My Panic Attack Solution

Comment from Jerry
Time February 18, 2010 at 6:54 pm

At the first sign of one, employ an ANTI PANIC ATTACK breathing technique. Advice from a published psychiatrist on controlled breathing: (1.) Get a clock, or watch with a second timer. (2.) Practise for 5 minutes, 4 times daily, until proficient. (3.) Take a small breath in, and hold it, for 6 seconds. (4.) Think to yourself: "RELAX", just before breathing out. (5.) Try to feel a sense of releasing tension, as you breathe out. (6.) Breathe in for 3 seconds, then out, for 3 seconds. Try to make your breathing very smooth, and light, as you breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth, or nose. (7.) For the next minute, continue to breathe in, and out, every 3 seconds. (8.) Go back to step 3, at the end of the minute, and proceed through to step 7, doing this for 5 minutes. Use this at the very first sign of a panic attack starting, or any time you feel anxious, or tense. Similar, but simpler advice, from a clinical psychologist is to breathe in to the count of 3: (one thousand one; one thousand two; one thousand three) each takes around a second to say to yourself, in your mind, and out to the count of 3. Also see http://deeplyrelax.com & http://www.deepsloweasy.com/html/intro.htm Note: the controlled breathing only helps with the symptoms, as do medications/herbal remedies. Address the underlying cause, which requires some form of therapy; see http://your-mental-health.weebly.com/ re anxiety, & pages H, S, & I. Imagine that the cause of your panic; your anxieties, fears, your self doubts, self recriminations, all the agonizing "I’m-so-Stupids"; every painful "I-can’t-do-it" are huge raging, hurtful bulls snorting and charging at you. You see them coming at you and you hold out your red matador’s cape at arms length and simply let them charge right by. Every time they come at you, hold out your arm with the red cape and let them rage and snort and go right on past. Some people recommend nettle tea, with a little honey. Others use Lavender tea, Lemon Balm, Chamomile, but use no milk or cream with herbal teas, or Valerian (caution: use for 3 weeks; maximum!).

Know how these affect you before driving, or doing anything dangerous, and it is far better to use the treatments, rather than relying on herbal remedies. Free online PANIC COURSE – http://www.panic-attacks.co.uk also available by email. See the section on panic attacks at http://www.mind.org.uk also Ebooklet form. They recommend letting a panic attack run its course, without doing anything to treat it, so you KNOW you will survive it. The usual maximum is 30 minutes, until symptoms begin to subside. Also see http://www.anxietypanic.com/signs.html and http://www.onestepatatime.com (chatroom, and one free email is allowed to their resident expert on joining – free) and http://www.medicinenet.com/panic_disorder/artic… and http://www.squidoo.com/controlpanicattack/modul… and and http://www.healthyplace.com/communities and http://www.anxietynetwork.com Most people are suggestible, to some degree, so you could either seek professional hypnotherapy, or, quicker, cheaper, and more conveniently: http://www.hypnosisdownloads.com Perfect Partners: Stop Panic Attacks + Breathing Exercise, or http://www.instant-hypnosis.com Stop Panic Attacks. Use a relaxation method daily, like http://www.drcoxconsulting.com/managing-stress.html or http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/mindbody/a/Meditation.htm or http://www.wikihow.com/Meditate Tai Chi, Qi Gong, or yoga. Because many people can’t access/afford professional therapy, I include the EFT, and EMDR variant for them to try, free of charge. The following is a variant of EMDR therapy, which has been used successfully for those people suffering from anxiety; it is easily learned, quick to use, yet can be very effective. Prior to using either of these methods, first sit comfortably, and take a deep breath. Then, without moving your head, move your eyes from the left, to the right, and back again, taking around a second to do so (say: "a thousand and one": this takes approximately a second).
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Repeat this procedure (without the words, although you can count, subvocally, if you like) 20 times: "A thousand and one; a thousand and two… " and so on, to a thousand and twenty. Then close your eyes and relax. Become aware of any tension or discomfort you feel. Then open your eyes, and take another deep breath, and repeat step one, closing your eyes, and relaxing afterwards, in the same manner. Then, repeat the procedure one last time. Some people may find that this is all they need do. With experience, you may find that you can practise this in public, with your eyes closed, which greatly widens the window of opportunity for its use, and avoids attracting unwanted attention. I have found that the 2 – 3 minutes spent using the EMDR markedly reduces distractions to the relaxation process, and is repaid many times over. Try the EFT version for use in public, via http://www.mercola.com (also enter "EFT therapists" in their searchbar) or http://www.emofree.com Professional is best.

Comment from deafdyke
Time February 18, 2010 at 7:27 pm

Panic Attacks Workbook: A Guided Program for Beating the Panic Trick by David Carbonell Ph.D. This will be the best $17 you ever spend. I loved this book. I utilize the techniques daily. It takes some time to re-train your brain, but it is well worth it.
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personal experience