Panic..

Hey @Sunnoi ,

YES! I have had to deal with a lot of panic attacks. Those things that take your breath away, give you sweaty palms, a tight chest, and appear out of the blue?

I did a lot with my psychologist on breathing. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it was the breathing that controls whether our body remains in flight/freeze mode.

When I understood the science behind how breathing works to get us out of the flight/freeze panic mode, I was able to do it a lot more effectively.

Then, I practice it every night using the Smiling Mind app to make sure I have the breathing right in case I needed it.

On top of that, I worked out what some of my triggers were and underwent exposure therapy to help with reducing the stress and panic around these triggers.

It IS do-able.

Learn to take control of your breath and your breathing. It sounds so simple, but if done properly, it goes a LONG way.

@tyme

Thank you, i will look into the app.

I do use an app I can't think of the name but it uses a technique where you trick your brain to get it out of the fight/flight response- you tense all of your muscles and hold for 5 seconds and release and also use breathing exercises as well. They have worked in the past but haven't worked for me this time around and I can't understand why because I've done it the same way I have before. I will continue with it and I'll also try the app you suggested also. I've also just started seeing a psychologist and she specialises in psychoanalysis and psycho-dynamic methods which I'm still researching and hoping it will have a positive impact on me. It has been a long road for me to get here to the point where I've allowed myself to get help. Because my ego has always shut it down and I've never allowed myself to receive help, I've always said nah I don't need it and everytime I have panic attacks or episodes it gets alot worse each time which scares me.

Thanks for reaching out to me 😊

Yes, that's the progressive muscle relaxation @Sunnoi . That is in the Smiling Mind app too.

What I found most helpful about the app was that you can chose which mindfulness program you wanted to do based on your time and situation e.g. there is a 21 night sleep program. There are also quick mindfulness breathing exercises or extended ones. I like hearing the science behind it too. It's been the only app that's worked for me.

Of course it may not be for everyone, but it's worth a go.

@tyme

Well that's true, but doesn't hurt to try- better than the alternative.

I'm pretty open to trying new things because feeling the way I do, so helpless and terrified isn't where I want my mind or my life to be at.

I don't wish the way I feel or felt wished on anyone else but it does make me feel less lonely knowing there are others out there that do feel the way I do, sometimes talking to loved ones is good but it can only go so far. Beyond their scope.

Tell me about yourself?

I lost about 20 years to mental health. It took away my late teens and my early adulthood. @Sunnoi

It was places like these forums that kept me going. I was under an area mental health team, and engaged in years of therapy.

I thank God for these amazing people and amazing services that I was able to access.

When I lost all hope, they picked me up and helped me to keep going.

Nowadays, I work to share my story of hope. I want to be able to empower people to make the best choices so that they can live the life they deserve.

Today, I couldn't say I love life more. I can look back at those 20 years and see how much I learnt from them.

I had to come to a point where I was sick of being sick, and I had to put in all the hard work needed to get better.

It is 100% achievable. There's nothing special about me. If I could do it, anyone can. Including you.

That sounds inspiring!

I do want to say the last thing you wrote about not being special isn't true I think everyone is special!

It's really nice to see you put yourself out there to help others and also help yourself. I too have lost alot of time due to mental health. I have gotten to the point in my life where enough is enough and I want better for myself, so much of my life I've been held back because of it and I see that now. Although it makes me very sad I am determined to make my life and the lives of those around me better, and hopefully someday be the support and hope for someone that feels like I do now and make a difference. I've always wanted to help people and always have but I can also recognise to do that I need to be ok in myself as well.

I hope you continue to have the life you deserve and have all the happiness and fulfillment you deserve 😊

Hi there! Thank you for sharing your struggles and attempting to seek out help for yourself. First and foremost, I would like you to take a minute or more to congratulate yourself for trying out different things regardless of the physiological effects that occur when a panic attack takes place. I would like to reiterate, good on you for trying to seek out other methods to help yourself, and that itself is something to be proud of!

Regarding panic attacks, I have many experiences. Whilst it's difficult to provide specific methods to deal with them because one or two skills are never enough. It's best to have a collective skill set in case one or more doesn't work. For example, I have been diagnosed with panic disorder and I frequently suffer from panic attacks, and I may not even be aware. My current skill set includes PRN (pills ready now), cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), gratitude, my cats, relaxing music, scented candles, and watching a familiar movie or tv show.

I'm sorry to inform you, it can be very difficult and at times you will feel very demotivated. It's a journey albeit, sometime a long one to reach solace.

The medication is prescribed through my psychiatrist and if you have not seen one due to many other reasons, I highly recommend you discuss the possibility with your local general practitioner. It changed my life for the better. It was difficult to accept medication as a form of treatment and I was hesitant and resistant for many years, ultimately, I tried to find a method on my own accord, and I made very little progress. Seeking out help is one thing, accepting help is another. They both may seem similar, but they are not on the same side of the coin.

Cognitive behavior therapy is difficult to be taught or learned through a book. It's possible, but I received it from a Psychiatric Hospital through a two-week inpatient intensive CBT group, with the recommendation provided by my psychiatrist. While there are many skills within CBT, one of the most effective skills within the subject is Cognitive Distortion. You could potentially google Cognitive Distortion and find there are 10 different forms of distortion. There is a process in dissecting your thoughts, where you can assign your thoughts to several cognitive distortions. It's incredibly helpful, but it is difficult and albeit complicated to learn by oneself.

I don’t discount the competence of your psychologist, but psychoanalysis is something I personally researched and read from the progenitor, Sigmund Freud. It is very outdated and if you are interested, I implore you to discover it for yourself if you have the time. Succeeded by psychologist Carl Jung. The next prominent psychologist is quite famous, you may have heard of him, Dr. Jordan Peterson.

All in all, the best choice of action is to have a talk with your GP and visit the possibility of seeing a psychiatrist. I spent several years seeing a psychologist, but in the end, they cannot help you with medical or psychiatric conditions that may be undiagnosed i.e., Panic disorder. Prolonging the time to determine whether to see one may in fact increase the timeframe of finding the help you need. I know because I thought I was doing what I thought to be enough at the time and all I did was go around in circles. It may seem like a financial burden, however, Medicare will be able to provide you with some assistance. Additionally, it may probably be one of the best decisions you take when you look back in time as I have.

Hi @Sunnoi - panic attacks are incredibly draining physically and emotionally. I’ve had quite a few recently. Your body is invoking its “fight or flight” response which burns a lot of energy in a short time to deal with danger and then you need to rest!

As @tyme says, breathing exercises really help but it will take some practice to get good at it. Also look up the 4-7-8 breathing technique. Breathing well activates your parasympathetic nervous system which is the opposite to “fight or flight”.

The key thing is to do it regularly throughout your day.

Another technique that may help is sitting and observing. What is happening during a panic attack? Ok it feels totally awful, but aside from that are you actually in danger? Usually the answer is No.. and eventually the panic attack will end. It is horribly unpleasant but accepting that it’s happening and waiting until it passes is a better response than being afraid of it and trying to escape. I know in many situations you can’t just sit and wait but if you’re at home and it happens.. just try to watch those feelings pass by without engaging in them.

The difficulty with "thinking" your way out of it is that panic manifests as a biological response (adrenaline and cortisol) and this response shuts down the higher-level logic and reasoning skills. So focusing on breathing and watching thoughts pass by without engaging in them is the best you can do until it passes.

Panic attacks are an over-active way of your mind trying to keep you away from a perceived danger. Another technique is to ask yourself if the danger is REAL or if it’s something you think MIGHT happen in the future. If it’s a certainty then you probably need to take action to deal with it. If I panic about something that’s happening right now then I try to think of the very next, immediate step I can take to deal with it and then do that rather than continuing to stew about it.

If you’re worried about a “maybe” then panic is not necessary or appropriate! But rather than try to flee, tell yourself “thanks for bringing that to my attention but I don’t need to worry about it, most likely it won’t even happen”.

Studies have shown that of the things people worry about, 97% of the time the bad thing didn’t happen, or it turned out better than the fears predicted. So.. no matter how convinced we are it will happen, we are burning a lot of energy worrying about things that are our mind’s own creation!!

@Sunnoi

Vagus nerve exercises on Youtube

"Happiness Trap" by Dr Russ Harris

That book is great - and Russ Harris’ YouTube videos @Sunnoi @Cactus1