Panic attacks are a sudden feeling of strong fear and anxiety combined with unpleasant physical sensations such as strong heartbeat, sweating, trembling, nausea, fucking death, and there can be many more unpleasant physical sensations.
People with a weak nervous system are subject to panic attacks, they are suspicious and disturbing. Panic attacks often occur after severe stress: loss of employment, death of a loved one, but can also occur on a flat surface.
In other words, a panic attack is an attack of anxiety about what is happening in your body, it is also called fear of feeling, fear of fear.
Why are panic attacks developing?
Why do different situations cause people to react in one way - panic? The fact is that all of these situations reflect the dangers that our prehistoric ancestors have always faced.
A panic attack arises not only because of typical primeval fears, but also as a feeling that a person's reaction to this fear will be catastrophic - that is, fear of fear. This personal trait is called the sensitivity to anxiety. A distorted explanation of normal physical reactions forms a catastrophic fear of anxiety itself. There is a tendency to focus on one's own inner feelings. Such people rely only on themselves to control their emotions - this attitude can make life very difficult for anyone.
How to get rid of panic attacks without pills once and for all?
Panic attacks can be avoided without pills. It is also possible to get rid of panic attacks once and for all. It is also possible to quickly get rid of panic attacks.
Untreated panic disorder, like any other psychological disorder, can bring anxiety and depression into your life. But it is possible to get rid of panic attacks without pills once and for all.
The following steps should be taken to cure panic attacks without pills:
- Determine what you are afraid of;
- Describe your protective and avoidant behavior;
- Think about what will motivate you to change;
- Build a hierarchy of fears;
- Experience fear in your imagination;
- Practice meeting fear in real life;
- Stick to a long-term strategy.
Let's look at these steps.
In the first list, list the circumstances that are of great concern to you: closed or open spaces, altitude, tension, planes, elevators - everything that is important to you. To make a second list, you need to write down the thoughts that fly through your head during a panic attack.
Often it helps to see them already written on paper. Such a view from outside helps you to understand how often these thoughts are far from reality.
Describe your protective and avoidant behavior.
Protective and avoidant behaviour is usually useless. They seem to convince you that you have defended yourself, but in reality they reinforce your belief in the danger of a situation that does not exist. Creating a list of protective and avoidant behaviours is very useful. This shows you what you have to put up with to calm the anxiety.
Think about what will motivate you to change.
To get rid of panic attacks once and for all, how motivated are you? What are you willing to do to get along without the help of other people, tranquilizers and other medications, so that you can live a peaceful and confident life without fear or anxiety? Come the pride, satisfaction, confidence when you feel like the master of your own life that you got rid of panic attacks once and for all.
On the other hand, you will have to leave the comfort zone. You will need to master difficult activities gradually, step by step, according to the plan. But you have to be ready to overcome the barriers and difficulties. Then setting a goal to get rid of panic attacks, you will be able to achieve it. You will be able to quickly get rid of panic attacks.
Build a hierarchy of fears.
To quickly get rid of panic attacks, your hierarchy of fears must include two separate components. The first is the situations that can cause a panic attack: getting stuck in an elevator, taking the subway, going shopping, etc. The second component is that you will have to write down how you think this suffering will manifest itself: you will faint, suffocate, have a heart attack, go mad or something else.
The fact is that you are afraid of the situation, because you think that your body will react to it by hyperventilation of the lungs, fainting, falling down, madness, etc. It is very important to identify these predictions, as the self-help exercises are based on testing and challenging them. You will get out of control of your fears by proving to yourself that the old feelings are wrong. The hierarchy of fears will help you do this.
Read the sequel in the next post.