Panic attacks - what's the worst thing that can happen?

Thanks to everyone who's replied, and for the advice and kind thoughts..

Wiredincorrectly, I hope things look up for you soon.

Ten years on from my first post in this thread and having a difficult time at the moment unfortunately (Bach Rescue Remedy helps though, a bit). Further to what I said at the beginning though, I just want to say that if I feel like describing how I'm feeling, there's no implication that I've got it worse than anyone else or that they don't have it as badly as I do.

I like the sound of this though, and maybe I'll try it when I'm not feeling too bad;

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ihatesnow

What works for me usually is at the first sign of one to say to myself 'come on then - bring it on! Do your worst!' That invariably stops it.

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Not all panic attacks are the same. I've had so many in my life and I've learnt to cope with most of them but some of them are so strong that I really thought it's over, after all those years of coping, I just couldn't cope. I really thought that I was dying. Last one was where there were some police officers around and I did my best not to go tell them that I feel awful and that they should call an ambulance. I called an Uber and waited for 10 minutes, sitting on the bench but I really thought it's over for me. Panic attack was after work and after standing in summer heat waiting for a bus 10 minutes.

One strong attack before that was even worse because my head was spinning, if it wasn't for my mother who was there, I don't know what would I do. I live alone now so I am really scared.

I am really scared that it will happen again. I thought I've learned to cope but after those two attacks (2021 and 2022) I am scared again. It's a miracle that I didn't scream on the street.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by darlene85

Not all panic attacks are the same. I've had so many in my life and I've learnt to cope with most of them but some of them are so strong that I really thought it's over, after all those years of coping, I just couldn't cope. I really thought that I was dying. Last one was where there were some police officers around and I did my best not to go tell them that I feel awful and that they should call an ambulance. I called an Uber and waited for 10 minutes, sitting on the bench but I really thought it's over for me. Panic attack was after work and after standing in summer heat waiting for a bus 10 minutes.

One strong attack before that was even worse because my head was spinning, if it wasn't for my mother who was there, I don't know what would I do. I live alone now so I am really scared.

I am really scared that it will happen again. I thought I've learned to cope but after those two attacks (2021 and 2022) I am scared again. It's a miracle that I didn't scream on the street.

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I know the feeling. It's as though your own mind becomes a tormenter - you constantly get these fear-soaked scenarios coming up in your mind that you seem powerless to overcome. One trick that worked for me when I was on my way to an important hospital appointment, to find out whether or not the lump I'd had removed from my thyroid the month before was malignant, was as follows;

I had just got off the train and felt a panic attack coming on, and I said out loud to myself and several times in quick succession; "It's just your mind". That enabled me to keep myself calm enough to get through the underpass and into the taxi to the hospital. (Thankfully, the test results turned out to be negative.)

Another thing that worked for me when I had a panic attack whilst trying to get to sleep one night (about a month ago) was breath meditation; focusing hard on my "in" and "out" breaths. I found after a while that I seemed to "separate out" from the panicky thoughts and they didn't dominate me so much although they were still there, and I was able to relax enough to get to sleep. Touch wood, my panic attacks haven't been as bad since.