anyone else get waves of panic/ anxiety through the day, unexpected and not triggered by any one thing? a roller coaster of feelings and horrible thoughts followed by crying uncontrollably? if so, PLEASE tell me what helps you deal with it . need help badly. even my meds dont seem to be helping
even going to the store earlier sent me into a tailspin! i started shaking inside the store and had to leave quickly. it was horrible. then got home and completely broke down after hearing my husband chew. then i snapped at him and started crying. i hate this.
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leaningonjesus
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I started dealing with my social anxiety about 5 months ago and what helped me was self-compassion. Self-soothing talk.
For example, I want to go to the grocery store today, so in the morning... a few hours before I want to go.... I start the self talk.
I am safe. No one wants to harm me. People are too wrapped up in themselves to notice me or judge me. I am safe. I belong. I belong in the store. I am safe. I belong. And so on.
I began listening to my thoughts about going out.... if I tune into my inner voice early enough in the struggle to be social or in a social setting, then I can usually combat the thoughts.
By tuning into that voice, I learned that my fear of public places had to do with 1. not feeling like I belong anywhere. 2. I don't feel safe around people... like someone wants to beat me up just because of the way I look or act. 3. fear of judgment and rejection.
So, while going through the store, I listen to my inner voice very intentionally. I have to really listen. Really tune in. Not be afraid of those thoughts. And then counter each thought. It's a major struggle at times, but very successful when I do try my best.
And when I did not tune in to the inner critic soon enough and did not avoid a panic attack, the best thing for me to do in that moment is to jump up and down in place until I am physically exhausted. It totally brings me out of my head and back into the present. I do this when I'm having racing thoughts that I cannot control and any situation where I'm losing control.
Other people like to... take a cold shower.... anything physically taxing.... ice or ice pack on the face (most important point is right under the eyes)..... insert your head into ice water.
Once I get myself back into the present, I do other coping tasks like counting, meditation, and breathing. You will have your own favorites, I'm sure.
Another technique is to write down what coping skills work for you, so that when you are in the middle of an attack, you can read it and remember what helps.
Best of luck to you. I know it feels like an insurmountable mountain, but it is not.
thankyou so so much for those thoughts and ideas . it does give me a starting point and alot to think about. its all so overwhelming since in all my 37 years, the last few weeks my life has turned upside down and i had severe(i call it severe because i have felt like i was dying many times and 10000% not in control) panic/ anxiety attacks/ breakdown and since that time i have had this continuous sky of darkness over and in me. and it has not let up except for fleeting brief moments here and there. and this is all so frightening and uncertain and debilitating. so at this point im open to anything anyone can help me with.
We all have our cross to bear, who is without one? Let the waves of panic come, let the anxiety do its worse. For I say this: they are all bark and no bite.
You think they are harbingers of worse to come, but there is no worse to come. High anxiety is not life-threatening or physically disabling, you will remain in control no matter how bad you feel. I am not belittling the bad feelings when they come but they are the result of our own imagining driven forward by a nervous system grown over sensitive by too many burdens.
Let your body shake, it is allowed to shake. Let your legs feel like jelly, they will still carry you home from the store. Release your tears, there is no shame in tears, you will feel the better for it.
What is it that so upset your nervous system it left it highly sensitised? Look to the cause and resolve it as your number one priority. Then accept the bad feelings for the moment knowing they are imposters that cannot truly harm you. Remember that if you can truly accept them for the moment you will lose your fear of them.
It is fear (and the fear of fear) that is keeping your nervous system sensitised. Lose your fear of the bad feelings and you stop flooding your nerves with the hormones of fear which are cortisol and adrenaline.
Don't ask how long it will take but accept the horrible thoughts for a while as over taxed nerves lose their sensitivity and calm is restored.
very sound advice and thoughts and it is all beyond appreciated. its clear to me i haveto retrain myself and my thinking. its so hard but i know it can be done.
many thanks and gratitude for taking the time to speak to me.
There is a book, a slim book written in a way ordinary people can understand, titled "Hope and help for your nerves" written by Claire Weekes 'the woman who cracked the anxiety code'. Written many years ago it is available new or used on Amazon and Ebay for just a few dollars.
If you only read one more book in your life, this is that book.
The same book is also published under the title 'Self help for your nerves'. It was written many years ago but has withstood the test of time and is a classic self-help book.
As you read it you feel that the author knew you personally and is sitting beside you.
I have seen it written* that millions of people have recovered as a result of reading this book. Or should I say reading this book and putting into practice the method she describes.
*David Barlow, Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at Boston University.
Anxiety about future anxiety, I'm sure that's part of it too. Close to feeling depressed about anxiety you're going to feel in the future, it's a thin dividing line between anxiety and depression sometimes.
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A Wave of sunshine
Barking at the waves.
Panic 
Delta wave too close to home
So much depression in waves 
