First of all: Hi. How do you do? I'm Caitlyn. What's your name? Okay, so, I've suffered from severe anxiety, OCD, intrusive thoughts and slight BDD. Recently I've been suffering through more and more panic/anxiety attacks, all of varying intensities. I don't like relying on pills so instead I prefer mentally muscling through it. But the severity of some leave me crippled and physically ill. I wanted to know how you deal with these things (assuming you suffer from anxiety/panic attacks as well.) What can I do to better manage my anxiety? It's rather important I get a handle on this soon, it's driving my comfort zone smaller and smaller. It's making me a hermit.
Hi.I'm Ben.I have severe panic attack disorder.If I'm in the wrong situation at the wrong time I get the panic attack from hell.It feels like I'm dying.I get them when I'm in large open spaces with lots of people,like busy urban spaces.I also get them If I feel people are consciously trying to weird me out.It's also a kind of social phobia,like those strange socially incongruous situations where emotions and feelings start running off in the wrong direction.I start to feel like I'm in a thriller movie.It also makes me a semi-recluse.In some respects I'm lucky though,because I can walk to the supermarket and also walk 15 minutes into town without having a panic.I think this is because my local town is quite chilled and genteel. Now.The only thing that works for me is to take a 1mg of benzodiazepine (Klonopin) before I venture any further out of my comfort zone,like going in to central London,my classes,concerts,etc.If I take this pill I am almost guaranteed a smooth trip.I feel unconcerned and chilled.However I have built up tolerance and this means I am in a Benzo trap.As time goes by I will need more benzos just to get the same effect and this is a problem for me because my doctor will only prescribe me 30 pills a month,so this limits my amount of "Out" time doing what I want to do and trying to have a life.I envisage a time when I will have to take a higher dosage just to get the same effect.I get the impression that in America doctors are more willing to prescribe higher doses but here in the UK they are very stringent. Now.You have said that you don't want to take pills.I am also trying to think of ways to get over this without pills.I have considered having hypnotherapy to remove the seed of panic form my bio-chemistry,because I believe it is a bio-chemical condition.I think it could be a game of mind over matter.It's also about perception.For example if you set yourself small goals and try and consolidate these with repetition you may gradually be able to widen your comfort zone.This is basically cognitive behavioural therapy which has been known to help sufferers of panic attacks.It's worth looking into.Lastly there is EFT tapping,which I don't really know much about,it stands for "Emotional Freedom Technique" and there's a lot of information on the net if you want to google it.Lastly,one thing I'm trying to do is just to try and forget about my condition,to keep the mind active in other areas,and let it all go by as if in a slipstream.This is as far as I have got so far with dealing with my condition.I also get intrusive thoughts but that's a whole other thing.I sincerely hope you can make progress as I know how awful all this can be.One more thing,I am starting to research herbal remedies that are supposed to calm your nerves but ~I honestly haven't got very far with this yet.
I treat anxiety with yoga and meditation. Pills won't help in the long term. You need to heal your body and mind. Diet plays an important part! What do you eat?
Yoga and meditation are great,but unless you are some kind of Mahatma these methods will not cure sever panic attack disorder,at least not the version that I have.That's not to say they couldn't help in combination with other therapies,and yes, in my case at least,medication.
Hi Caitlin I am Charles, British and frightfully OLD :2thumbsup: I am really sorry to read about your situation and hope it has improved. You are not alone, lots of people go through the same thing. You will get past it, just try not to let it overwhelm you. Easier said than done of course. I always thought only 'other people' had panic attacks, but never me. My mother had them for years, then about a year ago my grown up daughter started to get them. Of course I sympathised but I was 'fine'. But then suddenly I was hit by the same 'terrors' as them, could not sleep, felt like the world was caving in on me, you name it .. for the first time in my life I was Afraid .. totally adrift and I felt helpless SO what to do? I took to going for very long walks, at night while the world slept, making myself tired enough to at least get some rest later .. in the end I saw a Doctor and got anti-depressants, Vitamin B complex, Valium/Diazepam/Prozac to help me sleep .. but overall I gradually felt even worse. It has been about six months now and I am off the drugs, mostly feel OK but at times it is a real effort to keep the 'Demons' away. Meditation and concentrating on my work [as a Teacher] and my Dogs has kept me 'sane', but I will never feel the same as I used to. I hope it helps a tiny bit to hear other peoples reports and you are on the road to having coping strategies and peace of mind. keep smiling, Charles :sunny: PS - there is another similar thread in here, worth a look maybe? http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=471747&f=385
Hello, I was on medication from the ages of 16 to 23 and I had a lot of therapy during that time. I came off my medication last year after I became convinced that my lifestyle choices would help me and that I could avoid the fact that I appear to have inherited some level of mental illness from my mum and her side of the family. Long story short, I had a breakdown last year. I'm now back on my medication, I found yoga and Buddhism and I feel amazing. I easily feel better than I have in my entire life; even when I was a child I had a lot of problems. I would really recommend speaking to your GP, see what they say then go away and do you research and decide for yourself. Taking pills isn't ideal for me but I also have to be aware that if something works then I need to embrace it. The meds in conjunction with yoga, daily meditations and a balanced lifestyle has literally transformed my life. If you are having ongoing anxiety and you feel like there's no cause i.e. you can't trace it back and figure out what's going on; then speak to your GP. At my worst, my anxiety was so out of control that I was panicking and having no idea why and if it's affecting your day to day life then that's horrible and I, personally, know that I need meds to be okay. Good luck.
You should see an OCD specialist. They can train you on how to deal with things like your anxiety, without using medication. The thing is, if you have OCD and other disorders, it's not just the anxiety you need to fix, it's also what's causing the anxiety. When my OCD acts up and I have anxiety, too, it's a two step process usually. I "let go" of the compulsions. I don't think about them, but I don't ignore them. I accept that they are there, and just leave them. I then expose myself to whatever is giving me anxiety. This gives me more anxiety and is painful, but lessens the anxiety in the long run. An OCD specialist can teach you similar methods.
Panic attacks can be terrifying and am sorry to hear you are going through such a rough time. Do you know what is causing your anxiety? Meditation helps alot and you don't need to be a Buddhist monk to get relief from anxiety but it does take practice. Just practicing 15 minutes a a day can be very helpful. It helps you gain insight to yourself and perhaps help you get at the cause of your anxiety. I found that the more I worry about my anxiety the worse it gets so I try to take my mind off it. I try to take my mind off it with some activity. A physical activity like exercise or a walk in the woods works best for me with my second being something that forces me to slow down my thinking. It's good that you are looking into alternativs to medication to treat your anxiety. Most of the medication used to treat anxiety is addictive. I am not against meds if you need them. Sometimes people meet to treat the symptom while learning how to better cope. You will be in my thoughts and I hope you feel better soon.
I used to suffer from profound panic attacks and general anxiety. I no longer do. It is common I have found especially around the age of 20+ but can resolve as a person grows older. Panic attacks are generally caused or aggravated by fear of the actual attacks themselves. You become fearful of the anxiety occurring, and you fear triggers further attacks! Its a feedback loop. Also AVOIDING things that make you anxious tend to REINFORCE the anxiety. Any specific fears you have need to be rationally dealt with and deconstructed. You need to understand the symptoms of anxiety, such as rapid heart rate, shaking, sweating, unpleasant bodily sensations, hyperventilating, and a feeling of great concern that something bad is happening. If you can identify these symptoms and realize they are anxiety, but that no matter how scary it feels that it CANNOT KILL YOU, they you can learn to stop the attacks from fully developing. People with anxiety can hyperfocus on bodily sensations, their pulse rate and breathing etc, and they freak themselves out, which increase their anxiety, and increase the symptoms that are scaring them, and a feedback loop causes a full panic reaction. Avoiding hyperfocusing, distracting yourself from anxious thoughts (such as doing some mathematical calculation in your head that requires concentration), and learning to SLOW your breathing and RELAX your muscles can help. You should read up about the physical effects of hyperventillation. If you are full blown hyperventilating there are techniques you can use to reduce the physical symptoms and help stop the attack, such as breathing into a paper bag. Cigarettes in particular seem capable of triggering anxiety, and caffeine can worst it too. Stopping smoking, and strongly increasing your physical fitness can help to a strong degree, but I have noticed the benefits seem delayed, ie it takes several months before they fully kick in. To a degree you need to "face your fear" and learn "fuck it, FUCK BEING SCARED. I don't care.". That sort of attitude is much more useful than "OMG! ITS HAPPENING AGAIN! HELP ME!" If you stop smoking (if you smoke), increase your fitness, and work on understand the symptoms and psychology of it as I explained above, you will in time overcome the problem- I did.
Hi I'm Taylor! I have severe anxiety almost to the point of having to stay home from work and school just to deal with it. I've tried various medications but all of them made it worse. I now smoke pot to stop with the constant attacks but that doesn't even work half the time.. My best method is to take deep breaths and control it because the only one who really can. Just breathe and relax!
I used weed to help with my anxiety. I found it helped with GAD but made my Social Anxiety waaay worse. I'm currently trying to take a weed break and it's been good. Only a few days and I feel like I can handle being around people again. I also have a tendency to forget to eat and this can really trigger things. Eating more consistently has helped me greatly. Meditation. and this is an odd one but...Brutal Tech Death Metal. Maybe it gives a focus to the anxious energy? I dunno. But it's oddly soothing.
I have had a panic attack before. It was a terrible experience. Also, I suffer from social anxiety as well.
you gotta just do the things that give you anxiety without even thinkin about it, hard, but when you do these things and keep realizing that nothing bad happened as a result it will get better
