Eliminate Anxiety and Panic Attacks for Good

By Wendy Brausch | July 24, 2007

Standing in a supermarket queue, it’s been a long wait but only one customer to go before you make it to the cashier. Wait, what was that sensation? An unpleasant feeling forms in your throat, your chest feels tighter, now a sudden shortness of breath, and what do you know- your heart skips a beat. “Please, God, not here.”

A quick scan of the territory – is it threatening? Four unfriendly faces queue behind, one person in front. Pins and needles seem to prick you through your left arm, you feel slightly dizzy, and then the explosion of fear as you dread the worst. You are about to have a panic attack.

You begin to panic even more, as you wonder if this is the big episode that will take you to your knees gasping for breath. Stop right there and begin to focus on the procedures you have learned concerning coping techniques. As your physician has recommended, begin your deep breathing exercises. In through the nose, out through the mouth.

In your mind, you should be thinking pleasant thoughts, which relax you, and again while inhaling – as you exhale you should chant the word Relax in your mind. However, there is a problem when you find that this does not have positive effect and that just in focusing on your breathing makes you even more uncomfortably stressed.

Then you should move on to coping technique two, which is the gradual relaxation of your muscles. Begin by tensing your shoulders and holding for ten seconds and then release, try this again. However, you still find no comfort or relief. The idea of running out of coping techniques worsens the feeling of dread you now hold. You panic as you wish for an understanding friend to be close to your, as you feel you can make it through this attack if you were not alone.

A dreaded feeling of losing complete control engulfs your emotions as your body begins to tingle with an uncomfortable sensation as your adrenaline is reacting as it pumps through your body. No one around has any idea of the terror you are experiencing. It is just another day in an annoyingly long service line, awaiting their turn.

If you feel you are out of options, the next coping procedure is to flee. Simply excuse yourself from the line as you are now slightly embarrassed as it is not your turn at the register. A disorientated cashier watches as you lay your shopping behind on her counter, as you escape the freedom of the location of this attack as you exit the door. Once out of the supermarket you get into your car and begin to ride it out alone. You struggle within as you wonder, could this be the big one. The attack you fear most, one that will push you past your limits both physically and mentally. The panic subsides within ten minutes or so. Nevertheless, it is only ten in the morning. You wonder how you will make it through the entire day.

The scenario above may sound very familiar if you suffer from panic or anxiety attacks. Possibly, even in reading it you felt the induction of panic and feeling of anxiety. Take a deep cleansing breath. Keep in mind that there are as many triggers for panic and anxiety as well as body sensations as there are individuals who experience them, they all differ. On the other hand, perhaps you have experienced it while the dentist cleans your teeth or while for the very first time you travel by air and even possibly, you were at home while doing nothing out of the ordinary.

If you have ever had what has become known as a “panic attack,” take comfort in the fact that you are by no means alone. A panic attack always comes with the acute sense of impending doom. You feel you are either about to lose your mind or one of your vital bodily functions is about to cease functioning and you will end your days right there among the canned goods and frozen food.

Did you know that in the United States that the estimate of those stricken by panic attacks is nearly five percent? This means you are not even one in a million. For many individuals their episodes are triggered by the expectation of dealing with others while speaking, and there are those who suffer daily and have become homebound by the frequency of their panic attacks. Often panic attacks that develop frequently are referred to as anxiety disorder by the medical profession.

The beginning of your recovery starts here. What you will learn is that there is a very good chance you are about to end the cycle of panic attacks in your life. You will learn not only to regain the carefree life you remember once having, but will also gain new confidence in living. Your answer to living free from “panic” or “anxiety attacks” is at hand.

You see, the trick to handling such attacks is the want of having one – as the wanting actually pushes the attack away. You must realize that, that which you oppose will endure. This also applies the fear. To stop opposing you must move towards it, into the path of the anxiety, by doing so, it cannot endure.

In essence what this means is that if you daily voluntarily seek to have a panic attack, you cannot have one. Try in this very moment to have a panic attack and I will guarantee you cannot. You may not realize it but you have always decided to panic. You make the choice by saying this is beyond my control.

You should keep in mind that the racing of your heart or the panic you feel will not cause you harm; you are perfectly safe although you may feel overwhelmed you are safe from harm. It is in your best interest to choose not to have an attack of anxiety.

Author Wendy Brausch runs an anxiety and panic disorder support website. For helpful tips and advice on dealing with panic attack symptoms get her free report at Conquer Panic Attack Symptoms
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