How to deal with panic / anxiety attacks?
Okay. I get panic / anxiety attacks like every day now. I worry about everything. I am a nervous wreck driving my car, I am always always paranoid about everything. My chest gets all hot and it’s like a tightning in my chest . I get so dizzy and light headed. Like this morning, I went to see my doctor and my vision got all blurry and I almost fainted. I am going crazy. I am just so anxious all the time. I used to get like 9 hours of sleep a night and now if I am lucky, i may sleep 5 or 6 hours. I can’t sleep. I wake up at all hours of the night. Every little noise in my house, and I freak out. I need help to deal with this. Like I thought I was having a heart attack the other day with the pain in my chest. And I am 22 and this is making me go crazy. I need to deal with this. And yes, my life is beyond stressful, I get stressed out too easily and I need tips to manage my chaos.
I have panic disorder/PTSD/ depression and these things have helped me, talk to your doctor about anti depressants, (drugs like klonopin just made things worse for me) there are also anti depressants you can take at night that help you sleep better, if you are having so much stress a therapist might help. Yoga, exercise and different breathing techniques are very helpful for me. A breathing technique called prana-yama is very helpful during a bad panic attack because it is calming.
Comments
Comment from Freeyourmind
Time January 4, 2010 at 12:20 pm
Your too young to be stressing out like this.
First and foremost and if you are able to i’d recommend to stop everything and take a mini vacation for your own good
if you work request for a week off or so and give some time to yourself.
escape from you busy life and slow down and smell the flowers.
go somewhere exciting where your worries can slip away.
if you cant try to use stress relievers
these sites can help for some ideas.
http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/stressrelievers.htm
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_relief_meditation_yoga_relaxation.htm
But remember one thing you control your life don’t let your life control you!!!
References :
Comment from Alice B
Time January 4, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Negative emotions (like sadness, stress, anger, etc.) causes your Serotonin production to be low; when your Serotonin level is low, you are more prone to getting Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Depression, etc.
Medication like Antidepressants (SSRI – Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) helps to boost Serotonin level.
But there are natural ways to do it without medication. There’s this strange herb called "St John’s Wort" – it is said to be more effective than Prozac. No, it is not for mild depression only and ignore those sayings. In fact, it does help anxiety and panic-attacks as St John’s Wort works like prozac. Other natural ways will be exercise, diet, more exposure to light, etc.
The problem is that, even if your Serotonin is balanced… you have that "learned behavior" in your mind. You need to break that initial cycle to destroy that learned behavior – Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) does this. A technique that you can use without CBT will be Distraction… There are several other techniques to help cope them!
Ok, to use Distraction: Firstly, try to….
Extracted from Source.
References :
http://PanicAttackResearch.blogspot.com
Comment from Traveler
Time January 4, 2010 at 1:47 pm
I was 22 when I started having panic attacks and suffered form agoraphobia. It starts because you have been through some extreme trauma and now your mind and body is reacting as if there is extreme trauma whether or not there is any. It isn’t easy to get over, but you can do it if you determine you will. I had them for years, and I had to go through some stressful things to get over them. First, you have to make up your mind not to hide away. That only makes them worse. Do what you can to destress your life and learn to relax. Some use relaxation techniques like deep breathing and muscle retention. I used the Bible and trusted in God. God helped me and I got over it and my life is very good now. I know it’s difficult to go through. But don’t make people your security because then you will become dependent on them to feel safe. God is the only real security and the only one who can be with you all the time. One time I had a panic attack in a grocery store and shot a quick prayer up for help, and immediately a friend of mine came around the aisle into my cart and my panic left. Hang in there.
References :
Comment from Nicole M
Time January 4, 2010 at 2:04 pm
I have panic disorder/PTSD/ depression and these things have helped me, talk to your doctor about anti depressants, (drugs like klonopin just made things worse for me) there are also anti depressants you can take at night that help you sleep better, if you are having so much stress a therapist might help. Yoga, exercise and different breathing techniques are very helpful for me. A breathing technique called prana-yama is very helpful during a bad panic attack because it is calming.
References :
Comment from Maddie
Time January 4, 2010 at 12:07 pm
When you start feeling that way, remind yourself that it’s a false alarm. Your body is like a building, and the fire alarm is going off. Your body doesn’t know if it’s real or not, so it gets scared and goes into fight or flight. You get stiff and terrified, so you try to either fight off the symptoms or run to get help. But there’s nothing there – it’s a false alarm. It sounds real and it sure feels real, but it’s not. When you feel like you’re going to have a panic attack, try to breathe normally. Take a walk at a normal pace, preferably outdoors. Remind yourself of exactly how much you thought you were going to die from it in the past, and just how alive you still are. Avoid that catastrophic thinking, "What if I’m having a heart attack?" and all of that. Go get your heart checked out by an excellent cardiologist. If the results are normal, give yourself permission to let go. All the worry in the world won’t help you. Even if you actually were having a serious issue, the worry would only hurt. So be calm about it and know that if it gets bad enough, you can calmly drive to the emergency room. I’m sorry you have to deal with this. It’s a really crappy way to live, I know. But if you will make a serious effort to see a psychologist and possibly consider medication (not necessarily), you will see a lot of improvement. Maybe go to ehow.com or one of those other how to sites and do a search for "panic attacks" or "panic disorder." Also, if you still drink or eat caffeine (soda, tea, coffee, chocolate, etc. has it), stop doing that.
References :
I have suffered from this, and my brother has suffered from it for years. He’s shown a lot of improvement with therapy and meds, and I have shown a lot of improvement with therapy only.