Coping with Anxiety and Panic Attacks
Coping with Panic and Anxiety Attacks
Susan D’angelo is a typical mother of two, doing her daily routine. She wakes up, gets her children ready for school, gets herself ready for work, makes a light breakfast, and then she’s on her way to drop her kids off at school. However, today is no ordinary day for Susan, because somewhere between dropping her children off at school, and the drive to work that morning, she starts to get that fluttering feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her heart rate starts to increase, and her hands start to sweat. Immediately she’s bombarded by thoughts of: “Did I forget something?” “Are my children going to be ok at school?” “What if I’m late for work?”
None of these events have happened yet, but in Susan’s mind, they are happening right now. The brain starts sending signals to the body to go into “fight or flight” mode, which triggers the release of adrenaline to deal with this stress. All of the sudden, her heart starts racing; her breathing becomes rapid, and she believes that she is experiencing symptoms of a heart attack. This only further intensifies the body’s response to the immediate danger. Before long, Susan is experiencing a full blown panic attack.
Everyone at some point in their lives has experienced panic attacks, but usually the attacks coincide with a particularly stressful event such as: a fire, an emergency, a robbery, etc… In some people though, these events may play out only in their minds, but as that person continues to dwell on those thoughts, the body starts to behave as if there is clear and present danger. Sometimes, the body doesn’t even need a thought to trigger a panic attack. You could be standing in line at the grocery store, driving to your child’s soccer game, or just sitting at home watching television.
This is not a normal problem that anyone should live with! A panic attack is a horrible experience, and people start worrying that they may have another at any time. Of course that means they probably will end up panicking that they will have another panic attack. It’s a vicious cycle, and no one really has one answer to why these attacks occur abnormally. However, there are methods of coping or even eliminating panic attacks.
There are some important things to keep in mind when you are experiencing a panic attack:
• Your heart will not stop beating during an attack. Many people think that their heart will simply “give out” which only worsens the effect of the panic attack. Keep this in mind: your body is behaving the way it is supposed to during a high-stress situation.
• You are not going crazy! It may feel like your thoughts are spiraling out of control, but in reality, millions of people suffer from panic attacks in the United States alone. You are not alone in your plight, and just as quickly as they come on, panic attacks go away.
• You are not going to pass out and stop breathing during a panic attack. If that were the case, you would see fire fighters and police officers passing out while they are responding to an emergency. The body is designed to cope with these temporary bursts of anxiety, and they can cope with them for extended periods of time. It’s part of our body’s ingenious design that gets us out of harm’s way.
When you are experiencing the onset of an attack, try taking your mind off of it. I know this sounds easier said than done, but there are ways you can lessen the effects of a panic attack. Let’s say you are driving, and you see a wall of tail lights up ahead. You have to be at work in 15 minutes, and the traffic jam isn’t going to let up any time soon. There is nothing you can do about it, but you start to get stressed out about it anyways.
• Try calming yourself down by putting in your favorite CD, or listen to a humorous talk radio show.
• Think rationally! Just keep telling yourself “I’ll get there when I get there. There’s nothing more I can do.” I’m guilty of playing and replaying what I think the boss will say by the time I actually get there, only to find out that the situation was much scarier in my mind than in reality! Then I feel silly that I got myself so worked up over nothing.
Sometimes anxiety can crop up in other places, such as getting on a plane, or simply sitting on the couch watching the news.
• If you are on a plane, try talking with someone to take your mind off of flying. I’m so guilty of being so worked up over the what-ifs, that I miss out on a pretty cool experience. Let’s say the man or woman sitting next to you is flying for the first time, try concentrating more on talking with that person. Who knows, you may make a great friend and find yourself forgetting all about being anxious.
• Try working on a hobby if you are at home during an attack. If you enjoy drawing, writing, or playing music, work on something you can immerse yourself in!
• Try moving to a different area, or go for a walk.
• If you are watching something on TV that stresses you out, don’t keep watching it! Change the channel. I’m guilty of this myself!
Sometimes we need a little extra help in reducing stress and anxiety. Sometimes the fear of having panic attacks can inhibit you from doing things you once enjoyed. Sometimes in extreme cases, the fear of having panic attacks can keep you from doing even routine activities. This can lead to severe problems like depression. In these cases, simply telling ourselves to snap out of it isn’t going to work.
If you are looking for self-help programs, the Internet has a host of different programs ranging from e-books on how to identify and deal with attacks, to meditation mp3’s and videos to help you. If you are suffering from depression caused by anxiety, it may be time to talk to your doctor about treatment options available to you. Never trick yourself into thinking that this is just the way I am. Panic attacks are treatable, and no one has to go through life constantly afraid of having another one.
To learn more about products for treating panic attacks and anxiety, go to my blog to see what is out there!
[http://loupreviews.com/index.php?catid=4&blogid=2]
Susan D’angelo is a typical mother of two, doing her daily routine. She wakes up, gets her children ready for school, gets herself ready for work, makes a light breakfast, and then she’s on her way to drop her kids off at school. However, today is no ordinary day for Susan, because somewhere between dropping her children off at school, and the drive to work that morning, she starts to get that fluttering feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her heart rate starts to increase, and her hands start to sweat. Immediately she’s bombarded by thoughts of: “Did I forget something?” “Are my children going to be ok at school?” “What if I’m late for work?”
None of these events have happened yet, but in Susan’s mind, they are happening right now. The brain starts sending signals to the body to go into “fight or flight” mode, which triggers the release of adrenaline to deal with this stress. All of the sudden, her heart starts racing; her breathing becomes rapid, and she believes that she is experiencing symptoms of a heart attack. This only further intensifies the body’s response to the immediate danger. Before long, Susan is experiencing a full blown panic attack.
Everyone at some point in their lives has experienced panic attacks, but usually the attacks coincide with a particularly stressful event such as: a fire, an emergency, a robbery, etc… In some people though, these events may play out only in their minds, but as that person continues to dwell on those thoughts, the body starts to behave as if there is clear and present danger. Sometimes, the body doesn’t even need a thought to trigger a panic attack. You could be standing in line at the grocery store, driving to your child’s soccer game, or just sitting at home watching television.
This is not a normal problem that anyone should live with! A panic attack is a horrible experience, and people start worrying that they may have another at any time. Of course that means they probably will end up panicking that they will have another panic attack. It’s a vicious cycle, and no one really has one answer to why these attacks occur abnormally. However, there are methods of coping or even eliminating panic attacks.
There are some important things to keep in mind when you are experiencing a panic attack:
• Your heart will not stop beating during an attack. Many people think that their heart will simply “give out” which only worsens the effect of the panic attack. Keep this in mind: your body is behaving the way it is supposed to during a high-stress situation.
• You are not going crazy! It may feel like your thoughts are spiraling out of control, but in reality, millions of people suffer from panic attacks in the United States alone. You are not alone in your plight, and just as quickly as they come on, panic attacks go away.
• You are not going to pass out and stop breathing during a panic attack. If that were the case, you would see fire fighters and police officers passing out while they are responding to an emergency. The body is designed to cope with these temporary bursts of anxiety, and they can cope with them for extended periods of time. It’s part of our body’s ingenious design that gets us out of harm’s way.
When you are experiencing the onset of an attack, try taking your mind off of it. I know this sounds easier said than done, but there are ways you can lessen the effects of a panic attack. Let’s say you are driving, and you see a wall of tail lights up ahead. You have to be at work in 15 minutes, and the traffic jam isn’t going to let up any time soon. There is nothing you can do about it, but you start to get stressed out about it anyways.
• Try calming yourself down by putting in your favorite CD, or listen to a humorous talk radio show.
• Think rationally! Just keep telling yourself “I’ll get there when I get there. There’s nothing more I can do.” I’m guilty of playing and replaying what I think the boss will say by the time I actually get there, only to find out that the situation was much scarier in my mind than in reality! Then I feel silly that I got myself so worked up over nothing.
Sometimes anxiety can crop up in other places, such as getting on a plane, or simply sitting on the couch watching the news.
• If you are on a plane, try talking with someone to take your mind off of flying. I’m so guilty of being so worked up over the what-ifs, that I miss out on a pretty cool experience. Let’s say the man or woman sitting next to you is flying for the first time, try concentrating more on talking with that person. Who knows, you may make a great friend and find yourself forgetting all about being anxious.
• Try working on a hobby if you are at home during an attack. If you enjoy drawing, writing, or playing music, work on something you can immerse yourself in!
• Try moving to a different area, or go for a walk.
• If you are watching something on TV that stresses you out, don’t keep watching it! Change the channel. I’m guilty of this myself!
Sometimes we need a little extra help in reducing stress and anxiety. Sometimes the fear of having panic attacks can inhibit you from doing things you once enjoyed. Sometimes in extreme cases, the fear of having panic attacks can keep you from doing even routine activities. This can lead to severe problems like depression. In these cases, simply telling ourselves to snap out of it isn’t going to work.
If you are looking for self-help programs, the Internet has a host of different programs ranging from e-books on how to identify and deal with attacks, to meditation mp3’s and videos to help you. If you are suffering from depression caused by anxiety, it may be time to talk to your doctor about treatment options available to you. Never trick yourself into thinking that this is just the way I am. Panic attacks are treatable, and no one has to go through life constantly afraid of having another one.
To learn more about products for treating panic attacks and anxiety, go to my blog to see what is out there!
[http://loupreviews.com/index.php?catid=4&blogid=2]
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