Panic Attacks

[ibelieveinangels]

How do you cope with panic attacks? I have suffered for years, have had CBT several times but is does not work for me.

They get so bad i really feel i am going to pass out, everything doesnt feel real around me , they are so frightening.

I had a very bad one yesterday while i was out. I had to call a friend and she talked to me until i was able to get into my car and i eventually calmed down enough to drive home.

I wish i knew how to stop it in its tracks. They are making my life hell

I had severe panic attacks from 16 yold until my late twenties... I got a referral to a 'panic clinic' where they basically explained the biology behind them, breaking it down until I fully understood the process and how to 'intercept' and distract when I first felt a panic attack coming on.

If you can slow your breathing down, it's basically impossible to experience many of the really awful symptoms of a panic attack - most of which are triggered by the 'fight or flight response'... a totally normal response to a perceived threat. Obviously this was necessary in primitive societies, when we had to scarper from danger, but is pretty unnecessary in modern society. Our bodies are wired to have panic responses and sometimes, when we're scared, anxious or stressed, these wired get a bit crossed and trigger breathing changes, raised heartrate, blood rushes to our vital organs, making us feel faint, trippy and wobbly.

Firstly - it's really common and you're absolutely not alone in these feelings - so don't feel like there's something essentially 'wrong' with you - you absolutely can get over them once you find a technique that works for you...

For me, it was a combination of:

• understanding the biology so I didn't feel so scared about it - this gave me a sense of control.
• slowing down my breathing, so my heartrate couldn't rise and the fight or flight response wasn't so severe.
• distraction through singing if i was on my own (sounds bananas but it works!). Any song i could think of or would just make something up. It somehow brings you out of your head
• engaging your other senses through 'grounding techniques. Check out this link for examples - psychcentral.com/anxiety/using-the-five-senses-for-anxiety-relief#5-4-3-2-1-technique

Lastly, try not to get too worried about the derealisation attached to panic attacks - for me, it was the worst bit... I felt like I was going to wake up in another reality mid-panic attack, and became convinced I and my environment weren't real. Such a scary experience, but again, it's your brain trying to cope with stress but shutting down. Your body is doing what it's supposed to do, you just need to focus on interrupting the process from spiraling.

Panic attacks are awful. I've suffered for years. I wouldn't wish them on anyone.
I tried so many different things but nothing really helped me much until I read a book called DARE by Barry McDonagh. It really helped me.
There is also a workbook that is quite good too. But if you are buying one of them just get the main DARE book.

It taught me to not fear the anxiety/panic anymore. It's hard to explain in a few messages on here but I really do recommend it.
It's all about inviting anxiety in to sit with you (as if it was a friend) and not to fear it, to know that it isn't going to make you faint/stop breathing/have a heart attack (whatever it is you fear)
I also have a audio track by Barry that I listen to if I'm in a panic attack and it really does help to calm me down. It advises you to encourage anxiety to "do it's worst" and it has 21 seconds to do this and it's amazing how literally counting down from 21 can make you feel so much calmer.

I guess the answer is to just keep trying different things to see if one (or a combination) can help you find some relief.
I don't suffer anywhere near as bad now. I think I'd spent such a long time being so scared of anxiety that when I looked at it from a different perspective it helped me to not fear it anymore.

Meditation is also another good one to try, I know it's not for everyone but again, some people find it really helps them. I quite like guided meditation on an app, I use breethe or calm and they have meditations for anxiety/panic.

I hope you can find something that helps. I know how much they start to rule your life.
Please know that things do get better and it will always pass no matter how bad it feels in that moment.

Try this video;

@Christoncrutches

I had severe panic attacks from 16 yold until my late twenties... I got a referral to a 'panic clinic' where they basically explained the biology behind them, breaking it down until I fully understood the process and how to 'intercept' and distract when I first felt a panic attack coming on.

If you can slow your breathing down, it's basically impossible to experience many of the really awful symptoms of a panic attack - most of which are triggered by the 'fight or flight response'... a totally normal response to a perceived threat. Obviously this was necessary in primitive societies, when we had to scarper from danger, but is pretty unnecessary in modern society. Our bodies are wired to have panic responses and sometimes, when we're scared, anxious or stressed, these wired get a bit crossed and trigger breathing changes, raised heartrate, blood rushes to our vital organs, making us feel faint, trippy and wobbly.

Firstly - it's really common and you're absolutely not alone in these feelings - so don't feel like there's something essentially 'wrong' with you - you absolutely can get over them once you find a technique that works for you...

For me, it was a combination of:

• understanding the biology so I didn't feel so scared about it - this gave me a sense of control.
• slowing down my breathing, so my heartrate couldn't rise and the fight or flight response wasn't so severe.
• distraction through singing if i was on my own (sounds bananas but it works!). Any song i could think of or would just make something up. It somehow brings you out of your head
• engaging your other senses through 'grounding techniques. Check out this link for examples - psychcentral.com/anxiety/using-the-five-senses-for-anxiety-relief#5-4-3-2-1-technique

Lastly, try not to get too worried about the derealisation attached to panic attacks - for me, it was the worst bit... I felt like I was going to wake up in another reality mid-panic attack, and became convinced I and my environment weren't real. Such a scary experience, but again, it's your brain trying to cope with stress but shutting down. Your body is doing what it's supposed to do, you just need to focus on interrupting the process from spiraling.

Thank you so much for your reply. Will be trying what you have suggested. Glad to hear you got over them, it gives me hope that i will be able to beat this.

@HappyGirl86

Panic attacks are awful. I've suffered for years. I wouldn't wish them on anyone. I tried so many different things but nothing really helped me much until I read a book called DARE by Barry McDonagh. It really helped me. There is also a workbook that is quite good too. But if you are buying one of them just get the main DARE book.

It taught me to not fear the anxiety/panic anymore. It's hard to explain in a few messages on here but I really do recommend it.
It's all about inviting anxiety in to sit with you (as if it was a friend) and not to fear it, to know that it isn't going to make you faint/stop breathing/have a heart attack (whatever it is you fear)
I also have a audio track by Barry that I listen to if I'm in a panic attack and it really does help to calm me down. It advises you to encourage anxiety to "do it's worst" and it has 21 seconds to do this and it's amazing how literally counting down from 21 can make you feel so much calmer.

I guess the answer is to just keep trying different things to see if one (or a combination) can help you find some relief.
I don't suffer anywhere near as bad now. I think I'd spent such a long time being so scared of anxiety that when I looked at it from a different perspective it helped me to not fear it anymore.

Meditation is also another good one to try, I know it's not for everyone but again, some people find it really helps them. I quite like guided meditation on an app, I use breethe or calm and they have meditations for anxiety/panic.

I hope you can find something that helps. I know how much they start to rule your life.
Please know that things do get better and it will always pass no matter how bad it feels in that moment.

Thank you so much for your reply. I will have a look at the book you suggested.

I do occasionally do the guided meditation, but its when im out and the panic hits you , i just don;t know what to do. My breathing goes all over the place and i end up hyperventilating!

[quote Sarahlou63]Try this video;

[/quote] Thank you for the video link,

I was going to tell you about the DARE book but someone beat me to it. Please get this book. Buy a digital version so you can have it on your phone, everywhere you go in case you need support. Once you realise that panic attacks can not hurt you everything changes. They are an inconvenient flood of hormones, that's all, and you can manage them.

I totally understand that feeling in the moment where you think I'm not in control, I can't handle this, something really bad is going to happen etc...
This was where the DARE method helped me as it reduced my fear of all those thoughts.
I haven't got shares in this book haha I just think for me it really helped me after many many years of suffering.

I used a couple of techniques which turned me into someone who was diagnosed with panic disorder I was getting so many, to me now - who can't remember when her last one was.

I started listening to binaural beats when I felt I was heading towards a panic attack. I also learnt to meditate, part of which is accepting the feelings you're having during an attack and kinda "riding the wave", this ultimately led to having fewer and fewer attacks until they stopped altogether.