3 Steps to Overcome Panic Attacks
I've struggled with anxiety and panic attacks for almost my whole life. At its worst I would be too scared to walk out my front door to get the mail or answer the door.
The panic attacks would happen sometimes for no reason at all. And they interfered with all aspects of my life. I had a hard time holding down jobs; handling relationships; and just living my life.
I missed out on so many great things in life because of my anxiety and panic attacks and this led to overwhelming bouts of depression. I tried therapy and medication over the years, but I was not completely healed until I learned to change my way of thinking through certain courses and books.
Here are some of the tips that I learned to help me overcome the anxiety, panic and depression -
1. This may sound really simple, but it sure does help - breathe. Take the time as often as possible to take deep breaths. I do it as much as 10 times a day for 1 minute at a time. Here's the procedure I use:
I breathe deeply through my nose, so my abdomen expands, to a slow count of 2. I hold this for a slow count of 4. I then exhale through my mouth to the slow count of 5. The actual count is not set in stone - just do what is most comfortable to you.
2. Another thing that helped me is to accept my situation and allow myself to feel my emotions fully. Not to run away from them. I realized that the worst that could happen would be death - and the chances of that occurring were pretty slim.
In other words, I gave myself permission to have the panic attack. And I realized something - they were my own creation and I always made them worse when I fought them. It's always better to relax and go with them - allow them to happen and they will pass.
3. Here's another tip that has helped me a great deal. I question every statement that I'm feeding myself. We are our thoughts and often our thoughts are so far off base it's really kind of funny.
I often find my inner dialogue full of lies and hate. I'll tell myself how fat and ugly I am and that every body is judging me that way - so I won't leave the house. I'll tell myself that I'll say the wrong thing and people won't accept me - so I'll avoid any possible encounters with people. I'll tell myself that I'll do something stupid and people will judge me negatively - so once again I won't put myself in any scary situation.
I've learned to recognize when I begin feeding myself bad thoughts and begin feeding myself positive thoughts that are more based in reality. And boy has it helped.
These 3 steps have helped me immensely. The first 2 steps allow me to calm down so that I can put step 3 into practice. For more details on these methods you can check out the 2 methods that I've had great success with. They are the "Attacking Anxiety and Depression" course and "The Sedona Method" book.
Gwen has been researching and writing articles for over 4 years now. In addition to writing about health and lifestyle, you can check out her latest website on single serve coffee makers [http://www.coffeemakerspoint.com/] at [http://www.coffeemakerspoint.com/]. A website dedicated to bringing you reviews and information related to coffee makers.
The panic attacks would happen sometimes for no reason at all. And they interfered with all aspects of my life. I had a hard time holding down jobs; handling relationships; and just living my life.
I missed out on so many great things in life because of my anxiety and panic attacks and this led to overwhelming bouts of depression. I tried therapy and medication over the years, but I was not completely healed until I learned to change my way of thinking through certain courses and books.
Here are some of the tips that I learned to help me overcome the anxiety, panic and depression -
1. This may sound really simple, but it sure does help - breathe. Take the time as often as possible to take deep breaths. I do it as much as 10 times a day for 1 minute at a time. Here's the procedure I use:
I breathe deeply through my nose, so my abdomen expands, to a slow count of 2. I hold this for a slow count of 4. I then exhale through my mouth to the slow count of 5. The actual count is not set in stone - just do what is most comfortable to you.
2. Another thing that helped me is to accept my situation and allow myself to feel my emotions fully. Not to run away from them. I realized that the worst that could happen would be death - and the chances of that occurring were pretty slim.
In other words, I gave myself permission to have the panic attack. And I realized something - they were my own creation and I always made them worse when I fought them. It's always better to relax and go with them - allow them to happen and they will pass.
3. Here's another tip that has helped me a great deal. I question every statement that I'm feeding myself. We are our thoughts and often our thoughts are so far off base it's really kind of funny.
I often find my inner dialogue full of lies and hate. I'll tell myself how fat and ugly I am and that every body is judging me that way - so I won't leave the house. I'll tell myself that I'll say the wrong thing and people won't accept me - so I'll avoid any possible encounters with people. I'll tell myself that I'll do something stupid and people will judge me negatively - so once again I won't put myself in any scary situation.
I've learned to recognize when I begin feeding myself bad thoughts and begin feeding myself positive thoughts that are more based in reality. And boy has it helped.
These 3 steps have helped me immensely. The first 2 steps allow me to calm down so that I can put step 3 into practice. For more details on these methods you can check out the 2 methods that I've had great success with. They are the "Attacking Anxiety and Depression" course and "The Sedona Method" book.
Gwen has been researching and writing articles for over 4 years now. In addition to writing about health and lifestyle, you can check out her latest website on single serve coffee makers [http://www.coffeemakerspoint.com/] at [http://www.coffeemakerspoint.com/]. A website dedicated to bringing you reviews and information related to coffee makers.
