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On July 13 2010 20:38 Servius_Fulvius wrote:
I've had anxiety attacks for the last ten years and panic attacks since the last three. They're both pretty similar: panic hits you like a truck and doesn't last long, anxiety grows a lot more slowly, but soon spirals out of control and takes FOREVER to settle down. In college I attended some meditation sessions and saw a therapist for a few years. With that, I learned a few things. Let's call this sf_t's hard counter to panic and anxiety:
1). No one has ever died from a panic attack
2). Telling someone "just don't worry, you have no reason to be" is absolutely useless
3).#2. makes #1 useless during a panic attack
4). Your body will be pumping adrenaline nonstop
5). The attack may become self-perpetuating (panic about panicking) and last longer
What you should do, first and foremost, is not sit still. With all that adrenaline you're just going to go nuts. You need to start getting rid of it. Get up and start walking around. Take a walk around the block, pace a vacant lot, just don't sit still!
Call someone or bring someone with you. They're going to distract you. Start talking about life. It will be hard at first, so try and get them to lead the conversation. You can bring up the panicking, but don't dwell on it.
While talking, make sure you're breathing. It's easier to have the friend remind you. A body can't be in a state of hyper-alertness and relax at the same time. Deep breathing forces your body to relax, and when the energy starts to go down so does the panic.
Squeeze something in one hand. It could be a toy ball, a wad of tissue, anything really. The point of this is to further distract yourself. Instead of dwelling on anxiety you're walking, talking, squeezing, and breathing. Give the attack as long as it needs to settle down.
In addition to using this myself on several occasions I also helped a friend through persistent anxiety by talking with him over the phone. I was also an RA for three years and in that time I helped one resident with a really bad panic attack and one more with persistent attacks. It works, just not on your time frame.
These are great tips. I rarely have this anymore, but when I do I know it will go away fairly fast. Before I found out about the stuff you just mentioned, I was having a really hard time dealing with it from time to time.
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My friend used to get panic attacks from time to time. Holding and gently squeezing her hand seemed to help. As did just reminding her tp take deep breathes.
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I have had many many panic attacks
mine are very annoying, my mouth gets crooked and i feel a pressure in my face and in my whole torax.
My breath shortens and i feel overly anxious , god, the first time i had it i thought i was having a heart attack
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Well I did wake up and I just want to clarify things.
1. This was my first panic attack and while I did go through a week or two of heavy depression almost a month ago. I am now almost back to normal and don't feel I'm suffering from anxiety/mental issues.
2. The attack was brought on by a heavy drinking/stressful day and compounded by the fact that I freaked out thinking I had cancer. I know this is completely idiotic, but it's what happened. I want to be truthful.
I don't think I'll have anymore, but looking up information about panic attacks and hearing your stories will definitely help me later on if you do have them.
Thank you all.
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I often get apathy attacks, breath deep and try to think logically about it is all the help I can think of.
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On July 14 2010 01:40 Mickey wrote:
Well I did wake up and I just want to clarify things.
1. This was my first panic attack and while I did go through a week or two of heavy depression almost a month ago. I am now almost back to normal and don't feel I'm suffering from anxiety/mental issues.
2. The attack was brought on by a heavy drinking/stressful day and compounded by the fact that I freaked out thinking I had cancer. I know this is completely idiotic, but it's what happened. I want to be truthful.
I don't think I'll have anymore, but looking up information about panic attacks and hearing your stories will definitely help me later on if you do have them.
Thank you all.
Yeah usually its something dumb and is your brain trying to conjure up reasons for you being stressed.
I used to think every night aliens were going to abduct me or torture me, literally. I used to freak out every night, feeling paralyzed and not able to move, not able to think straight, for what felt like ages. Once I stopped caring and said "fuck it, the aliens can do what they want, good night", after a few months everything went away. Now I think its just stupid. 
I only now have very mild anxiety/depression issues (nothing like it used to be), but that's because I just know its just a different manifestation of the same thing, so its relatively easy to handle and goes away again. IMO its all about having ways of not letting it spiral out of control, like everyone else said. 
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Wow, this sounds like a whole lot of suck.
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On July 13 2010 20:38 Servius_Fulvius wrote:
I've had anxiety attacks for the last ten years and panic attacks since the last three. They're both pretty similar: panic hits you like a truck and doesn't last long, anxiety grows a lot more slowly, but soon spirals out of control and takes FOREVER to settle down. In college I attended some meditation sessions and saw a therapist for a few years. With that, I learned a few things. Let's call this sf_t's hard counter to panic and anxiety:
1). No one has ever died from a panic attack
2). Telling someone "just don't worry, you have no reason to be" is absolutely useless
3).#2. makes #1 useless during a panic attack
4). Your body will be pumping adrenaline nonstop
5). The attack may become self-perpetuating (panic about panicking) and last longer
What you should do, first and foremost, is not sit still. With all that adrenaline you're just going to go nuts. You need to start getting rid of it. Get up and start walking around. Take a walk around the block, pace a vacant lot, just don't sit still!
Call someone or bring someone with you. They're going to distract you. Start talking about life. It will be hard at first, so try and get them to lead the conversation. You can bring up the panicking, but don't dwell on it.
While talking, make sure you're breathing. It's easier to have the friend remind you. A body can't be in a state of hyper-alertness and relax at the same time. Deep breathing forces your body to relax, and when the energy starts to go down so does the panic.
Squeeze something in one hand. It could be a toy ball, a wad of tissue, anything really. The point of this is to further distract yourself. Instead of dwelling on anxiety you're walking, talking, squeezing, and breathing. Give the attack as long as it needs to settle down.
In addition to using this myself on several occasions I also helped a friend through persistent anxiety by talking with him over the phone. I was also an RA for three years and in that time I helped one resident with a really bad panic attack and one more with persistent attacks. It works, just not on your time frame.
This is extremely good advice. Both moving around and having someone around you during the time it happens can make all the difference. I would really stress that you know the person well if possible, because if you do have a rational reason for an anxiety attack, for instance, it's very important you're able to sort it out. If it's irrational (in my experience most panic attacks are, though at the time you will think it's rational), your friend will realize that and be able to distract you and eventually bring you back to reality.
In my personal experience, I had panic attacks at a very young age. Ironically, it was linked to the fact I was absolutely immersed in math, and whenever I did a lot of it before I went to try and sleep it would bring them on. Thinking back on it, it was like an altered version of the movie Pi, starring myself at age 5. I remember it clearly. Difficulty breathing accompanied by a rhythmic and pulsating tone in my head. Soon the air itself became heavier and heavier, and it was crushing me from every angle. I could barely muster a yell...
Just thinking about it brings the feeling back. It also shows itself whenever I'm weak of constitution for whatever reason (sick, etc), though by the time I was 10 or so I had learned to fight it off.
The past 15 years since, I've only ever had anxiety attacks, which in their own way are almost worse. You'd be surprised how long you can freak out about something even while pacing around outside like a madman. Can the adrenaline really flow that long? Still, I can't imagine not moving. When it comes on, I have to use that energy, and often I feel like I have to 'get away' so that helps doubly.
These actually surprise me, though. I'm a very flexible person, who doesn't need a strict schedule or routine, and who loves to travel. Normally any anxiety I get has more to do with not liking what's going on in my life rather than simply 'change' (which is what sets off anxiety in others I know). Yet somehow even situations like being in a new area wherein I only know a few people can set it off. It's rare, but it happens.
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A few years ago there were sporadic nights I was half-asleep, then suddenly my heart started racing and I felt paralyzed for about 10 seconds. The first I thought I was being electrocuted (had my laptop on me), but then after I had discounted that I wasn't sure what was going on.
I didn't exactly feel panicked, more confused about what was happening and impatient for it to go away.
Were those panic attacks? Otherwise, the idea of anxiety doing anything other than indirectly affecting me is beyond my understanding. I'm very curious how it works.
Edit: there were times when I was young and got headaches, took a tylenol, and had a tremendous sensation of vertigo.
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On July 14 2010 19:37 igotmyown wrote:
Were those panic attacks? Otherwise, the idea of anxiety doing anything other than indirectly affecting me is beyond my understanding. I'm very curious how it works.
It sounds like they were a mild form, yes. When most people describe a panic attack it's mostly like the OP. A lot of people feel pressure on their chest, the air getting thin, they're having a heart attack, or they're about to die. Feeling paralyzed, though, could be another way. I'm jsut askign myself the question 'why not?' and can't find an answer! Then again, I'm no therapist, I just know how to help people going through it.
Regardless, from experiencing it myself I can say this much. Whatever you're anxious or panicking about is probably not the real problem. For me, I'll worry that I'm going to become sick to my stomach. Most times I'll be going through a stressful school situation or family issue. Like most people I keep an enduring attitude and try not to let it bother me. Sometimes that's not enough. I'll get a pain in my side, start to dwell on it, and five minutes later I'll be breathing hard, hyper-alert, and trying to convince myself that I'm not sick. Notice that the reason of the attack has absolutely nothing to do with what's really bothering me. Knowing this, though, is a great tool since it's my anxiety trigger.
The downside of your anxiety trigger is that when the situation pops up in normal life it will provoke an attack. If it's flu season and I have a stomach ache I will have an anxiety attack just because my body is experiencing the trigger.
Panic, on the other hand, hit me in a slightly different way. I remember the first one clearly. I was sitting in calc 4, ten minutes to go before the end of class, and I feel this half-burp, half-hiccup, half-gag. I thought it was strange, but tried not to think so much of it. 30 seconds later I had an overwhelming amount of adrenaline moving through me. The last ten minutes of that class were some of the longest ten minutes of my life. I felt like I was fighting for my life, terrified of some invisible source that was out to get me.
A lot of people with disorders say they 'suffer with general anxiety disorder'. This is what I have too, but I prefer to say 'I live with it'. It's a part of me I know is always there. It doesn't have to be an antagonist. Most the time I can use it to my advantage. I didn't realize how much I used it until I started medication and noticed that paying attention in class was more difficult. I lived with anxiety for 8 years until the panic attacks hit and my life was disrupted so much that I went to the health center and asked for medication. I could talk about the pros and cons of medication at length too, but this is getting pretty long, so I'll stop there! But anyway, what all what it's like living with it in my life.
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Figured I would bump this thread because the discussion alone is wonderful. It definitely helps to know that even hardcore TL members/gamers have them too!
I find that if you are in a place where you can sing REAALLY loud to your favorite song, it definitely helps. Also, count down from 100 (or whatever number you choose) in increments of 3. It definitely helped me.
For me personally, if I watch a movie that deals with death in a very personal way it can get to me and trigger a panic attack (the first and the worst when I went to the ER after watching Will Smith kill himself during Seven Pounds).
AFter that though, a few have happened but I have been able to control it due to rational and logical thinking, songs, and walking around alot when it happens.
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I had pretty hard one just recently (About few days ago), most likely triggered by having troubles to sleep, struggling with the infection on my foot and having lots of unneccesary stress and overreacting to feelings of disgust and some pain.
It ended up walking franctically in circles at middle of night, hoping my body wouldn't fail... shaking uncontrollably, feeling cold and disgusted. The worst thing was, I was almost certain it was panic attack from the beginning, but your body and rest of mind listens very little to reason when they have gone all hyper.
I ended up calling a relative of mine that I expected to be awake and had a short chat until my body finally stopped shaking. Then I took some vitamins and stuff, just in case the lack of had been one of triggers or the cause of overflowing disgust. Whether they had any physical effect remained unknown but mentally that also helped me to calm down.
Overwhelmed with disgust and hoping not to receive any more of them in short timespan I listened some relaxing music and eventually fell asleep.
I belive the major cause for this incident was my inability to define if all the disgust and annoyance was caused by stress and whatever or if they were body's reaction to medication I recieved to the infection.
The longer the periods without the attacks, the harder it seems to hit when it suddenly does.
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I was talking on vent about panic attacks and pretty much half the people in there has had one at least once in their life.
It's pretty common for young adult males apparently, as 1 guy in the vent said he was discussing the issue in his psychology class. He also said that since males hold in their emotions and stresses in their chest and back and head, when they are released it can give the feeling that one is having a heart attack. Heart pounding, tunnel vision, breathing problems, muscle tightness, etc. All this shit is so abnormal that it makes you think you are dying.
I personally had one in a beginning intro class to photoshop / graphic design. I think maybe it was brought on by the fact that the teacher was a young lady who seemed to be new to teaching and feeling very awkward and disorganized and the fact that I felt like I was making a huge decision taking this for a direction for the rest of my life. I also remember I was angry for having finding out the class was using only mac computers.
Anyways, in like 2003 When I was 19 or so I was a tad late to the class and sat dead center front row, so I already felt a bit on the spot as I excused my self to my seat. After a few minutes I started to feel really stiff, and sweaty hands. The class was dead silent and it was about 4:30 or 5:00 a late class. Then I got tunnel vision and felt like I was going to pass out. The teacher addressed me for a question and I probably sounded ridiculous responding. And I think she asked me something again a few minutes later. After a while I felt like I was going to die and was thinking about if when people die if they unload their bowels. And then I felt like I had to shit my pants or was shitting my pants lol. All I wanted to do was get out of the class but it felt like if I moved or disturbed the order of the class I would die. So I just sat there for what felt like an eternity and just rolled these fucked up thoughts around.
When class was finally ending I finally got a sense of relief and skated out of there asap. I remember walking home in the fresh cool air through the field and I felt refreshed and fine, although a bit shaken up. I dropped the class because I read something about staying away from places that bring on anxiety/panic attacks at least for a while.
Also I stopped smoking weed regularly when I was 15 because it wasn't fun anymore and sometimes when I smoked it would bring on similar feelings. A couple times I remember just laying in my bed and my heart just thumping, shaking the bed.
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EPT
