With panic disorder we exaggerate the focus on negatives. It is not always clear why or what set it off. But since it is here we have to reverse it and get the focus back where it belongs which is actually a balance of negative (survival skills) and positive (calming skills). But mostly we need to be able to switch from one to the other without getting stuck in the negatives. (panic attack)
So with this exaggerated focus on negatives anything negative gets grabbed and expanded till it covers the positives that were with it in the information I posted here.
I was up at four in the morning getting a cup of Lemon Balm tea (I'm not a fan of hot milk) and giving myself a lecture because I did just that. And I'm one of the cured. I went right back to sleep and there were no consequences or rebound like there would have been with a Benzo that would have done the same thing.
A combination of stress and core beliefs is believed to be the factor that sets us on the panic attack road. how much stress depends on the persons tolerance. A fighter pilot does not necessarily handle stress better than a farmer say.
Being close to panic sets you up to look at everything in survival mode. Fine for the fighter pilot who doesn't have a panic disorder. He looks at the triggers, sorts them out and discards the ones he does't need. Not so with us. We look at the negatives and look for associated negatives. And we find them because we have lots and are living in them.
So the information I posted here is about negatives and just reading it is enough to attach it to other negatives in memory, in your case your triggers. In my case, my triggers. Reading posts here can trigger me. But I have CBT. I have subconscious ways to focus on positives instead. But at night my guard is down because that very primitive need to protect one self is still there. It always will be.
You know that when you have a night mare it is terrifying till you accept it happened and that there is nothing there. You want to be able to do this with panic attacks till they no longer happen. And it will but it takes work. It takes a change in thought patterns so you don't grab on to every negative thing and focus on it for longer than the minimum amount of time necessary to discard it as not necessary.
Anger can stop panic, because it is a solution whereas a panic attack is fight or flight because there is no solution. Anger unless it is a core belief will not trigger panic. Anything that is a solution will stop panic. Acceptance is a solution, fighting it is not.
benzo's do not get rid of a trigger they just block it. It usually comes back when it wears off. If one is lucky it happens when a person can handle it. CBT gets rid of the trigger by proving it wrong, it only comes back if you bring it back. Core beliefs will bring it back.
Davit
