Latest Post

Dealing With Anxiety – My method of dissolving panic attacks immediately

Sadly, I’ve got a feeling that many of you will be able to relate to this…

In all my years of trying to make progress in dealing with anxiety, one thing has always halted me in my tracks. Chances are, you’ve already figured out what I’m talking about.

So here’s the situation: Let’s say I’ve got a circumstance or life event coming up that is particularly stressful/important/anxiety-generating. This will obviously vary from person to person – it could be a driving test, a date, or simply an important event that might spiral out of control. If you will allow me to play psychoanalyst for a bit, the common thread between all of these triggers seems to be that they are:

• Something high up on the list of things I personally value.
• Something where I feel that I should be able to perform and be in control.
• Something where I subconsciously lack the inner beliefs and self-comfort to execute said event in a way consistent with the way I feel I “should be” doing it, and as a result…
• I have a consistent history of anxious mental states centering on the event, which feeds the monster even more.

So, let me share a personal story. This really did happen.

Dealing with Anxiety:

Chapter 1

This one time, I had a date with a beautiful girl. I knew that having strong anxiety, and maybe a panic attack, was a real possibility. From my previous experiences in dealing with anxiety, I knew about the essential importance of putting myself in a positive and “turned on” frame of mind… and I did this to the best of my ability.

I also knew about how much difference breathing techniques make. Most importantly, I knew as a fact how much of a lasting difference it makes to confront the source of your fears directly, rather than chronic avoidance. To cut a long story short, apart from some low level apprehensive anxiety on the way there, I managed to turn my mood around while I was waiting for her to arrive.

I was excited. I had a rush of adrenalin and experienced the feeling that there was “ABSOLUTELY NO WAY, based on the way that I am feeling now, that I would get that dreaded panic attack.”

I was going to rock this.

Dealing With Anxiety:

Chapter 2

She arrived, and we sat down to eat. Things were going fairly well, aside from some jitters here and there. We were talking and connecting really well.

And then, for seemingly no rhyme or reason, panic hit my mind like a brick wall. All mental faculties shut down – my mind was now a hyperactive squiggle of absolute dread. My stomach and chest were filled to the brim with nausea.

I knew I had lost it, but I also had to keep it all contained and play it cool. Sadly, at that stage I had quite a bit of experience doing this. Pretend headaches are awesome.

At that moment, I felt I had been betrayed by my own mind, and that all my previous efforts in dealing with anxiety were utterly meaningless. The two most overwhelming needs I possessed at that point were to escape, and to vomit.

I stuck through it, of course, and the panic abated… only to come and go in cycles of 5 minutes. I was reminded then of exactly why the instinct to avoid such stressful situations was so strong. What this story illustrates is that no matter how good you THINK you are at dealing with anxiety, moments like these can come and shatter your beliefs in an instant.

Dealing with Anxiety:

Chapter 3 – Epilogue

“So it’s all doom and gloom, then?”

Luckily not. There are a few brilliant methods around that are amazingly successful at being able to neutralize a panic attack state as and when it’s needed. I have been able to employ it successfully just as I feel the first warning signs of a panic attack brewing, and was pretty quickly able to learn how to avoid a full blown panic attack. The story above happened quite some time ago, and I just *wish* I had those skills back then.

The method I personally used and recommend can be found here. I’ve found that it helped me be able defuse a panic attack in mere seconds, as well as being able to cut out more generalized baseline anxiety.

In the interests of helping out anyone who can relate IN ANY WAY to what happened to me (which is the whole purpose of this blog), I would implore you to check it out. It can and will make a difference to your life, and I attribute to it my success in dealing with anxiety.

Peace.