EVERYONE WHO HAS ANXIETY/PANIC ATTACKS/STRESS PLEASE READ THIS:
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I will try to explain some main things and general ideas as best as I can, if you want any more help, you can PM me anytime, because I've been through this and I know how hard it is, but I am also amazed by some of the advices written here which are REALLY not helpful. So please read all this post !
I suffered for anxiety/panic attacks for almost 4 years while I did nothing but mainly fighting with them which in turn made them stronger, so I know how you feel.
Alcohol, weed and meds are just a
TEMPORARY solution and are for the WEAK. A quick fix if you might call it like that, but it wont help your main problem which are YOUR THOUGHTS and your PERCEPTION.
What you need is
CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) combined with
Mindfulness meditation. As I said before I had the attacks for over 4 years, and only in the past 4 months I started to get help through CBT and practicing mindfulness. At the beginning all my impression about meditation was something totally stupid, but I really was desperate so I gave it a go. Since then, I can tell you that I didn't had any more panic attacks, my stress reduced at least 60% overall and in general I do get sometimes anxious under different circumstances but I know how to deal with them and they don't transform any more into panic attacks.
Just so you understand, the levels of anxiety are something like this:
A) 0-30% -- normal, HELPFUL/BENEFICIAL anxiety. For example when you go to an exam at university, or when you have a speech in public. That is NORMAL, and it's GOOD because it makes you more FOCUSED on the main thing (the exam).
B) 30%-60% -- General anxiety, you start to have the sensations in your body but you can manage them and carry along your activity. (you go through the exam till the end, even though you get the sensations)
C) 60%-80% -- Fight or Flight Situation - This is when the sensations get huge, you start to breathe heavily, get palms sweaty, maybe getting the sensation to vomit, feeling dizzy etc, and you choose to FIGHT it (staying in the activity) or FLIGHT (running away from the activity, for example saying "fuck this I can't take this any longer, I am going home" - in general running to your comfort zone or a safe spot, wherever that might be).
D) 80%-100% - Full blown panic attack. Here the thoughts are going crazy to your mind, you think this is the last time, you will not get through this, probably going to die, or faint out, etc.
The interesting thing is when you are having about 70%-100% anxiety, it's funny how the mind comes out with amazing plans to get out of the situation. Trust me that over 4 years I managed to escape in a lot of situation which weren't dangerous at all, but somehow my mind thought different. And I mean situations like going out to buy an icecream with friends, I would start to get the sensations, fight them, turning into a panic attack, and then invoking whatever reason to leave and return home.
But that is not the way. Seriously you can't avoid situations or running from them, or even worse, take alcohol/meds/smoke weed etc. Don't get me wrong, I am not against those, it's ok to have a drink or smoke some weed from time to time, but DON'T DO THIS just to stop the anxiety. It's the worse thing you could possibly do !!!
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How Mindfulness and CBT therapy can help you ?
Try and understand this process:
You have a stimuli (a situation, an event, activity; for example: going to the Mall) ----> From that you have your INTERPRETATION/PERCEPTION of that stimuli (in general a BAD interpretation, or catastrophic; for example: I hate the mall, it's very crowded / I don't like there, the space is huge / Too many people, lights and shops and all that makes me go crazy) ----> From that you start to interpret those thoughts even more and after that the anxiety appears into TWO categories:
A) Vegetative sensations (that's the feelings in your body, sweating palms, breathing faster, dizziness, etc etc)
B) Irrational thoughts (I can't go through this, I am feeling worse and worse, I gotta get out of here, must go home and so on).
Now, why did I write all that ? The thing is, CBT therapy and Mindfulness can ONLY BREAK the cycle from the stimuli to your interpretation and from interpretation to vegetative sensations. This is very important. It cannot change your thoughts. They are thoughts and they will come all the time. It is YOUR interpretation of those thoughts that makes all the situation worse.
The important question you have now is: OK ok I understand what you say but how can I cope with them? How can I go through situations without having anxiety and all that ?
It's quite simple: for the situation/thoughts by being MINDFULL , and for the sensations in your body by practicing RELAXING BREATHING.
The thing with anxiety/panic attacks is that you have a THOUGHT and you interpret it in a strange way and after a while you start to HYPERVENTILATE. That means you take more oxygen inside your lungs, and release LESS carbon dioxide. That makes a chemical imbalance in your body which in turn gives you all those other sensations like sweaty palms, dizziness etc. But the funny thing is that the ORIGINAL thought/interpretation is already gone. It's a thing of the past. All you do is start to interpret those new sensations in a wrong way again and again and it all builds up more and more.
When you are feeling anxious next time try to do this:
1) BE MINDFULL: For short, the closest explanation of mindfulness is BEING AWARE. Just be aware of your thoughts, see them for what they are: THOUGHTS. Don't interpret them, don't judge them and don't cling to them.
A BAD thought process for example: Oh wow, this shopping mall is so crowded today ---> damn so many lights and noise --> too many people I am feeling nervous and anxious, I don't like this, this is too much ---> wtf is going on, oh my god my palms are sweaty ---> I am not feeling so good, I feel I am going to faint ----> shit, my legs are feeling numb I gotta get out ---> AND SO ON
A GOOD thought process for example: Oh wow, this shopping mall is so crowded today ---> OBSERVE THE CROWD ---> Hmm I gotta find some new boots ---> I wonder where can I find a good price ---> AND SO ON
See that ? You just OBSERVE the situation, you don't interpret it/judge it in any way !
2) RELAXED BREATHING: Any time you want, even when you are anxious or not, try to practice a bit some relaxed breathing. This will help you to chill out, reduce stress/anxiety and make you feel better. Do it while you walk through the mall, when you are at a traffic light, when you are working or any other time ! Just practice it ! The way I do it is: Breath in slowly 3 seconds, keep the air there 2 seconds, exhale 4 seconds. Try and count like: (INHALE) 1 Mississippi 2 Mississippi 3 Mississippi ===> HOLD AIR (1Mississippi 2 Mississippi) ===> EXHALE (1 Mississippi 2 Mississippi 3 Mississippi 4 Mississippi )
this is what HELPS me, there are a lot of relaxed breathing techniques just google around and see what works best for you, I found this makes ME calm really fast.
You must UNDERSTAND that this won't work in a second. You will still have those sensations and all that, and you need to train your mind everyday, it's not something which you can cure in a day. But with practice you WILL get there. Trust me. What I am trying to say here is: when you have anxiety/panic attack: don't breathe 3 times relaxed, and say "yeah I am mindfull, i am having an attack" and after 1 minute say "fuck this, this is way too hard, fuck all the breathing, fuck the mindfulness and all that shit, I can't take it any more" and run away.
It will help you for the short time (the situation) but in the long run EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU RUN AWAY will just make them COME MORE AND MORE AND HARDER. So just be mindfull of your feelings, see them for what they are: FEELINGS. Your heart is beating SUPER FAST ? BE MINDFULL OF IT ! See how it is beating. Your palms are sweaty ? Be aware of that. Don't judge them ! You have a thought of running away ? BE AWARE OF IT ! See it ! Don't take action, just SEE IT !
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Things you
might not know about panic attacks/anxiety: You are not insane; you are not having a heart stroke; you are not going to die; you are not going to faint (technically it's impossible, I had attacks for 4 years and I didn't faint even once, although I thought MOST of the time that I will);
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MINDFULNESS MEDITATION (VERY IMPORTANT)
I will try to end it here because the post is already long and I don't want to bore you, but trust me if you DO practice Mindfulness and Relaxed Breathing YOU WILL SUCCEED. In closing, I would like to talk just a little bit about mindfulness, and if you want to learn more message me and I can guide you in the right direction depending on what situation you want to go from bellow:
1) You want to practice mindfulness the original / spiritual way. Very well, mindfulness meditation is originally from a Buddhism form of meditation called VIPASSANA which could roughly be translated to: insight into the true nature of reality. You do this every day for whatever amount of minutes you can (start with 10 minutes if you are complete beginner to meditation). Sit in a cross-legged position with your back straight and close your eyes. All you have to do is BE AWARE of what is happening in the PRESENT, in the NOW and make a NOTE of it. Be aware of your body, see what sensations you have. For example you feel a pain in your leg: just observe the pain and say mentally to yourself "pain, pain, pain, pain". Just LOOK at it with your MIND. See where it is, how big it is, where it's located and so on, but DON'T JUDGE IT. You have to be the OBSERVER. Just OBSERVE and make a mental note. Why to make a mental note ? Because you need to train your mind to just BE AWARE and NOT interpret things in a catastrophic way !
For more information please start here: Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL603BD0B03E12F5A1 ====> watch as many videos as you can from this guy, it's really easy to follow him and has great answers to all your questions. This is how I started, I even contacted him through email, he answered my questions, and besides he also had panic attacks.
2) You want to practice mindfulness but in a more scientific way/not involving buddhism: Very well, mindfulness meditation can be done like this as well. But you still have to meditate. But you can do this in any way you want, by sitting on a chair, or lying down your bed, or whatever. The process is pretty much the same, by being aware. However the difference is you will usually have some guided meditation. Put some headsets on your ears and listen to someone guiding you. If that is easier for you, very well it's also really good !
For more information please start here: Jon Kabat-Zinn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_If4a-gHg_I ===> Watch all this video so you understand more exactly what mindfulness is through a psychological description, and after that search the Guided Meditations. Hint: piratebay.
Also get your hands on this book: The Happiness Trap by Dr Russ Harris (you can find it free). ===>
REALLY IMPORTANT to read this book !!!!!!!
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Enjoy your new life and I hope I helped at least one person through this post, if not by what I wrote here, but at least pointing him in the right direction. Thank me by applying the tips and having a better life !
