I was going through the same thing - fear of panic while I was out and
about. The more people and traffic around, the more 'blurry and things felt.
I still feel that was a little, but you just have to remind yourself that as
awful as you have felt in the past, nothing bad has ever happened. You have
not fainted or had a heart attack or died - it's just your adrenalin going
mad. That's all !
It's very important that you challenge yourself to do normal things. I still
hate supermarkets. There is something about all the florescent lights that
makes me feel like I am floating. However, I know from experience that
nothing bad ever becomes of it, so I just grin & bare it. It's not always
pleasant, but I can do my shopping and nobody would know that I was feeling
that way. Each time you through one of these moments, you will be able to
use the memory of it to look back and say "I felt like this last time and
nothing bad happened, so why would this be any different?"
There's are 2 things that a doctor told me that made me feel instantly
better:
1. Nobody has ever died of a panic attack alone
2. You won't faint, even though it feels just like you will
So with this in mind - what is there to fear ? Nothing.
I am on medication for anxiety - so I am hardly cured, but these are the
sort of thoughts that I carry with everyday to help me get through.
Good luck, you are not alone - there are literally millions of people who go
through this.
Tony
Post by AnnetteFor a long time I suffered with the anxiety, convinced that it would go away
- I would force myself to go out several times a day (actually 'forced'
isn't quite right, most of the time I wanted to), each day trying to go a
bit futher. Unfortunately the overall trend is that i've gradually got
worse. In the short term pushing myself helped, but after a few weeks I
would always just fall back down to square one again. My recovery just
doesn't seem sustainable. I feel that i've become much less willing to go
through the panic attacks.
Any thoughts/suggestions please ?
Hi Pete
I saw something today which sums up the essence of recovering from
panic attacks: "Motivation is what gets you started, habit is what
makes it work"
Annette
better-yourself.co.uk
Hi,
I was fortunate not to develop the agrophopia although I was warned
there was a good chance of it happening.
I guess I just enjoy going out to much and am stubbourn enough to
fight it as uncomfortable as it is at times. But I also realize that
an attack will happen anytime anywhere, so why sit home and wait for
it. If it happens while I am out, to bad, I usually just walk some
where alone and let it pass. I know it is easier said than done. But
the one thing I have going for me is stubbourness and I refuse to let
this run my life. It has won on occasion but for the most part I win.
So, give it a try. Actually I had a fairly bad attack coming on one
time, and I really got angry at the bad timing for this attack and it
stopped dead in its tracks. I tried that approach again, but it
didn't work, it has to be a real from the heart anger, you cannot
pretend. Usually the fear kicks in before the anger, and well, you
probably know that is like wildfire to an attack.
Anyway, good-luck and hang tough!