How to reinforce positives, after panic attack

[Jabz]

I haven't had a panic attack in a long time, i've gotten anxious in the meantime, but no full blown panic attack. I've been doing a lot of physical exercise with breathing exercises and meditating.

Today on the bus I was a wee bit anxious, it didn't bother me much. However somewhere, somehow my thoughts started to bounce off in my head and i started to get a wave of panic coming on.

A tight and burning chest with squeezing of the temples in my head, it was getting progressively worse, but I wasn't getting progressively scared..wth??

I just kept sitting there and going okay..its getting worse, now what as if I was waiting until the "real" panic attack will arrive, even though i was in full panic attack with my thoughts randomly looking for an exit and my chest really burning and tight and my head squeezed as if its going to pop, mentally I was just sitting in the same position staring out the window and seeing how much worse it can get.

I took a few deep stomach breath's and all of a sudden it all just dropped and the only thing that was left were very jittery legs and arms.

I was ecstatic, I was thinking "wow i just had a full blown attack and it didn't even really scare me or do anything to me" and I just kept repeating that to myself the whole ride and i had a great panic free/anxiety free rest of the ride.

Now I am familiar with always losing the positives in things such as this, I was wondering what is a good way to reinforce the positives here?? I feel as though I am ready to take on any panic attack because now I know i can do it head on, but I also feel the negative is that I even had to face it after almost 3 months of panic free and feeling great.

Thanks for any support.
Stan.

btw if anyone is interested I document my whole journey on my blog (no ads, no nothing, just me talking about my experiences and hopefully it'll help some other people by maybe seeing what works for me)
http://anxiousdiary.blogspot.com/

[paula lynne]

Hi Stan I know exactly what you mean

I call these type of panics "the slow burn", they can last all day

My "real" panics are vicious, violent, stronger, more intense, and last about 2 hours leaving me completly exhausted.

Youre not alone x hope you feel better soon x

[LJK]

That's awesome, how did you do it - how did you stop the negative, panicky feelings taking over, were you able to control your thoughts?

Well done, you must be so happy youve made that massive step

[scaredstiff695]

tips please thats awesome really awesome, i would just never ever let that amazing feeling you must be feeling now leave your head write it down and never forget that feeling xx

[eloelo]

wish i could do that - im feeling awful right now and it wont go away ...

[Jabz]

hey guys

biggest tip is...patience and lifestyle changes.

exercise, diet, get GOOD sleep, meditation, breathing techniques and most of all patience, patience, patience.

it got to a point that whenver i get anxious, i ask myself...is this really that scary? so..im sweating a little bit, soo my heart is racing, it also races when i exercise and nothing happens to me then...so why should something happen now? everything is normal and everything is fine.

after practicing thoughts like that...i learned how to just sit still while getting a panic attack and usually i just start self reinforcement and usually it never gets to a panic attack, just some anxiety and then it goes away.

this time it started out as usual, i got anxious and i just didn't react, i didn't get scared because i know i always get anxious and it goes away, so i didn't think anything was out of the ordinary, however it continued to get worse and as it continued to get worse, i continued to sit there observing it...it turned into a full blown panic attack, for a second I got that dreaded "i need to get out !!!!!! let me out!!! something is happening to me !!" feeling and thoughts in my head, but i didn't react to them, just let them pass through me. my chest got really tight and warm and my head started to squeeze, but nothing happened, it all quickly dissipated and i was left with a very amazing feeling of conquering it. that's exactly what happened.

so i guess the biggest tip i can give you is, do not let it scare you, do not react and all it becomes is just some measly discomfort, if you don't blow it out of proportion then it won't even bother you.

the point of this thread was to ask for suggestions on how to reinforce this positive achievement because as you know many sufferers, myself included, tend to dwell on the negatives...

[boppers]

the point of this thread was to ask for suggestions on how to reinforce this positive achievement because as you know many sufferers, myself included, tend to dwell on the negatives...

Hi Stan, I think we are in similar boats - I've also only had one panic in the last few months! Doesn't it feel great to be gaining more control over your body?

I am awful at positive reinforcement for myself. One thing I am thinking about doing is letting myself spend $10 on a "treat" every time I successfully handle the panic.

I have a therapy appointment tomorrow and was planning on asking about this anyway, so I'll let you know what she says.

[Jabz]

Hi Stan, I think we are in similar boats - I've also only had one panic in the last few months! Doesn't it feel great to be gaining more control over your body?

I am awful at positive reinforcement for myself. One thing I am thinking about doing is letting myself spend $10 on a "treat" every time I successfully handle the panic.

I have a therapy appointment tomorrow and was planning on asking about this anyway, so I'll let you know what she says.

hey Boppers, yes it feels great, im starting to feel very good about my achievements.

btw, i started another thread on Top Tips with positive reinforcement that I thought of doing myself, it has been working for me. it's basically like electronic post-it notes, electronic reminders with positive reinforcement that pop up on my phone screen and remind me to think positive or to say something positive, etc.

take a look here http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=84330

[Rennie1989]

First of all well done for getting yourself out of a panic attack like that! I know it's frustrating that you were panic free for so long but at leasr you now know for other times you feel one coming you KNOW you WILL overcome it. Congratulations for that :)

What positive thoughts to I have after a panic attack?
- I got through it!
- I just had a decent cardio workout without going to the gym
- At least I know my heart, lungs and adrenal glands work

I really can't think of anymore .... but that's what I regulary tell myself.

[Kells81]

You now know that if you have another panic attack in the future you can control it! That is the best postive reinforcement you can get. You now have nothing to fear as you are in control of it now and it doesn't control you.

Congratulations on being able to take back the power!!:yesyes: