How do I stop panic attacks taking over my life?
When I was on holiday in Corfu about 7 months ago, I had an unexpected panic attack for no reason. My chest went tight and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Ever since then, I think about it constantly and whenever I think about it I have breathing difficulties…like I feel like its hard work to keep breathing. Its horrible and I just seem to think about it all the time so I’m constantly worried. I’m worried to go anywhere…I’m even worried about going to a new years eve party thats about 20 minutes drive away and having a few drinks in case I have a full on panic attack. I really don’t want this to take over my life 
Any suggestions on how to stop it please??
Panic attacks are a vicious cycle. Remember that they cannot hurt you. Your heart won’t stop. Each hour pause what you’re doing and take 10 deep breaths. If you find yourself thinking about panic attacks — stop thinking. It’s OK to miss New Year’s and relax at home until you feel better.
Comments
Comment from Chuck
Time January 6, 2010 at 3:40 am
yea hon…youve just gotta take control…tell urself that it is just panic…n it cannot harm you…the symptoms are just symptoms…n that u r in no way shape or form in danger…take control…dont let it ruin ur life…u r in control…not the panic…once u manage the fear…it wont be scary anymore…i advise u to go here…anxietycentre.com…its a great site…
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Comment from Chrona
Time January 6, 2010 at 4:08 am
Hey… Victoria here, maybe my personal story can give you some solace…
a lil about me- about a year after my husband left me and my daughter died about 5 years ago.. I was at a very difficult point in my life, and was ultimately diagnosed with depression, severe anxiety, and panic disorder. I would say that i’ve always for the most part been a little depressed and had some degree of anxiety, but this just completely tipped the scale. I remember there were days on end I would just lie in bed, and whenever I would be in a social environment my anxiety would go through the roof and I would often have panic attacks. Therapy never seemed to be effective for me, and my psych put me on damn near every med out there. I’ve been on everything from wellbutrin to paxil, zoloft, prozac, lexapro, celexa, buspar, valium, klonopin, xanax.. etc. Sometimes 2-3 different ones in combo at the same time. Nothing really seemed to work for me. With the exception of some of the benzos (klono./xanax) .. these worked well for a little while, but I grew tolerance quickly, and became highly addicted.
Then one day while researching online i came across this reputable looking website http://www.anxiety.pcti-system.com .. which talked about this program to eliminate your anxiety for good, all naturally. Long story short, I wound up signing up to try it and the program worked amazing.. Not only do I no longer have panic attacks and anxiety gone, but my depression has also seemed to dissipate a little. And I’m currently starting to slowly ween off the meds I’m on. >>>>
I would personally say that possibly the biggest driving factor in all this is OCD. I think obsessing and constantly having your thoughts focused on your own condition and constantly analyzing your own thoughts/actions plays a very significant role in the persistence of our ails. Almost like the condition is a small lit fire, and OCD is the fuel that keeps it consistently burning… Also, I’ve come to the conclusion that meds are generally a unhealthy short term cure that only semi-treats the symptoms, and never the cause. Hope I was of some help!
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Comment from RachelP
Time January 6, 2010 at 2:52 am
Panic attacks are a vicious cycle. Remember that they cannot hurt you. Your heart won’t stop. Each hour pause what you’re doing and take 10 deep breaths. If you find yourself thinking about panic attacks — stop thinking. It’s OK to miss New Year’s and relax at home until you feel better.
References :