Anyone who’s ever suffered a panic attack or a severe anxiety episode knows the suffering it causes, both physical and emotional. The fear can seem overpowering while the physical sensations that go with it make many people think that they’re going to die.
They feel as if they’re trapped and would do anything to find release from their fear.
Even worse is living with the dread that another attack might suddenly come suddenly, anytime,anywhere.
That fear can lead people suffering from panic attacks to into isolation. They want to avoid situations where they feel at risk.
Gradually their their fear gains increasing control over their life.
Obviously people in this situation want release.
When they try to find help from a health care professional they’re often offered a prescription. There’s no doubt that drugs are helpful, especially in the short term. However, ideally they are only temporary measure, something to ease the symptoms while the underlying cause is addressed.
A Mistake You’ll Know To Avoid
Since panic episodes feel so overwhelming, people almost automatically assume that they need to fight against these feelings and the experience they’re having.
In a way this makes perfect sense. The bodily reaction underlying a panic attack is the fight or flight response – the response that prepares us to respond to physical danger by either fighting for our life or running like crazy.
The physiology is preparing us for battle, so naturally we feel like we should fight.
However with these episodes, that’s exactly the wrong way to react. By fighting against them, we’re strengthening them.
How To Avoid This Pitfall
The trick in dealing with panic attacks is to go with their flow, even challenge them to do their worst.
That may seem too easy. Or perhaps it seems simplistic.
The key is that with a panic attack, nothing bad happens.
If you’re attacked by a dangerous animal and do nothing, you’ll die.
On the other hand, if you do nothing when a panic attack strikes, you’ll still be alive at the end of it. The sense of danger is an illusion, a paper tiger.
The way to see that is to accept the the panic attack and all the sensations that go with it and even welcome them. Dare them to do their worst. It’s scary when you start, but less so as you do it more often.
What you’ll likely find is that this actually reduces the symptoms of fear, sometimes almost immediately. As the saying goes “What we resist persists”. Accept a panic attack for what it is and it loses its power.
Although this approach is simple and effective, it is a learned skill. Practice and coaching help to become proficient at it. But the beginning is just knowing that the risk from a panic attack is more illusion than real.
If you want to find out more about panic attacks Panic Attack Release is a great site.
And there’s a good review of a product that teaches this type approach at Panic Away Review
As Dorthy found out when she got to Oz, the man behind the curtain is not very frightening once you see what’s really there.
You can find out about a great way to get beyond Panic Attacks by clicking that link.
