Hey! I have the same thing. I find this to be the most distressing. I was wondering what else do you experience symptom wise? For me time is distorted and I feel confused. Like I have to remind myself that I am at home or at work and it's located at x and y and it's this day of the week and I am this far from lake ontario. Otherwise it triggers a panic attack. Açtually having one now. So frustrating and I feel like im honestly losing my mind to this endless trap/cycle sigh.
Hey guys. Same with me. But this has happened to me before. Anytime I am under stress my anxiety triggers and it's non stop and then it goes away for years. I dont take medication (Im against it - I believe in training your brain at source rather than trying to bandaid the symptoms) but the reason it is constant it's because youre dreading it and youre bothered by it. You have to coach yourself and remind yourself that: a. It is the fear reasponse designed to save your life b. When you fear fear, you now perpetuate this cycle (fear of symtoms->more adrenaline ->more symptoms ->more adrenaline, etc). I know its easier said than done and just as you mine is worse in the morning. But know that you will conquer this and you will be okay
There are others like you who have conquered it and you are no different
I came up with this quote yesterday lol let your Will be greater than the sum of your fears.
So I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder when I was 10. For me even as a child it has always been the derealization that has been the most distressing. In my life I have triggered anxiety 3 times and they last for 1- 2 years before they extinguish. I like to equate it to a volcano that is active then dormant. Now it is active again after 10 years of dormancy. So yes anxiety will never go away but I disagree with "oh it can be managed." Between each episodes was years/decades of no anxiety. Back to your question - quite simply it just fizzled out. When other things consumed my time, I actually just forgot to think about anxiety. But what I would recommend (and am doing currently):
1. Reduce and eliminate safety behaviours ( For me I would wake up wear my jeans and be ready to leave at 5.30am when I should be sleeping);
2. Feel the feelings - surf them like a hawaiian wave (ie. I kept avoiding, fighting and telling myself I cant handle it which was the wrong approach);
3. Resist temptation to run/avoid the situation- whenever you run, you continue to strengthen this LEARNED response of anxiety and fear. I say learned because you can unlearn them. You were not born this way. When you run, this is essentially viewed from a behaviourist perspective as a reward. When you stop the reward, you are breaking the cycle and unlearning the feared response;
4. Be positive - there is no constant in life. Things will improve and subside.
I think in the past because I gradually just forgot about it, I never unlearned it or understood the mechanics of it. This time is different. Knowledge is power and so Im empowering myself through education because the truth is you are the author of your thoughts and therefore anxiety. Just as you created it, you can destroy it. Josh im curious about your symptoms - how would you describe your panic attacks? What kinds of situations or thoughts trigger it and what do you do in response?
Yes. Just like you when I had my first panic attack last year, it was repeated. In one day I think I had 15 panic attacks. I wanted to sleep to stop it, but I was too wired up to sleep. I thought there must be something wrong. I had the same symptoms as you - racing heart, shallow breathing but I had feelings of unreality, I felt confused and just wierd. I had to remind myself that my name is x and I live here and today is thursday. If it makes you feel better driving useto trigger panic for me too
It lasted sometime but it stopped. During that time redlights, traffic jams, driving on lanes that are further from the exit in highways, would trigger full blown panics. I didnt do anything and it disappeared.
I am so confident that they will. You are doing everything right (seeing a psychologist, registered on this website, asking for advice, etc). Keep practising those new behaviours and it will extinguish.
How do you respond to thoughts telling you that you wont get better and that this time around, it is here to stay? Im doing exposure work, seeing a psychologist and doing my homework, but I keep having these thoughts creep up and some days I am able to dismiss it but other days im a vicim to it and it triggers more panic attacks.
Well I guess I am catastrophizing and thinking the worst case by thinking it will never go away. Also this has happened before and it completely resolved so by using your list of questions, "whats different now?" it really isnt different. I guess in the past it was shorter vs now it has been over 1 yr. But I know from the program on this site that prior history or duration of anxiety does not preclude you from recovering.
Well - I still get anxiety but what Ive been doing is searching for evidence demonstrating the lack of credibility of anxiety. Thus I went on a short trip and though I panicked, I had such a great time. I deliberately do everything it says I cant. Now whenever these thoughts emerge, I rely on this evidence to counter these negative thoughts (that I will never get better) and remind myself that anxiety is just an overactive alarm system. The fact that I think anxiety will never go away is a type of cognitive distortion namely overestimating its importance. I do have crappy days but recovery is never linear or tidy.
Hey. I know how you feel. Have exactly the same. Panic attacks, agophobia, feeling detached. Everyday I would wake up in a panic. My sleep is severely impaired (keep waking up panicking). But trust me youll get better. Ive said this in other posts but ive had them, then they disappear completely for decades until my next major meltdown. For me last year it triggered again after this woman at work was bullying me and forced me to quit. It was months of enormous stress and being subjected to her verbal abuse and then one day I had a major panic attack and then my life changes in the most restrictive way. But it will get better. What goes up must come down and anxiety is no different. Just like you I do not take medication and never will.
It’s been a while since you were active on this site. Please extend your session below
You have been logged out due to inactivity.
Please sign back in.
We use cookies to help us learn about how our platform is used and how we can improve your experience. To
learn more please see our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
