If want to eliminate panic attacks from your life, this article
sets out a simple way to do just that. Unlike far too many people
on the Internet, I don't claim that this is my original
discovery. Or that it's the only cure. It works, and it's been
known to work far longer than I've been around - and that's a
while.
In this article I offer you a beautifully simple insight into
your panic attacks which will change your reaction to them. It is
only by changing your reaction to your panic attacks that you'll
ever be free of them. So what is that insight?
"Accept your panic symptoms and ....they'll go. Fight them, and
they'll intensify."
Look at that word 'intensify'. It's about tensing up. Becoming
worried and even more panicky about....what? Your feelings of
panic. Once you really, genuinely, understand that they're only
feelings, you'll also come to accept that those feelings can't
harm you.
Yes, I know that they're frightening and uncomfortable feelings.
But you're not in physical danger. You're not having a heart
attack. Answer this question honestly:
"In the past, has tensing up and worrying even more about having
a panic attack helped those feelings to dissipate, to go away?"
Your honest answer? I know it's NO.
Just so you're very clear: tensing up and fighting your symptoms
of panic help did not help in the past. It will not help you
today or in the future.
One person selling his e-book on the Internet claims that this
'float with your panic' insight is his unique discovery to send
panic away. The truth is that we've known for decades that
instead of fighting panic feelings and tensing up, you must take
a counter-intuitive approach. You feel fear, intense enough to be
called terror, but to eliminate panic attacks, you must just
accept those feelings. More than four decades ago, the Australian
General Practitioner the late Dr Claire Weekes advised people
that instead of fighting panic and tensing up, they should float
into their panic, and welcome it like an old friend who couldn't
harm them.
From my counselling practice helping people with all sorts of
anxiety disorders, I know that you know there's nothing to fear.
That's at a rational level. Not on an emotional level.
At an emotional level, you still feel overwhelmed. For many of
you, the fact that you can't explain why you feel so terrified
is often the most upsetting. Especially when those panic attacks
come out of the blue when you're enjoying a day out with friends
at the Mall, or at the movies. For absolutely no reason, your
pulse starts racing, your mouth goes dry, you feel faint and most
of all, you feel terrified that people around you will notice
your panic attack and think you're weird.
The Panic Cycle is Fear of Fear Itself Once you accept that
there's no real danger, you'll see that your real and lingering
fear is the fear of the panicky feelings – fear of losing
control, of feeling your heart race, and seeing your hands shake.
Then there's your related fear: that other people will notice
and they'll think you're stupid or crazy or at the very least,
nervous. In our world of over-confident people, no one wants to
look nervous. Believe me, if you let those inappropriate messages
of fear come and do their worst, you'll learn how to send those
fears packing.
So to summarise: When your pulse races, your heart pounds, your
hands shake, do the opposite of what you normally do.
Stop.
Smile... even though you mightn't want to
B r e a t h e... d e e p l y... and slowly
O b s e r v e... almost as if you're a Scientist observing an
interesting experiment.
Observe your fear floating away.
Mimic Mother Nature - Flow With the Hurricane Just as the grass
and the trees sway with the cyclones, rather than rigidly resist,
let your fear feelings come. Then, just observe your feelings as
if you're watching a science experiment.
You might want to practise that simple approach at home a few
times. You'll soon see how well it works. I know you can make
yourself feel great fear. Bring back those memories of your last
panic episode. Right now. Recall every detail. Feel those fear
symptoms and now.... just accept them.
That's right. I'm not saying try to do anything. I'm not
saying try to relax. I'm not saying try to divert yourself from
your fear-filled thoughts.
I am saying do absolutely nothing. Just accept your fear-filled
feelings for what they are: they're only feelings that can't
hurt you. They're feelings that make you uncomfortable but
they'll quickly settle down if you lose your fear of them. If
you lose your fear of having a panic attack, you'll eliminate
panic attacks from your life.
When you recognize your role in your own panic episodes, you're
90% closer to being able to eliminate panic attacks. Next time
you feel the first fluttering of fear and panic follow the simple
steps above. If you've been experiencing anxiety and panic
attacks for a while, it's your fear of the fear-filled symptoms
that feed your panic. You have become a major part of your
problem. But you're also the total solution.
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