases IMHO.

If you have the mind to overcome panic/anxiety you are not a genuine sufferer sorry if that offends.

It does offend.
Maybe I'm not understanding correctly though..are you saying that anyone who manages to recover from panic/anxiety is not genuine?
Perhaps you could clarify exactly what you mean by "genuine case"?

[Tony1980]

I know that I've always been a perfectionist. My dad was quite strict with getting me to do my best all the time in both Athletics and football, and, whilst I performed well in both sports, the theory of it has stuck with me and I always play to win no matter what in anything I do, so I guess my perfectionist outlook coupled with the stresses in my life have moulded me into someone with panic disorder / anxiety.

[Dominic1975]

Sorry Phil, I dont agree..... I respect your opinion, but feel if your panic attacks create phobia's, which leads onto a change in the way you live your life, this will naturally move onto depression.... Its the depression prevents you from flighting panic to overcome and get locked into the thought pattern that you will never be free.....

Its hard, as I have suffered panic attacks for many years... but know when I am strong and feeling good, is the time the panic attacks become few and far between

[Nechtan]

@Phil,

I know what you mean. Anxiety and panic is a very convenient pigoen hole that encompasses every varying degree. For people with the most severist attacks and constant anxiety it is unthinkable that someone can overcome it with just mind over matter. And that is the case. If you cannot leave your bed you may be an agoraphobic but another agoraphobic may be able to fly here, there and everywhere but occassionally experience panic when out.

I think it is hard when we are at the lower end to appreciate others success when it is out of proportion with our own. When I read that someone wasn't able to travel by plane and then did I am happy for them but cannot identify with them as I struggle to get to the end of my street. I think it is all relative.

On the point of Chris Hoy though I do really admire the guy. Anyone who had seen his fitness regime of basically pushing so hard that he collapses and usually is sick has to admire the amount of endurance the guy can sustain and doing it with whatever degree of anxiety just makes it all the more admirable. It makes me wonder. My case in my own mind is more severe but maybe I have the exact same amount of anxiety but he is just a stronger minded person. Who knows?

All the best

Nechtan

[orangeblossom]

I don't agree with Phil either.

I've suffered with p/a/phobia for most of my life - what a horrid thought!! - and I have been through periods when I wasn't able to get out of my bed, and was too scared to even leave my room, nevermind the house, for months on end. But, then, I've also been through periods when I have flown - entirely alone! - all the way to the Far East, and despite my current ridiculous levels of anxiety, I went to Westminster Abbey for Midnight Mass. I had to take a fair whack of medication and I was panicking all most all the way through the service (couldn't even stand up for the hymns or sing them properly!), but I still did it.

I think if we didn't do our best to exert 'mind over matter' at least some of the time, none of us would be able to do very little indeed.

No one, least of all me, said it would be easy, on the contrary, it is exhaustingly difficult, but we all still do our very best - and that is the important bit.

x x

[beckette]

I found this article after hearing that Chris Hoy - the Olympic gold medal winner who I am sure everyone has heard of - had experienced panic attacks!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1100491/Like-thousands-Britons-Olympic-hero-Chris-Hoy-plagued-panic-attacks-Then-unlikely-cure-.html

"Having seen so many athletes underachieve over the years through being anxious, Chris knew that if he wanted to win an Olympic medal, he'd have to conquer his anxiety attacks. 'Racing was my life and it meant so much to me,' he says."

The above quote really meant something to me - the desire to get on with life and not let the panic attacks beat us.

I find the fact that he has panic attacks and can still win Olympic gold medals really inspiring.

Chaps - sorry to disappoint but Hoy was stitched up by the Mail:

http://www.sportinglife.com/others/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=others/08/12/28/CYCLING_Hoy_Nightlead.html

[orangeblossom]

omg! Thank you SO much for the article - I am soooooooo annoyed that a newspaper would print something like that, that is so blantantly untrue. Er, actually, I ought to be used to it by now... grrrr.

I was really taken aback by what Chris Hoy did say in the new article actually - unlike quite a few people, he is clearly an extraordinary person for not trivialising 'true' panic attack sufferers, and has a degree of empathy too.

Thank you for setting the record straight.

[Meltdown]

So Phil H was right, then! Chris Hoy does not suffer from genuine panic attacks!

I feel a bit of a prat for ordering the book that was recommended, now. But hopefully it will still be useful, as it is about dealing with stress, anxiety and depression.

Also, I believe what Chris Hoy was saying about positive visualisation is extremely useful to sufferers of panic disorder.

After all, it is only a small step from anxiety to panic, as we all know!

[Phil H]

meltdown of course i was right,not down to big headedness but down to the fact i am a genuine chronic anxiety/panic sufferer. :)

[Meewah]

Should this thread really be under PA's? I feel the Panic pause/ Humour is a more suitable chat room.

M