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Hello
This is my first time on this site, I started to take severe panic attacks a couple of weeks ago due to a hearing issue. A couple of days ago I called No More Panic helpline and spoke to Brian who was very helpful and made me feel a lot better, now the panic has started again and I not sure how to stop it. All common sense becomes lost once the panic sets in. Does anyone know where I can find one to one therapy?
Many thanks
Hiya KaraM and welcome to NMP :welcome:
Why not take a look at our articles on our home page, they contain a wealth of information and
are a great starting place for your time on the forum.
I hope you find the as site helpful and informative as I have and that you get the help and
support you need here and hope that you meet a few friends along the way :yesyes:
Hiyer Kara,
The best thing to do is pop and see your GP and discuss what has been happening recently and request referral. If you want to find someone privately then that can be a tad more tricky, as its hard to know the type of therapist you are getting.
It sounds like these are the first panic attacks, or certainly worse than you've had before. Luckily, acceptance of panic attacks rather than 'fighting them' and being afraid of them can shorten and gradually diminish them. It is the fear of the symptoms and the fear of being 'about to die' that actually makes them much worse and last longer, with larger adrenaline surges which take longer to be processed by the body - so unfortunately it tends to be that once you've had one or two in a day the trigger becomes less and less to having another one. There are certainly lots of good articles on the NMP site, and many books on large booksellers about how to deal with panic attacks. Simply understanding the sensations and how they are all linked to anxiety and panic surges can be enlightening in itself, but actually standing and talking out loud to yourself and saying things like 'Its a panic attack, nobody dies from them, in a short while it will be receeding' and then quickly moving on to a distraction activity, is a good start. You can create a whole list of things to say to yourself, even write them on paper, some more being - 'so my heart is racing, of course is will from adrenaline' and 'my legs feel weak and shaky thats to be expected at the moment' 'I've had this happen before, and it went so I'll get on with washing the dishes'. Say those things, then accept that the panic is currently there, and move on. Sounds easy right ? lol
It sounds like what you are getting is hypersensitivity, which is very very very common in setting off panic attacks.
Your ears, nose, taste, chest eyes, dizzyness so so much can happen it just depends on what your mind zooms in on, your whole body comes super alert.
Feeling impossibly on edge 24/7 afterwards, not wanting to eat for long periods all goes hand in hand with panic when it crosses over to anxiety.
You have loads of routes to get beter, once you know its all anxiety its hard to believe anxiety can make you smell better or hear better, or stop you eatting for weeks, it's almost impossible to believe it can, but it does and probally has to every member on here the list of symptoms are so so long.
So your routes to get better, talk to someone to reassure you see if there is a local anxiety or panic group in your area, talk to your GP about CBT teraphy, if all that fails modern medication is there to fall back on but it can be scarey taking that path,
It will feel like it will never go away or you never will get better, thats not the case theres just this horrible new freind you have which you have to learn to live with before you get rid of it.
In saying all that some people just have panic attacks and move on past them quickly.. many end up stuck with battling anxiety and having to beat that.
Most of the time, panic attacks are sporadic and don't occur again. If it is associated with anticipatory anxiety, means fear of having new panic attacks, then there is high chance it will lead to a panic disorder.
Best thing to do is CBT therapy. There are two parts in the therapy : working on how to control and neutralize panic attacks using some techniques to control own repiratory system, and second working on restructuring the cognitions. CBT was proven to be efficient for anxiety issues.