Help ... can't let anxiety win

[SleepinginSeattle]

I posted on another thread and got some advice but coming back for more. I have to accompany a relative on a coach holiday in about 6 weeks and am already in a state of panic at the thought of it. I am very prone to anxiety, mostly health related, although only my partner is aware of this - certainly not the elderly relative with whom I will be away.

Please can someone share some methods to relieve the panic that builds up ... I get really dizzy and feel like I'm going to keel over, strange sensations in my legs and feet and my heart races. I know these feelings will pass but am terrified at the thought of being so far from home. What if something does happen? It won't, but what if? How do I control/stop these feelings building up.

There was a thread posted yesterday re blind panic and the advice and links in there seem really helpful. Have already ordered a book and bookmarked the links to read properly later.

If I pull out of this trip at almost the last minute, then I am not only letting anxiety win but letting myself down, not to mention the person who is depending on my companionship.

Help!

Hiya. Not sure I can help much, but just wanted to offer some been-there-done-that sympathy.

I know it's really easy for me to say, but although panic attacks feel awful, they won't do you any damage. If something does happen (it won't), someone around you will make sure you get the help you need. I've seen enough people faint on crowded commuter trains to know that the faintee will be well looked after and properly pampered until they feel well again. Ill people just don't get left lying around, honestly :)

When you're going through the panic, just try to get through the next few seconds. Then the next, then the next. Don't think too far ahead, just head down and one mental step at a time. It is just your brain playing tricks on you - it feels awful but it is just chemicals sloshing around your brain.

I know it can feel in a panic attack that you have to think things through or decide things or work out if a worry is real right there and then. You don't need to do this. If the worry is really genuine (eg a massive lion is approaching you :) ), trust me your body will get you out of there without you having to tell it! And if the worry is just part of the panic attack, you can wait and assess it when you're feeling calm, so put off thinking about it for a few seconds, and a few second more, and a few seconds more...etc.

Also, visualise what it will feel like afterwards, maybe months afterwards. By then the coach trip will just be something you did and that you coped with. Maybe it was stressful, maybe it wasn't, but it'll be in the past. Focus on imagining that point in the future when the trip will be behind you. In the meantime, hugs and best wishes.