Re: I think I知 having a panic attack
Yeah I see this time last year you had a doozy panic attack from your previous posts. I don't know if anything I tell you will help you, but in my 10 year experience with panic attacks I learned a few things that kept me from running to the ER too much, losing my freaking mind, and even not have any panic attacks for as much as a whole year. So I've had many, off and on, throughout those years. Anyway, the first thing I did was to start seeing a therapist and get treated or learn CBT methods, and that helped a lot. The more I went to see a therapist about my GAD/Panic disorders the more I learned and the better I got. One of the best things I learned was breathing techniques on how to stop hyperventilation and slow down the adrenaline fueled fight or flight feeling during a panic attack. The technique is simple and something a bit like lamaze breathing, which goes something like this;
- Slowly inhale through your nose, try and hold your breath for at least 4 seconds, and exhale through your mouth. Repeat.
This is also related to something called Diaphragmatic breathing and really a therapist could teach you more about that, then I could. But that one simple breathing technique at least helps with hyperventilation and slowing the heart rate down and you can practice that now. Another thing I learned was to practice meditation. Again not something I can teach you on here, but a therapist probably could or at least get you some training material on it. I also learned that no one dies from a panic attack, but on another related note, I also learned a lot of interesting things about heart attacks from doctors on trips to the ER (lol) and regular doc visits - not from Dr. Google. One thing I learned with chest pain is that if it only hurts when you move a certain way, then it's probably not a heart problem and more like muscular disorder. I can't tell you how many times I sneezed hard and hurt my chest somehow in the process, then hours later, forgetting about that, had a chest pain from that and thought I was having a freaking heart attack. Lol, stupid I know. Another doctor once told me that even though panic attacks and heart attacks display similar symptoms, there is a slight difference. With most of the real heart attack patients he's seen come into the ER, he would ask them where is the pain and they would say it wasn't pain, but more like crushing pressure in their chest like a squeezing sensation. Meaning it's like someone taking a large strap, wrapping it around your chest and twisting it like a tourniquet, or someone setting a 1 ton weight on your chest. So anyway, when I learned those few medical tidbits, that saved me lots of trips to the ER and actually helped reduce my anxiety/panic disorders.
Medication for anxiety/panic disorder definitely helps too. It can go a long way in dealing with those disorders and helps reduce the frequent occurrence of those disorders. But finding the right med that works for you helps even better.
And the last thing that always helped me, was at least talking to someone over the phone, if not in person, during a panic attack to help you get calmed down and thinking logical again. That could be anybody from relatives, friends, co-workers, who understand your situation, and if they don't and none of them will help, someone you don't know on a crisis hotline is the best. Because people on crisis hotlines are trained to help deal with panic disorders and emotional distress, besides other issues.
Anyway, that's all I got for now. Hope it it helps man. 
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John Wayne: 'Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.'
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