Panic Attacks

I would like to talk to you about panic attacks today. Those of you who have never experienced a panic attack might still find this post helpful for future reference. Of course I hope you will never need it, but who knows.

For all of you who are familiar with panic attacks either in a mild stage or in its most extreme form, welcome. I sincerely hope I can encourage you with this post and give you the confidence to fight each future attack before it can break out properly.

Personally, I have experienced one major attack a few years ago and many many lighter ones after that. Even today I can feel the panic creeping up on me from time to time.

Here is what I have learned from my own attacks and from other people who have suffered from this:

1) If your attack is so severe that you feel like you cannot breath anymore, lie down and close your eyes and let your body take over. In this state of extreme fear your brain will ensure that your body receives enough oxygen even if you are failing to breathe normally. Its our body's protective army that takes over when we are failing, it regulates your breath, your heartbeat and makes sure you stay alive. So don't think that you will die, your body will always take over and keep you safe.

2)After your first attack, it's not the actual situation you're in that triggers your next attack. Its the fear of another attack that makes you so anxious that you have another attack. Crazy right? Tell youtself that you can handle each attack just fine, that you're safe , and you will help pevent another attack!

3) NEVER, and I really mean NEVER give in to your fear and let it control your behaviour.
If you are out with friends and you feel an attack coming, breathe through it, distract yourself by talking to your friends. DONT go home and let the fear win.
Also, don't avoid social contact or leaving your home. If you let the fear win, you feed it and make it stronger each time.

4) Work with my TRUST exercise which I have spoken about in an earlier post. Trust in your ability to withstand the urge to run away from or avoid potentially dangerous situations. You are in control!

5) Turn your fear into anger! As mentioned before, focusing on how annoying it feels to be so fragile is extremely empowering.
You will not tolerate this any longer!

I hope this will be helpful for you in some way. Let me know, I always like to get some feedback!