Hi DC2003: When I was a little girl at the cottage, we kids were afraid of the grass snakes on our way to the beach. Dad killed one and placed it on a small board and positioned that board, with the snake on it, by the path leading to the beach. We used to run by it. It was a kind of exposure so that we would get used to seeing it. I was also afraid of spiders which of course, my brothers would tease me about and threw a few at me; that sure didn't help. Anyway, there was a National Geographic out one year with a special on spiders, photos and all. I was young married at the time and decided to put that book, pages open of spiders on a table where I had to pass every day. I would turn the page every now and then (very gingerly, certainly not touching and hardly looking at the photos). This lasted for about two weeks. The third week, I covered the photos, but was able to read the article. The next week I decided to touch the photos and little by little I was able to really look at them and touch and not squirm. The next time a spider was in the house I was able to kill it myself without screaming out the room asking someone else to do it. Actually, now I can pick them up with a paper and put them outside. I still don't like the look of 'em, nor would I like a surprise one on me, but at least I can deal with them now. I remember my Dad telling me "they're more afraid of you than you are afraid of them", that kind of put it into perspective.
I have had a few night panic attacks. They are pretty scary. I thought that I was sick, bad heart, sleep apnea, that sort of thing. Then I questioned that with "Is this 100% true?", or did I just have a really tense, stressful day. Usually that's when they happened, after a lot of stress. This was a few years ago. Now that I have become healthier, more relaxed, I haven't had any. Deep breathing and meditation are really helpful. I found if you do it every day, this works better than just once in awhile. I hope some of my post helps.