![]() Does it feel like you take a few steps up and then some unseen force pushes you to the bottom of the stairs of life? You don’t have to be a victim of stress. Gaining knowledge that you are in control is a powerful tool. Making use of that knowledge is even more powerful. Not taking on what you cannot handle, learn your limitations and stick to them. Do not overexert yourself. You can live a productive successful and fulfilling life and career without the need to endanger your state of health. Stress is a part of your everyday life. It can turn out to be both physical and mental and much of it will come at you from everyday demands. Remember everyone handles emotional anxiety differently. You will have you own unique way to handle anxiety, but know that you can learn skills to manage it more effectively in your own unique style! Left unchecked and in excessive amounts, however, stress results in physical, emotional, and behavioral disorders which commonly affect your health, vitality, and peace-of-mind, not to mention personal and occupational relationships. One of the unfortunate outcomes from suffering from excessive stress and anxiety is a physical reaction of your body to the situation. It’s like your body is telling you that you need to rest for a moment. Except when you’re having a panic attack, it’s anything BUT restful. Here are some signs that you might be having a panic attack. The following list gives tell-tale warning signs of an oncoming panic attack. · Palpitations · A pounding heart, or an accelerated heart rate · Sweating · Trembling or shaking · Shortness of breath · A choking sensation · Chest pain or discomfort · Nausea or stomach cramps · De-realization (a feeling of unreality) · Fear of losing control or going crazy · Fear of dying · Numbness or a tingling sensation in your face and limbs · Chills or hot flashes You would be surprised at how many people go to the hospital emergency room completely sure that they’re having a heart attack only to find out that it’s a panic attack. They’re that intense! It’s very difficult for your loved ones to imagine or even understand what you are going through when you have a panic attack. They may lose patience with you, tell you to “get over it”, or think you’re faking. I have had my own panic attack experience nearly 10 years ago with being rushed to the emergency room. My family not sure if I was having some seizure related attack or something more serious. My own internal fears increased, and my legs would not stop jerking, chest pains, shortness of breath, etc. A nurse actually impatiently and with authority told me to ‘just stop it!’ and I was so shocked at her rudeness, I didn’t realize that the jerkiness began to ease up and my other symptoms relaxed. I didn’t want to accept it was all in my head. That sounded crazy. It was a relief to find out, that I wasn’t crazy. There are many ways of coping with an anxiety disorder. Since we are all unique individuals, some may not work for you, but others might. It helps to know some of the most common coping techniques for dealing with panic attacks when they begin. Your first step is to be able to recognize when a panic attack is about to begin. When you have enough of them, you really start to pay attention to the tingling sensations, the shortness of breath, and the feeling disconnect from the real life around you. Those who have not experienced a panic attack have difficulty in understanding what that disconnect would feel like. Those of us who have experienced panic attacks are all too familiar with it. It’s like you can look at a solid object and see that it is there. You know it’s there, but a part of your mind doubts that it really IS there. You may find yourself reaching out to touch that object just to be sure. You feel like you’re not a part of the world around you. It’s as if you are just a spectator in your own life with no control over anything around you. Questioning whether you are dreaming or not, just not completely making a real connection. Believe me, this is a horrible feeling. So how do you start trying to combat your panic attacks? What if I told you the trick to ending panic and anxiety attacks is to WANT to have one. That sounds strange, even contradictory, doesn’t it? But the want really does help push it away. Does this mean that you should be able to bring on a panic attack at this very moment? Absolutely not! What it means is that when you are afraid of something – in this case a panic attack – it will more than likely appear and wreak havoc. When you stand up to the attack, your chances of fending it off are much greater. You are now taking control of the situation. If you resist a situation out of fear, the fear around that issue will persist. How do you stop resisting–you move directly into it, into the path of the anxiety, and by doing so it cannot persist. In essence what this means is that if you daily voluntarily seek to have a panic attack, you cannot have one. Try in this very moment to have a panic attack and I will guarantee you cannot. You may not realize it but you have always decided to panic. You make the choice by saying this is beyond my control whether it be consciously or sub-consciously. Another way to appreciate this is to imagine having a panic attack is similar to standing on edge of skyscraper building. The anxiety seemingly pushes you closer to falling over the edge. To be rid of the fear you must metaphorically jump. You must jump off the edge of the building and into the anxiety and fear and all the things that you fear most. How do you jump? You jump by wanting to have a panic attack. You go about your day asking for anxiety and panic attacks to appear. Your real safety is the fact that a panic attack will never harm you. That is a medical fact. You are safe, the sensations are wild but no harm will come to you. Your heart is racing but no harm will come to you. The jump becomes nothing more than a two foot drop! It’s perfectly safe. Anxiety causes an imbalance in your life whereby all of the mental worry creates a top-heavy sensation. All of your focus is moved from the center of your body to the head. Schools of meditation often like to demonstrate an example of this top-heavy imbalance by showing how easily the body can lose its sense of center. The key to overcoming panic attacks is to simply relax. That’s easy to say but difficult to do. A good way to do this is to concentrate on your breathing making sure it is slow and steady. One of the first signs of a panic attack is difficulty breathing, and you may find yourself panting to catch a breath. When you focus on making those breaths even, your heart rate will slow down and the panic will subside. Breathing more slowly and deeply has a calming effect. A good way to breathe easier is to let all the air out of your lungs. This forces your lungs to reach for a deeper breath next time. Continue to focus on your out-breath, letting all the air out of your lungs and soon you'll find your breathing is deeper and you feel calmer. Ideally, you want to take the focus off the fact that you are having a panic attack. Try to press your feet, one at a time, into the ground. Feel how connected and rooted they are to the ground. An even better way is to lie down with your bottom near a wall. Place your feet against the wall (your knees are bent) and press your feet one at a time into the wall. If you can breathe in as you press your foot against the wall, and breathe out as you release it, it will be more effective. You should alternate between your feet. Do this for 10 - 15 minutes or until the panic subsides. Use all of your senses to take full notice of what you see, hear, feel, and smell in your environment. This will help you to remain present. Panic is generally associated with remembering upsetting events from the past or anticipating something upsetting in the future. Anything that helps keep you focused in the present will be calming. Try looking around your room and noticing the colors, textures, and shapes; listening closely to the sounds you hear; call a friend; or smell the smells that are near you. Many people strongly advocate aromatherapy to deal with panic and anxiety. Lavender can have an especially calming and soothing effect when you smell it. You can find essential oil of lavender at many stores. Keep it handy and take a sniff when you start feeling anxious. Try putting a few drops of lavender essence oil into some oil (olive or grape seed oil will do) and rub it on your body. Keep a prepared mixture in a dark glass bottle for when you need it. You can even prepare several bottles, with a small one to carry with you. Other essential oils known to help anxiety and panic attacks are frankincense and marjoram. Smell each of them, and use what smells best to you, or a combination of your favorite oils mixed in olive or grape seed oil. You may want to prepare yourself BEFORE a panic attack happens. When you're not in a panicked state, make a list of the things that you're afraid will happen. Then write out calming things that tell you the opposite of your fears. Then you can repeat these things to yourself when the panic starts to come. Prepare a list of things to do in case of panicked feelings, and it will be ready for you when you need it. Fill it with lots of soothing messages and ideas of calming things to do. I find positive affirmations to be a very helpful tool that I use every day. You can have them written down, stored in a journal, notebook, desktop application, phone application, etc. They really can distract, calm and soothe you with just a glance reading.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Cynthia A NahinI live in Southwest Michigan and am excited at being able to create and share this blog with you. I hope you return often as I will provide you with many creative concepts that I have learned and put to practice successfully to achieve my end set goals! Believe me, you can do it, too! Blog Archives
March 2012
RSS BLOG FEEDClick on the RSS Feed below to subscribe and not miss out on the newest updates!Categories
All
|