“Help with panic attacks”

[Sunny1120]

Hi friends! This is my first day on here and I’m very happy that I finally decided to talk to some people who are dealing with the same things. Recently within the last 2 months I’ve developed extremely bad panic attacks just out of the blue. When I had my first one I actually passed out for a second and ever since then I’ve been having them or worrying about the next one. Now I get them everywhere and the scariest part is the depersonalization and faintness that I often feel from being so anxious and that feeling will last for hours and hinder me from working, eating, and spending time with my family. Can anyone relate or have any advice?

[blimpsgo180]

I've had panic attacks on and off for some time. My best advice is to find a cognitive behavioral therapist near you to help. If you find someone and they want you to tell long boring stories about your childhood, you found the wrong therapist. Find someone who genuinely specializes in CBT.

Here's the quick rundown of CBT. Part of CBT is based on very old knowledge that one must face their fears in order to overcome them. With anxiety (and panic attacks), there is *always* a phobia lurking behind the experience. In CBT, facing your fears is called "Exposure therapy".

Let's say your panic attacks are a fear of guns (I'm pulling this out of thin air) because a police officer pulled one on you. You can use "imaginal" exposure therapy and imagine you have owned a gun for a couple months and keep it in the closet. You can imagine yourself holding this gun, pulling the magazine out, fiddling with the safety, etc. Maybe this increases your anxiety to a 4 out of 10. The more you think about it, the more that number goes down (3, 2, 1...). Let's say a 10 out of 10 on the anxiety scale is going to a firing range and actually shooting a gun at the paper target. If that's too overwhelming, bring a friend, but you gotta face your fears. The funny thing about exposure therapy is the more you face your fears, the more they become your hobbies. You may find yourself an employee of the firing range and a gun owner who goes to conventions!

For a book on overcoming anxiety, I recommend the author David D. Burns and the book "When Panic Attacks." It's worth quickly noting that with panic disorder and repeated panic attacks, sometimes the fear is simply fear of having another attack, and not the thing that originally scared you to having your first (or most recent) attack. For this, you can *expose* yourself to the typical symptoms of your attack, be it imagining the racing thoughts, or behaviors, or whatever you typically do mid-attack.

Good luck!

[tofler]

Hello and welcome!

[Daveacr1959]

Proper sleep and daily cardio exercise helps alot. Breathing exercises free on you tube. And a cold shower rinse for 5 minutes all help me.

[Marysblue]

Welcome

[yello123]

Good morning my friend. First of all let me give you a couple of facts about panic attacks. Number 1 is that 11% of the population in the US experience panic attacks. Number 2 is that 140 million people go to the emergency room each year from panic attacks. The take away from this is that you are not alone. I had my first when I was 32 and was so scared to death when I woke from a dead sleep and my heart rate was double and I freaked out and made my husband take me to the emergency room. The key to avoiding panic attacks is to learn to use some tools to help ease and get rid of them. Also I ordered a book on line HOPE AND HEALTH for your nerves by Dr Claire Weeks. I highly recommend you order it on line and use it for a really important tool to help you through. It is an older book but a good one and I still have my copy. I call it my bible for Panic attacks and when I used to have them I would take out my book and know I could get through them. The author speeks directly to you, explains what you body is doing and every page you read makes you realize it is all coming from stress and adrenaline. The first time I read it I could not put the book down since It described everything I was feeling. Our society has us all so messed up with everything being fast paced and puts so much demand on all of us for perfection in everything we do. First of all Stop taking anything with Caffeine in it. This heightens stress in our bodies and is truly bad for us. Replace it with Exercising or even going for a short 15 minute walk every day. When you injest caffiene it is a way to raise your heart rate and give you energy but it doesn't last long and can give you more of a boost than you need. Experiencing panic attacks is the most horrible feeling in the world. Your adrenaline starts pumping causing weird feelings in your body, which causes fright, which causes more adrenaline and even took me to a point where I thought I was dying. The only people who understand what you are going through are those of us who have them ourselves. I am going to take a break but will be right back and I will give you a long list of coping or also called grounding techniques that have been very helpful for me.

[yello123]

As promised COPING AND GROUNDING for panic attacks. When you have them your body is already heightened and they are so horrible you sit back and wait for the next one to happen which is causing more stress on your body so you can't get out of the fear pattern.Try some of these ideas and hopefully you will be on your way to understanding how to control them. 1. Sit in a chair and get as comfortable as you can. Look at your posture.

I am guessing you are tied up knots because of the fear of another attack. Let your body totally relax with your arms hanging down in your lap. Hold your breath. As long as you can. Now exhale and repeat 3 or 4 times. This reminds you that you are in control of your breathing. Try to completely let go and relax.

2. Place Ice cubes or a cool wash cloth over you forehead and eyes and take some deep breaths. You can also run cool water over your hands in the sink.

3. Speaking of ice cubes, take one in your hand and hold it. It will get really cold and hurt a little bit but it can't hurt you and will trick your mind into thinking of pain instead of panic.

4. Sit in and grab a chair as hard as you can, then release. Repeat to release adrenaline.

or you can also dig your heels of your feet into the floor. (connecting to the ground)

5. Walk slow anywhere and focus on your feet. Say right/left as you walk and repeat

6. Count from 1 to 10 slowly or say the alphabet and keep repeating. I sit in a

chair, close my eyes and go through the alphabet A to Z and say a word for each letter that

is positive. Use anyword you like Apple, Bahamas, considerate ETC. This works great at bedtime also if you can't sleep.

NEXT: listen to music, count backwards from 100 to 1, or Say odd numbers in your head 1-100 like 27, 83 15 and continue. It tricks the brain into doing something you normally don't do. Find meditations online to relax your body.

I love heal your body. A guide to meditate. Better close for now as I am rattling on but hope some of these ideas help you and know that you are not alone.

[Louie35]

If they are getting that bad, you need to reach out to a therapist, try zocdoc, they'll show you therapists in your area and they have reviews. For now try breathing exercises, think of a number between 1 and 10 and repeat that number with each exhale, try to slow everything down! Godspeed