Rory23
04-06-10, 13:01
Abit about me:
I have always been a sensitive person, sensitive to what people think about me and not able to take criticism too well. I was more confident before all this happened, readily wanting to present infront of people etc. However, i did tend to see the negative side of things rather than the positives. You may empathise with these traits above
My first panic attack happened when I was in a class of about 20 people doing a workshop for my job. Im 23, have just graduated and am in my first job. I was asked a question, and I remember thinking, what If I forgot what to say, it would be embarrassing. Bang I had a full blown panic, im sure you all know how that feels, and that’s horrible. I then did the same thing the next day in a job interview.
I then began to analyse, reflect, dwell, turn over in my mind everything that had happened in every minor detail. I did this so much that I convinced myself that I couldn’t speak infront of an audience, and I couldn’t do well at interviews. More analysing and worrying led to me finding it difficult to even talk on the phone and in person to my friends.
This has lasted 6 months. During which time I have learnt a hell of a lot about what im going through, and I would like to share all of that with you so that hopefully, you will recover faster and lead a happier life. This has really got me down over the past 6 months, but now I know how to change and be happy!
What ive learnt:
Panic attacks for me are all self-doubt induced. I.e. thinking 'I cant do this'
The more I think negatively about myself, the more I fuel my self-doubt.
The more I get panics, the more I fuel my self-doubt by thinking about it constantly
The more negatively I speak to myself, the more I feel bad, think the worst and thus induce further self-doubt.
So the answer is to:
Push yourself into situations that you find difficult, with confidence that you CAN do it. Take the positives from every time you do this. Even if you get a full blown panic, you haven’t lost anything from the day previously. But if your panics are slightly less powerful, then you have made progress
Recognise success. Even if the successes are small, do not focus on the negatives.
If you find yourself thinking negatively (which I used top pretty much all day) then stop yourself, turn it around and think, I can do that.
If/When you have a set-back, don’t let it worry you, just accept it and move on and try again. This has been the single thing that has stopped me improving, reading too much into set-backs.
If you find yourself thinking negatively, do not beat yourself up about it. That only makes you more self-critical and have more self-doubt that you will panic again.
Believe in yourself. Remember the positives in your life before the negatives.
I really hope this helps someone, its certainly helping me. Hopefully one day I will be able to talk freely in a number of situations without getting self-doubt creeping into my mind and panicking.
But I realise that to do that I have to take small steps forward and ultimately to believe in myself that I can do it. Of course I can and you can too!
I have always been a sensitive person, sensitive to what people think about me and not able to take criticism too well. I was more confident before all this happened, readily wanting to present infront of people etc. However, i did tend to see the negative side of things rather than the positives. You may empathise with these traits above
My first panic attack happened when I was in a class of about 20 people doing a workshop for my job. Im 23, have just graduated and am in my first job. I was asked a question, and I remember thinking, what If I forgot what to say, it would be embarrassing. Bang I had a full blown panic, im sure you all know how that feels, and that’s horrible. I then did the same thing the next day in a job interview.
I then began to analyse, reflect, dwell, turn over in my mind everything that had happened in every minor detail. I did this so much that I convinced myself that I couldn’t speak infront of an audience, and I couldn’t do well at interviews. More analysing and worrying led to me finding it difficult to even talk on the phone and in person to my friends.
This has lasted 6 months. During which time I have learnt a hell of a lot about what im going through, and I would like to share all of that with you so that hopefully, you will recover faster and lead a happier life. This has really got me down over the past 6 months, but now I know how to change and be happy!
What ive learnt:
Panic attacks for me are all self-doubt induced. I.e. thinking 'I cant do this'
The more I think negatively about myself, the more I fuel my self-doubt.
The more I get panics, the more I fuel my self-doubt by thinking about it constantly
The more negatively I speak to myself, the more I feel bad, think the worst and thus induce further self-doubt.
So the answer is to:
Push yourself into situations that you find difficult, with confidence that you CAN do it. Take the positives from every time you do this. Even if you get a full blown panic, you haven’t lost anything from the day previously. But if your panics are slightly less powerful, then you have made progress
Recognise success. Even if the successes are small, do not focus on the negatives.
If you find yourself thinking negatively (which I used top pretty much all day) then stop yourself, turn it around and think, I can do that.
If/When you have a set-back, don’t let it worry you, just accept it and move on and try again. This has been the single thing that has stopped me improving, reading too much into set-backs.
If you find yourself thinking negatively, do not beat yourself up about it. That only makes you more self-critical and have more self-doubt that you will panic again.
Believe in yourself. Remember the positives in your life before the negatives.
I really hope this helps someone, its certainly helping me. Hopefully one day I will be able to talk freely in a number of situations without getting self-doubt creeping into my mind and panicking.
But I realise that to do that I have to take small steps forward and ultimately to believe in myself that I can do it. Of course I can and you can too!