About a year ago something unusual occurred to my lifestyle. While in class, the 22nd of January 2018, I dealt with an instant increase of body temperature and an almost complete loss of my senses. I thought I seriously was going to faint, as I couldn’t even open and close my knuckles. The moment was indeed terrifying for me. Luckily I had asked my teacher earlier if I could leave the class as I thought I felt feverish. The next day I decided to stay home from school as I hadn’t identified the cause that triggered everything. That night I had to deal with another strange situation: my heart started to race without reason, and it felt as if I couldn’t accumulate enough oxygen in my lungs. I tried lying on my bed, wetting my wrists with cold water to try to focus my nervous system on a different part of the body that wasn’t my heart. Luckily within minutes that bad moment faded! I seriously thought I was going to die! However, I told myself that if I was to die, I would undergo death gladly, as I truly have no fear of dying! Writing my symptoms into google I discovered I was actually dealing with panic attacks! That was horrible news! Reading experiences, I thought they were incurable! I was however, able to defeat them! I do admit having some setbacks once in a while, but I definitely am on the road to a complete recovery!
I will admit that many factors come into play when dealing with panic attacks. Quite often you feel as if you are going to die, your heart starts racing without cause, your chest gets tighter by the minute, your palms start to sweat, you start getting feelings of numbness in your legs, as if you are going to faint. Do you sometimes have these feelings? I want to help you overcome them!
Let’s start by addressing a relatively minor issue that still has a being impact: diet. There are certain foods that trigger the nervous system, causing an increased production of adrenaline. Needless to say, the first substance that must be avoided at all costs is caffeine. Avoid drinking coffee if possible, and any drinks that contain caffeine. Decaffeinated coffee can be the right place to start. Avoid also big sugar intakes, as those will vary your blood pressure. I admit: the day of my first panic attack I had indeed consumed chocolate and coffee, so that moment comes now at no surprise.
The greatest work must however be done on the mental side. i highly recommend downloading the app DARE, as you will notice immediate results. Barry McDonough, the author of the DARE book explains is highly effective method of defeating anxiety. You must begin by rationalising the situation and understanding that there is no danger. We deal with anxieties of the unknown: your mind wants to make you think there is a tiger behind you, ready to attack you, when actually there is no tiger. You are always, completely safe. At times, gambling with anxiety can be helpful: give anxiety time to kill you, to make you throw up, to suffocate you. Say you establish 30 seconds for anxiety to actually defeat you: count to 30 in a slow manner, you want to give anxiety enough time to kill you. Once the seconds are up, you realise that anxiety was bluffing: you have been wise enough to give it time to play its best cards but it wasn’t able to succeed. Your mind will understand that a part of it is arousing certain parts in the body to trick you, but actually it’s not the body that is playing games with you: it is your mind.
You are not about to throw up, to suffocate or to die: sure these things can happen, but it is at 99% your mind that wants to make you believe that these things are going to happen! There is nothing there: it is just an illusion!
Everyday I would write down some phrases that I would read every time anxiety would rise such as: “you are safe, you have gone through this situation many times and have always come out fine, you are the hunter and not the hunted, I want to transform this extra energy in excitement, all you need is you.” As a spiritual person I also put my trust in God in repeating phrases such as:” trust that you are guided, this is God’s way of curing you, you are always looked after”. There have also been some very special friends that gave me such great and valuable help by constantly expressing their love and concern for me! That made me feel important and special. People weren’t willing to forget about me! I also would listen to the deep release program on the app to try to release all the tension I would accumulate during the day. There has also been another factor that helped me to overcome my anxiety, but I think I will reserve that for a different article.
I want to tell you the truth: with hope and hard work, anxiety is curable. You can do it! What are you waiting for?
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