BRING IT ON !

[mirry]

I visited my CBT yesturday and was shocked when he asked me to have a panic attack with him together, there and then!

I had to stand up and do shallow rapid breathing FAST,
i done it and the only symptoms i got was i felt hot and very slightly dizzy, it didnt feel like a proper panic to me.
However he told me to practise at home with my husband and try to panic together. THE IDEA BEING TO TAKE THE FEAR OUT OF PANIC.
NOW WE ARE MAKING IT A GAME - A FUN THING!

I just tried it alone and couldnt panic big time but did manage to get some symptoms, lightheaded,drained feeling. I will keep trying everyday as it seems a good idea to me,
has anyone else tried this and did it help ?

mirryx

[Alexandra]

Hi Mirry

No i have'nt tried bringing on a panic attack but will ask my CBT Counsellor about it tommorow & see what she says.

Take Care

Alex

Many People Will Walk
In & Out Of Your Life
But Only True Friends
Will Leave Footprints
In Your Heart

[jackie]

no mirry but im intrigued, let me know how iit goes, you may be on to something there

jackie

[Granny Primark]

I had counselling last year and she told me she could show me how bring on a panic attack and then how to control it but because i suffer from high blood pressure it was dangerous.Needless to say that made me more fearful of having a panic attack.

Lynn

[honeybee3939]

Hi Mirry,

I have been to see the phsycologist today i told her about what you had said, she thought it was a good idea.
I like alot of others have a fear that i am going to pass out when i panic, she gaurenteed me that i wouldnt pass out,and thought it was a good idea to go to a sittuation where i will definatley panic,(but not in the middle of the supermarket) and make myself have a full blown panic attack to prove to myself that i wont faint and after the anxiety will go away(im saying hopefully), i know its easier said than done to put yourself in a sittuation where you know you are going to panic, i am quite good at running away!.

I spend most of my day feeling awful with the symptoms of anxiety, she thinks i am better spending about 10 minutes having a panic attack letting the anxiety levels drop and proving to myself that i wont faint.

I am going to have to pluck up courage now to put myself in that sittuation !! I think i best put a thread in the Encouragement section....lol


Love Andrea
xxx

[mirry]

Hi Honey, I havent done it much yet but today i will treat myself to hopefully a full blown panic in my house.
I am just like you and fear the dizzy feeling thinking i will faint, I have never ever fainted but have felt like i was about to which is horrible.

Everyday i go to my local shops and get severe anxiety/panic and now my golden rule is......NEVER EVER RUN.

My therapist has told me , as soon as i run away ,I have reinstalled a message to my brain ,that the situation is scarey and dangerous.
I have been making myself stay, even after the most awfull panics.....I carry on shopping - i feel like it nearly kills me but i keep going somehow and when i get home all shaken up I do feel exhausted and dissapointed that i panic but i also have felt really pleased with myself for staying.



mirryx

[Spice]

Hi Mirry

My CBT therapist asked me the very same thing a few weeks ago.
I have to say that it totally freaked me out and made me cry, I told him there was NO way I would want to do it so he left it at that.

I told my CPN and she said that different therapist have different treatments and that there is NO way that she would ever ask a patient to do this.
One other thing that I was told was that many people in the world are epileptic and take drugs to control their fits but regardless of this occassionally they still have them and they learn to deal with this and not let their illness take over their life and the same can be done for panic attacks.

Please let me know how you get on.

Spice.

Sometimes I give myself the creeps,
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me,
It all keeps adding up,
I think I'm cracking up, Or am I just paranoid ..... Billie Joe Armstrong

[MrsCluggy]

Hey Mirry,

You sound like you have a FANTASTIC CBT Counsellor. This is an exercise that we did in my CBT group. My Counsellor asked any of us to describe a panic attack and then he said, right, show me what it's like ... and do you know, NONE of us could do it. We couldn't bring simulate a panic attack at all, because our MINDS were'nt in the zone to prepare to fight a panic episode.

That is why CBT is such an effective therapy. It retrains your thinking patterns and makes your mind stop believing the negative thoughts and rely more on the realistic thoughts. Why indeed should the negative thoughts be more believable than the positive. FEAR and FIGHT. That's what it's down to. We fear the panic attacks and we fight against them when they arrive.

What we should be doing is accepting the fear, ignoring the physical symptoms as much as possible, giving them realistic reasons for being there, for example, if you feel light headed and dizzy, in the past you would immediately PANIC because you don't know what's happening to you. Whereas, in truth, you are probably feeling dizzy and lightheaded because you haven't eaten for a number of hours or you need to take in more fluids.

I believe, now, that every physical sensation that I feel has a realistic reason and I deal with it there and then and I break the panic cycle.

It can be done. It has taken me a long time to believe this and to get where I am today, but it does work.

Stick with your CBT because it really does work.

Hopes this helps.

Best wishes.

Jackie xx

If the opportunity doesn't knock .... build a door.

[mirry]

Thanks Mrs !
Its funny you say that cos today i went to my local shops and felt slightly dizzy and told myself, Im tierd cos ive had late nights all week.
It was lovely i didnt have any anxiety at all today, its a rare thing but i can only think its because of my CBT training and the fact ive been listening to a hynotherpy cd for the last week.
A week ago i was in a right state but got thru it.

mirryx

[MrsCluggy]

Hey There,

See, that's exactly what I am talking about. Give your physical symptoms a rational explanation and the panic just dissolves. When you know the answer to something there's no mystery, no anxiety.

Well done you - that's fantastic !!

Jackie xx

If the opportunity doesn't knock .... build a door.