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panic attacks

dianeseattle

dianeseattle

Member
I experience frequent, sudden panic attacks. I'm not consciously aware of the causes but I know my subconscious mind is guiding the experience. There's something that triggers, and often, my aware, controlling mind can't explain them. They are ghosts of pain, abuse and shame from years of indoctrination and reinforcement. They get triggered and my body reacts.

I take a sedative and if they don't stop. I take another one an hour later if the first isn't enough.

I've come to accept them though, and as long as I'm not driving, it's all good.

Anyone have a therapeutic suggestion for me?
 
Diane I too experience panic attacks - no fun and so I am sorry you do too! The first one I had I drove like a maniac to the ER thinking it was a heart attack! Here are the things I do to de-escalate...first I tell myself a panic attack won’t kill me and that it will pass. For me that is very helpful. Next I do “grounding” - I go though the things around me that are basic and true. The grass is green, today is Saturday, the clouds look like rain, my car is in the driveway.... whatever you see around you just say it out loud (or in your head). I was told this helps you focus and can be calming. I find they are less frequent when I am doing regular exercise. Hang in there, I am eager to hear other people strategies too.
 
Thank you, Anne! I was looking around, but not trying to ground myself in reality. That's an excellent suggestion.

I wish it was as isolated as fearing a heart attack. When it happens, I practically hallucinate shadowy masses all around me. When I try to focus on one, it disappears. They aren't corporeal but more like evaporating mist. Hard to explain, especially because they're hallucinatory, so doubly not real. I stay perfectly still if I can but you know the body. It won't always obey your mind.

It does pass, but I have a jumpy stomach and shallow, rapid breathing even after it ends.
 
I too have panic attacks as a result of being kidnapped and robbed at gunpoint in my late 20s and robbed again at gunpoint in my early 30s. I've been in therapy off and on since. I have had panic attacks so severe that I have hidden on the floor behind my couch, afraid to move or answer the phone for hours, until my husband came home, all because someone called and left a message that they wanted to come over. By the time my husband got home, I was hysterical.

So after years of therapy what I have learned is deep belly breathing, in through the nose, out through the mouth, slow deep breaths, thinking only of the air passing through your body, deep cleansing breaths, with your back straight, shoulders back, letting the oxygen flow through your body. Clear your mind, close your eyes, just breathe. Slow deep breaths.

The best treatment is to avoid them altogether, but that takes time with a therapist. There are many great techniques, some that work pretty well. I still have panic attacks over stupid things, but haven't had any crippling ones in a while.

Panic attacks are no joke. I sympathize with any of you that have them. No one can understand what a person goes through when they have panic attacks that has never experienced one. Your mind may know the fear is not realistic but your body reacts. The adrenaline is flowing. When it is happening you forget everything, but try to remember to breathe!
 
Kathi_S said:
I too have panic attacks as a result of being kidnapped and robbed at gunpoint in my late 20s and robbed again at gunpoint in my early 30s. I've been in therapy off and on since. I have had panic attacks so severe that I have hidden on the floor behind my couch, afraid to move or answer the phone for hours, until my husband came home, all because someone called and left a message that they wanted to come over. By the time my husband got home, I was hysterical.

So after years of therapy what I have learned is deep belly breathing, in through the nose, out through the mouth, slow deep breaths, thinking only of the air passing through your body, deep cleansing breaths, with your back straight, shoulders back, letting the oxygen flow through your body. Clear your mind, close your eyes, just breathe. Slow deep breaths.

The best treatment is to avoid them altogether, but that takes time with a therapist. There are many great techniques, some that work pretty well. I still have panic attacks over stupid things, but haven't had any crippling ones in a while.

Panic attacks are no joke. I sympathize with any of you that have them. No one can understand what a person goes through when they have panic attacks that has never experienced one. Your mind may know the fear is not realistic but your body reacts. The adrenaline is flowing. When it is happening you forget everything, but try to remember to breathe!
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I am so sorry you had those terrifying experiences, and so incredibly thankful you survived. I cannot imagine ever being without fear or anxiety having lived through even 1, let alone 2 of them. You are amazingly strong & deserve a calm & peaceful existence. Thanks for sharing your deep breathing techniques.
 
I too have had frequent panic attacks, so frequent that I had to be medicated for them otherwise I would never drive or have been able to work. I can't say that mine were triggered by an event, rather my endocrinologist tied it into my thyroid (or lack of a thyroid as it's been removed) and balancing out my thyroid replacement hormone.

I do know that for me, they can come totally out of the blue. I would be at work and behaving a fabulous day one moment and the next moment feel like I'm going to either pass out or have a heart attack.

I too wound up in the hospital many times thinking it was a heart attack and I've gotten them many times while driving. Now, being medicated I sometimes can feel one coming on but it disappears before it gets full blown, and its very infrequent since being on medication.

Anne, I like your technique and it makes lots of sense. When I use to have them, I did find distracting myself helped.

Kathi, how horrible that you not only had one horrifying incident but two. I can't even image. ((((((hugs))))) I agree with the breathing techniques and do much the same.

Diane, I do think it is good that you are aware that they are panic attacks and accept them for what they are. One of the things I would tell myself is "It's just a panic attack, you'll be okay, just let it ride." Maybe you can come up with something similar that assures you everything will be fine, followed by those other techniques above, it might help you through the attack. Sending hugs!!
 
Look up "5 senses grounding" it's not about distraction rather working the opposite side of the brain then the one activated. Holding any sensory type thing and describing it in your head will do.

Also, note deep breathing can trigger panic in trauma people.
 
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Tokash said:
Look up "5 senses grounding" it's not about distraction rather working the opossums side of the brain then the one activated. Holding any sensory type thing and describing it in your head will do.

Also, note deep breathing can trigger panic in trauma people.
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Could you re-explain this in steps? I couldn't follow your theme.
 
Maybe I found it:

4603


Is this what you meant?
 
Actually, when I'm chained to a panic attack, I'm lucky if I can even rely on involuntary bodily actions. These might work for an anxiety attack though. I'm more conscious when that happens. Panic seems to lead immediately to dissociation, so I'm literally "not all there" and reality makes no sense.

Thanks for the tips, though. I can see some really useful ways to use them.
 
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