My Panic Attack Solution

I feel like I cant do anything except panicking ; I am in a rut , I myself landed into all this , I am a victim of depression , This depression caused me to procrastinate , I thought I had lot of time , but now I feel like… , O god I am in a rut , I have been in this rut since three years , I am a 18 year old guy , a college student , I thought of myself as a sincere student , I respected myself that I am good in my eyes , Only three weeks for exam I havent studied one book yet , I have fallen in my own eyes , let alone others , I feel cheated & also that I cheated others , O my god , How do I let myself fall into all this ; I am a three year bachelors degree student , Currently I am in second year , O god , If I dont perform good , I will land in deep deep deep trouble , and I doubt that I will be able to do good , I cant see light at the end of the tunnel , I feel myself in a pitch black darkness , What should I do , If I continue like this I will not get a good job , I will not get admission in a good institute , My parents , their dreams , will be broken if am not able to clear this mess , I have begin to question myself ; I feel like I will never taste success in my life , I feel defeated ,, What do I do ??

If all this doesnt gets well in a few months , then I will surely commit suicide , coz then there is no hope ; I know my parents will regret , coz I am there only son , But I dont wanna live in this hell around me

Breathe………..ok. Its called stress. I have suffered from anxiety and panic disorder for ten years. You are under severe stress but alot of it is self induced with your "what if" mentality. What i have learned from my anxiety is that no matter what i fear it always is never as bad as i make it. My suggestion 2 you is to make a schedule of times to study and times to break away and RELAX! Anything that gets your mind off of school and is healthy in relieving your stress would be great. You are in charge of your own life and can’t always worry about what other people will think or feel about the desicions or outcomes of your situation. Start living for you but don’t throw away your education. Hope this helps. Best of luck to you.

these are factors before and after the "attack" they may/may not be relevant.
before: mild numbness at the tip of my pinkie finger left hand
after: complete numbness between the pinkie to middle finger. this extends mid fore arm. sometimes numbness goes down (2weeks after) but is replaced by pain and joint pain

after: left hand decreased mobility, while in the rested position the ring finger is noticeably contorted.
decreased strength in fingers, like when i flick someone or play guitar
(while trying my hardest to flick in both hands I’d say the left hand is weaker by one tenth-one fifth)

factors relevant to symptoms :
2 months before i dropped a 30 lbs weight on my left hand, pinning it between a metal rack and the handle.
similar numbness was felt after i dropped it. a pink lump of scar tissue still replaces where a 1cm of skin was torn off. after i dropped it my fingers had similar contortion to my current situation.

i took 70mg of vyvanse followed by another 70 4 hours later.(semi recreational)
i was in a high mental stress situation at the time of the "attack"

the actual attack.

severe sadness (not depression)
no ability to think (only able to say the same thing over again, less coherently as time passed)
increased breathing resulting in hyperventilation resulting to not breathing for about one minute
heart rate exponentially increased to what i estimate to be 300 bpm (estimated using a metronome)
blurred vision
inability to understand language.
eventually uddered "I’m having panic attack" (article was left out)
numbness starting at farthest extremeties approaching and stopping at the torso.
a sudden feeling of being disonnected to my body, lasting 20 seconds
room spinned (not visually but felt like a vortex or something)
the last feeling i had was that like; my mind was shutting down everything. i no longer felt like i had a body, my eyes didn’t move. head fell back and faced the ceiling (i was standing up). the only thing i could think was (I’m loosing consciousness) i thought this very slowly.
i peaked at the point where i was effectively blind. (i saw the blurred picture of what my eyes where staring at. hard to explain but it felt like my vision made no sense and that i couldn’t get information from it)
at this point i focused my mind to repeatedly think the phrase. "don’t pass out" over and over again. i came back, slowly i started saying don’t pass out, verbally.
i regained everything, the feeling in my extremities was the last.
i even through my wobbly hand against a book shelf and felt no pain.

is any of this relevant. was it a panic attack or what? i looked at the symptoms and thought so, but described it too my friend who has had loads of them (and also feelings of "reaching her limit" using a wide variety of drugs including meth). she said after a certain point, that no longer sounds like a panic attack.
additional info
body weight 220
height 6′4
waist about 35 inches (based on average pant sizes i wear)
heart rate with no physical excitement (mental maybe) and sober
85-97 bpm
my heart rate never seems to exceed the 150-170 range at any level of excersize or exertion
i tried st. johns wort
been off it a long time
maybe i should get back on.
idk, i didn’t really feel any better but then again i didn’t have any stress

Please don’t ignore your problem or take medications that you think might help. I was an RN for many years (currently disabled) and you have a multitude of symptoms that make me think "panic" has little to do with this "attack" and is more of a reaction on your part to these attacks.

You really would do better by seeing an MD in the near future. It could be psychological, but all physical reasons have to be eliminated first. Get a complete physical with blood work.

That’s what I would do. Good luck.

Help my husband has panic attacks we have lost just about everything we have tried doctors, counselors, hypnotheripist, and self help books. I am goin crazy. I do so much by myself or with my 2 yr old. anyone have any suggestions for me

*Causes:
Panic disorder has been found to run in families, and this may mean that inheritance plays a strong role in determining who will get it. However, many people who have no family history of the disorder develop it.

Heredity, other biological factors, stressful life events, and thinking in a way that exaggerates relatively normal bodily reactions are all believed to play a role in the onset of panic disorder. Often the first attacks are triggered by physical illnesses, a major life stress, or certain medications. Some people who tend to take on excessive responsibilities may develop a tendency to suffer panic attacks. PTSD patients also show a much higher rate of Panic Disorder than the general population. The exact cause or causes of panic disorder are unknown and are the subject of intense scientific investigation.

Studies in animals and humans have focused on pinpointing the specific brain areas involved in anxiety disorders such as panic disorder. Fear, an emotion that evolved to deal with danger, causes an automatic, rapid protective response that occurs without the need for conscious thought. It has been found that the body’s fear response is coordinated by a small but complicated structure deep inside the brain called the amygdala.

Hypoglycemia may also cause panic attacks. In this condition the receptors for insulin do not respond properly to insulin, interfering with the transport of glucose across the membranes of cells. The brain depends on a steady supply of glucose — its only source of energy. When there is a sudden fall in blood sugar levels the brain sends a hormonal signal to the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline. This hormone functions to raise blood sugar levels by converting glycogen into glucose, thus preventing brain starvation, but it is also a panic hormone that is responsible for attacks of fear. The non-drug treatment for this is the adoption of the hypoglycemic diet. [3]

*Treatment:
Panic disorder is real and potentially disabling, but it can be controlled with specific treatments. Because of the disturbing symptoms that accompany panic disorder, it may be mistaken for heart disease or some other life-threatening medical illness. This misconception often aggravates or triggers future attacks in the uninformed. People frequently go to hospital emergency rooms when they are having a panic attack, and extensive medical tests may be performed to rule out these other conditions.

Treatment for panic disorder includes medications and a type of psychotherapy known as cognitive-behavioral therapy, which teaches people about the nature of panic attacks, the cycles of negative thoughts, and demonstrated ways to interrupt the panic process.

Medications can be used to break the psychological connection between a specific phobia and panic attacks, reducing future panic attacks. Medications can include antidepressants (SSRI’s, MAOI’s, etc.) taken every day, or anti-anxiety drugs (benzodiazepines, e.g. — Valium, Ativan, Xanax, etc.) during or in anticipation of panic attacks. Exposure to the phobia trigger multiple times without a resulting panic attack (due to medication) can often break the phobia-panic pattern, allowing people to function around their phobia without the help of medications. However, for minor phobias that develop as a result of the panic attack, with early detection these can be eliminated without medication through monitored cognitive-behavioral therapy or simply by reinserting oneself into the phobic activity. The decision to participate in this therapy personally or through a registered practitioner should always be left to a medical professional.

Often, a combination of psychotherapy and medications produces good results. Some improvement may be noticed in a fairly short period of time–about 6 to 8 weeks. Thus appropriate treatment by an experienced professional can prevent panic attacks or at least substantially reduce their severity and frequency–bringing significant relief to 70 to 90 percent of people with panic disorder. [2] Relapses may occur, but they can often be effectively treated just like the initial episode.

In addition, people with panic disorder may need treatment for other emotional problems. Clinical depression has often been associated with panic disorder, as have alcoholism and drug addiction. About 30% of people with panic disorder use alcohol and 17% use drugs such as cocaine or marijuana to alleviate the anguish and distress caused by their condition. Research has also suggested that suicide attempts are more frequent in people with panic disorder, although this research remains controversial.

As with many disorders, having a support structure of family and friends who understand the condition can help increase the rate of recovery. During an attack, it is not uncommon for the sufferer to develop irrational, immediate fear, which can often be dispelled by a supporter who is familiar with the condition. For more serious or active treatment, there are support groups for anxiety sufferers which can help people understand and deal with the disorder.

Other forms of treatment include journalling, in which a patient records their day-to-day activities and emotions in a log to find and deal with their personal stresses, and breathing exercises, such as diaphragmatic breathing. Stress-relieving activities such as tai-chi, yoga, and physical exercise can also help ameliorate the causes of panic disorder. Many physicians will recommend stress-management, time-management, and emotion-balancing classes and seminars to help patients avoid anxiety in the future.

*Extra Tips:
Feeling panic or having panic attacks can be very frightening. You might experience your heart racing, have difficulty catching your breath & feel pains in your chest. You might hyperventilate, perspire, feel dizzy or nauseous & tremble. Not surprisingly, people sometimes think that they are dying.
There are different ways to deal with & even avoid panic attacks. It can help to recognize the signs of panic as early as possible, because sometimes you can prevent a full-blown panic attack by finding ways to calm yourself in the initial stages. Here are a few suggestions:

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, that you can repeat to yourself when the panic starts to come.

Prepare a list of things to do in case of panicked feelings, & it will be ready for you when you need it. Fill it with lots of soothing messages & ideas of calming things to do.

Slow your breathing down. Breathing more slowly & deeply has a calming effect. One good way to do this 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 & soon you’ll find your breathing is deeper & you feel calmer.

Press your feet, one at a time, into the ground. Feel how connected & 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) & press your feet one at a time into the wall. If you can breathe in as you press your foot against the wall & breathe out as you release it, it will be more effective. Alternate between your feet. Do this for 10 – 15 minutes.

Take Bach’s Rescue Remedy (Flower Remedy). This can help to take the edge off a crisis or panic attack. You can take a few drops under your tongue or drink a glass of water with a few drops in it. If you need to, you can take Rescue Remedy every 15 minutes.

Put a little bit of lavender essence oil on your body, or inhale it. Lavender oil has a calming, soothing effect. Try putting a few drops of lavender essence oil into some oil (olive or grapeseed oil will do) & rub 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.
You can also put a few drops of pure essential oil on your pillow or clothes, or on a lightbulb ring (especially for essential oils & fragrance). Or place a few drops of lavender oil in a small amount of water in a spray bottle & spray your room with it.

Other essential oils known to help panic & panic attacks are helichrysum, frankincense & majoram. Smell each of them & use what smells best to you, or a combination of your favourite oils mixed in olive or grapeseed oil.

Breathe into a brown paper bag. If you have lavender essence oil, put in one or two drops for added calming. It might sound silly, but it actually helps you to breathe more fully & to feel calmer.

Use all of your senses to take full notice of what you see, hear, feel & 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 focussed in the present will be calming. Here are some suggestions for doing that: holding a pet; looking around your room & noticing the colours, textures & shapes; listening closely to the sounds you hear; calling a friend; and smelling the smells that are near you.

Panic can be a very scary thing to go through, especially if you’re alone. Preparing for when the panic comes can really help reduce the panic & even sometimes help to prevent it.

Every time someone hears about my attacks, I get useless and banal "advice" on overcoming them. People with no real psychological education other than reading self help books and watching Dr. Phil. My favorite is "suck it up" and "be a man." So anyone out there with panic disorder get this often or notice this? Does it bug you? How do you cope? It’s bad enough to have an illness that has you by the throat, but to endure constant ignorance is just salt in the wound.
10 years with panic disorder (agoraphobia on and off) Have been on Paxil, Lexapro, Celexa, Effexor, Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, etc.

Tested for bi-polar and manic depression..hade neither, but was given Depikote "just in case" and it reacted badly.

8 years for constant therapy, psychotherapy, CBT, meditation and relaxation techniques, feedback related techniques and very little progress with most. CBT is still current and on going.

Maybe it helps to know that it’s not just people with panic attacks who get the same advice. Addicts are told that it’s simply their choice to stop anything, even by someone like "Dr." Laura on the radio. It truly is their choice whether to get help or not, but there’s nothing simple about that, and that’s usually not what the advice-givers mean. They mean to just stop the bad behavior, pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. They don’t understand the obstacles to that.

It’s the same thing with anxiety or mood disorders. People are told to "suck it up" and be normal, as if there isn’t already someone in our heads who guilt trips us this way.

I find it helpful to accept that human nature makes people both ignorant and arrogant in their opinions from politics to religion to anything personal. People are blind to what they don’t know. They don’t know just how much they don’t know. Our brain easily makes up stories to explain what we see, whether that’s about things or about people. If other people try to tell us differently – well, what do they know? If experts try to tell us differently – I’m not clear about that part of our culture that rejects experts so often. I’m not sure about all the details of why people give bad advice about mental health, but I’m sure it comes from human nature, whether one sees that as an illness everyone has or something to be overcome, like the ignorance and self-doubt of being a child.

I do continue to feel frustration when I see or hear advice that knows nothing about the condition at hand. It helps me to remind myself that people who do that don’t know better. Maybe they should, but they don’t, and they’re unlikely to change just because I say they should. All you can do is say what you know, and know that it’s too bad that not everyone sticks to just what they know. I think the truth of people’s experience does get out eventually. It just takes a long time because so many people already have decided to label others in simplistic ways. Such people will die off eventually. I hope I’m over my desire to dance on their grave when they actually do.

My husband is an arachnophobia.
We have 6 kids and they all understand he can’t be around spiders. Our 11 year old, however, has recently decided its fun to get pictures out of his school science books, cut them out and stick them around where his dad can find them. I have tried to explain to him many times that its not funny and its upsetting his father to the point of panic attacks but he will not listen. I have taken away his allowance and his computer but it doesn’t work.
Can anyone help?

it doesn’t sound like he actually wants to hurt his father – most likely he just wants some attention, which I guess might easily happen with 6 children.

Many times children develop such habits in order to get attention, as the "you’re bad" or whatsoever talk is the only way for them to gain that attention they have to keep doing it. Find some way to engage with him, e.g. go somewhere for a short while with just him and not another child, or as he is targeting your husband maybe he is actually the one of whom he wants more attention.

Just, don’t punish him harshly for it, that will never help (as it is also a form of attention it might actually provoke the opposite)

Good luck.

I’ve recently developed a fear of flying. I used to be fine, but my last two flights I have had serious panic attacks. Ive booked a flight to Greece from Montreal this month. any tips on how to calm down. or anyone who has taken anything (anti-anxiety) etc. can you recommend anything to take?
also are their places to land when you are in the middle of the ocean? because I am fine over land, it is mostly the overwater parts that make me panic.

Try taking a sleeping pill right before you go so you will sleep through the whole flight and be fine when you wake up!

I am going to a direct six hour flight to go on vacation on Thursday and I always get nervous and have small panic attacks while on the plane. I try to occupy myself with books and my nintendo DS but it gets too much for me. It has always been like this, even before 9/11 and I have not had a bad experience on the plane. My mom and my older brother will be flying with me and they are fine with flying and get annoyed at me when I get nervous. What are some things I can do to stop stressing? Please help me!

I am the same way…

for some reason whenever I fly (travel by air) I feel that
the plane is going to crash and that I am going to die.
which is why even short flight leave me exhausted from the stress and fear and prolly a lot of adrenaline rush during the flight.

what helped me was taking yoga classes.

now i am able to meditate and do breathing exercises.

but before that i usually stay all night before my flight so that during the flight I’ll be too exhausted and sleepy to worry about my fear.

have a great trip…

I hope this helps.

BTW, I stay away from alcohol and prescription drugs during flights coz at the back of my mind if (God forbid) it crashes and I survive, I want to be able to think straight (unaffected by chemicals) which makes my chance for survival higher.

yup… I was that paranoid about flying then… LOL

I get financial aid, & I don’t have the money to pay for books because the check goes to the school. I applied for a book loan through the school that’s NOT credit-based, & they deduct it out of your financial aid refund check. They declined my application for I don’t know what reason. That would be the only way I’d have money for books. I’m very IRRITATED right now! I’m having a panic attack. I really want to do well this semester & pass, but how can I if my refund check doesn’t come until 2 weeks after school starts, & I’m going to be way behind & it’ll be very hard for me to catch up?

I got to TWU with my friend, she has had that problem a couple of times. The best option would be to got to the Fin Aid office and see if they can help you. If they don’t help you, talk to a supervisor. Be respectful, if you walk in there sirens blaring, they might not be willing to help.

Someone I know had a panic attack. It was his first time and before he told me about how he felt like hyperventilating. So when I saw him when he had a panic attack I was so worried. I told him to breath and calm down and I walked with him for a while and left him with someone else. I read a book about a girl and dealing with panic attacks before. But I am no pro.
So here are my questions:

THIS IS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE EXPERIENCE IN THIS!!!
Can someone tell me more about it? (No links please) What should I do? I told him they should tell his parents. The thing is I feel like there is nothing I can do but be there for him.

I don’t really want an answer based on some research, I can do that myself. I just really want info from an expert or someone who’s experienced this before…

Much love and thanks!!
He’s always happy and everything…so it felt weird that it’d happen to HIM. But I know that panic attacks can happen for no reason.

Thanks so much for all your help!!

OK, I have panic attacks, and have for about 3 yrs. The best thing you can do is what you are doing. When a person is in the middle of an attack, don’t try to talk unless they want to. I have to pace mine off around the house to get back to normal. He may feel like he is having a heart attack, but he is not. The chest pains, hyperventilating, etc are just sign of the attack. He has to keep telling himself that he will be all right, he is not going to die. One thing that really helps me out is to do a few "normal" things around the house, like laundry, floors, dusting, anything that feels "normal" to the person is a help. If they walk out of the room, it is because he can’t talk right now. Do not follow him around.
And, he should really talk to a therapist, or a psychiatrist. The latter can prescribe meds that might help, too.

My daughter has developed social anxiety at school. She has panic attacks when I take her to school (so she is now at home) and has panic attacks whilst at school. I have booked her into a psychologist next week. Does anyone have any suggestions? We have tried taking her back to school gradually and it did work for a week, but then she regressed. My husband doesn’t like her not going to school and that stresses me out. He doesn’t understand. I have OCD and am on meds. My anxiety is not good at the moment also.

I am 16 years old with OCD, social anxiety, panic attacks and perhaps Avoidant Personality Disorder.

You stated that your daughter developed social anxiety at school, I am thus wondering if a significant event occurred, setting forth the social anxiety. Look into it and try to get her to open up. However, if she is resistant when you probe, do not go any further or she may withdraw from you. Whatever her response will be, social anxiety does not happen out of the blue, caused by chemicals in the brain. It is brought forth by perhaps traumatic or humiliating experience(s).

Please Google Agoraphobia (social phobia) and Avoidant Personality Disorder.

It is great to see that you, as a mother, care for your daughter. My mother does not seem to care that I have OCD. I had to source for a psychologist on my own and only take money from my mother weekly for the consultation fee.

You have made a smart choice by scheduling an appointment with a psychologist for the start. If medication is deemed necessary to take the edge off, the psychologist will then refer your daughter to a psychiatrist.

I hope that the psychologist is a good one and your daughter opens up.

Good luck and take care.