Davit

Have you read any on how the mind works and memories roll. There have been advancements in the last ten years and pathways and connections between hippocampus, hypothalamus and the pituitary gland which controls other glands. Hippocampus is where memory of fear is stored. It is also closely connected to episodic memory and episodic memory is connected to semantic (associated memory) A trigger asks episodic memory for instruction. It puts together an appropriate action based on previous action and opens a code for instruction based on attitude and mood. The code can be either negative or positive and this will dictate what pathway it uses. A negative pathway being a survival path will go to the fear centre in the hippocampus and it will decide what to do based on the last action unless it is new in which case the hippocampus sends it to semantic memory for an answer before it goes to hypothalamus. Hypothalamus passes it on with the previous appropriate actions. These appropriate actions will be the same as last time if there have been no modifications. Eg through its connection to the pituitary where the pituitary will instruct other glands to do such things as raise adrenaline and speed up heart rate in preparation for fight or flight. It will stay such until hypothalamus instructs it not to. Now with positive thought a different code opens a different path and bypasses hippocampus and hypothalamus sends different instructions. It does this because positive thoughts are not survival thoughts and therefore don't have to go through the fear part of hippocampus. If you destroy the hippocampus in a rat it loses all fear. But it also loses the ability to move short term memory to long term. Do this in man and he can function on short term memory but can not the next day remember past the point of its destruction. Patient HM was the leading study on how this works. CBT works by conditioning episodic memory to open a positive safe no fear pathway even though the trigger is the same. Triggers are just facts, it is what you do with them that dictates how you will react. As simple as taking the right pathway. Since memory works on appropriate you want positive to be what it considers appropriate in making it's choice. Even if positive is not appropriate to the situation. Eg having some one make you mad. This can go either way depending on attitude. If you have a positive attitude you will feel concern in new situations but not panic. If you have a negative attitude you will worry and feel anxious and most likely panic. Yet the trigger for both is the same.

Davit.

First part is good and CBT but change your last sentence or you have undone everything by ending on a negative even if it is a fact. Hate is a word that needs to be removed from everyones vocabulary. When a negative is last installed in memory it is first recovered and colours your attitude toward the next thought. (thought triangle) None of us like panic but it is a fact that has to be accepted even after it is gone. Positive breeds positive, negative breeds negative. Never end a thought or an episode on a negative unless you want the next trigger to use it. And it will. Memory works with appropriate, not right or wrong. What you end a thought with gets recorded as appropriate. 

So I would have ended by saying that I strongly dislike Panic attacks but will learn how to stop them. I will win.

And I did win.

Davit

God I hate panic.....

Cara,

My first way to stop the negative self talk was the phrase "Stop the thoughts". I even wore a rubber band on my wrist to snap if the thoughts came back so I could snap the rubber band on my wrist. It became painful after a few times. You have to find what works for you. But first and foremost, find what is triggering the panic/anxiety attack first. Get rid of the trigger. You might even have to dig deep to find it. Once you find the trigger and can eliminate it, work from there. If the trigger is a person, well, some of have those and that's a more in depth issue to deal with. Lets just say for all intent your trigger is not a person, but a situation and perhaps a memory buried somewhere deep in your sub-conscious mind. You have to reprogram your thoughts so the trigger is no longer able to provoke you into a state of anxiety.

 

Now to "the after an attack negative self talk". How I handle it myself. I tell myself that wasn't fun, it was scary, but its over. Once its over, its over, I can't dwell on this because I am inviting the anxiety to stick around. I use the excessive adrenalin rush to clean, read over my positive coping statements or fill out an advanced negative thoughts form or find 5 to 6 distractions. I don't think about it after that. If I find myself thinking about it, I scold myself and find something else to think about or something to do. I don't know if this is the right way, Davit will correct me, :) but it is what works for me and you will find what works for you.

 

No. Definitely not. It exists and is real. Pretending it isn't will not make it go away. My therapist who is very good gave me questions to figure out and how to but I had to find the answers. So I'm doing the same and will correct you if you are wrong. How would you best stop the negative thoughts? It is all in the posts. The answer you come up with will be your answer and easiest for you to use and easier to put in practice than if I give it to you. 

Other members, feel free to say how you do it since we all do it.

Davit

Can someone please let me know how to respond to a panic attack properly?  I usually have negative self talk because I'm disappointed in having another anxious moment or panic?  Are we supposed to just pretend it didn't happen? 

 

Are we just supposed to brush it off ?  My problem is, I think its why panic still lingers for me is I constantly think about what I just went through and feel bad that I have had that anxiety attack even if it was just a little one.

And I think that I can't cope and I will never get better....