... specifically imaginal exposure therapy. Hi. I made a post about a month ago saying I was struggling to eliminate panic attacks from my life. Well now I'm happy to report that I seemed to have succeeded in doing just that... eliminating panic attacks from my life.
I used a Cognetive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) skill called "imaginal exposure therapy", although the idea is nothing new. CBT is partially based on the 2500 year old knowledge that one must face their fears in order to overcome them. I realized I wasn't afraid of any particular external stimuli as much as I was afraid mostly of having another panic attack. So what I did was *imagine* myself having an attack. I imagined all the thoughts, the behaviors, and the patterns of an attack. To give an example, when I panic, I start pacing, so I imagine myself pacing the hall until eventually, the thought of pacing no longer scares me. Additionally, I have a few key thoughts that consistently race through my head when I'm mid-attack so I *imagine* being mid-attack, and I just allow myself to have those thoughts. Eventually the thoughts cease to be scary, and *eventually* the idea of an attack isn't scary! It's not easy but if you allow yourself to face your fears (even if there are many of them), you *will* get better.
If I can go two months without an attack I will consider myself cured. Some degree of relapse is probable so if you're currently suffering, stick with the CBT! I recommend the author David D. Burns and his books When Panic Attacks, and also the book Feeling Great (which I've now read three times). Good luck to anyone suffering from anxiety presently. I recommend the books and CBT as a therapy. I plan to make a YouTube video with my success story.