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stopped the panic. turned in positive Energy

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stopped the panic. turned in positive Energy

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

I'm having trouble with the internet, it may quit again.

Okay, coping skills. You know that to get a song out of your head you play another because for all our talk about multitasking we really can't do two things at the same time. It only seems like we can. Coping skills are like that and the best one is distractions with a number of sub categories, one being visualizations. So when a trigger opens you do something to distract you from it. Such as looking out a window. Counting (your fingers, anything) Tapping your fingers or feet. Humming. Because this will break the cycle. you may go back to the trigger and have to do it again but most likely the fight or flight will have moved on. Another technique is visualization. Thinking of the people around you as different kinds of dogs. The object of any coping skill is to break the concentration on the trigger. The "why it works" has a lot to do with memory. You see everything we do is controlled by memory. So if you successfully cover a trigger with a coping skill it will go into memory as a positive rather than the negative of a panic attack. Enough times and it becomes automatic without thought. Enough times and your memory doesn't react to the trigger because it has no reason to.

It takes work to distract yourself when your heart is pounding but even a partial success will lead to a full success. This is why the paper work is important. It is the only way to keep track of your progress. Because at first progress will be slow. You have a lot of conditioning to overcome. You may have had panic only a little while but the build up to it is actually equivalent to your age.

Davit.

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 85

Thanks for the welcome Davit. I will try the relaxation techniques. How do I go about coping with the attacks? I have xanax for emergencies (i take a 1/2 of the .25mg tablet when I feel really bad)

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Welcome Naa

I have a saying "CBT is the hardest simple thing you will ever do". As you get into it you will understand it more.

Changing negative to positive. Simple enough if it was not that you have to do it and it is you that will balk at it. We all do. Why is complex and part of the last half of my saying. Okay the positive you use to replace the negative goes something like this. All panic is fight or flight syndrome and a racing heart is preparation for it. It increases the amount of oxygen to the brain and muscles in preparation for flight or fight. It is normal. So "it is normal is the positive thought". Simple. No. Because you are not going to want to believe it. Part of the panic is not believing. To actually believe it you have to fight fear for one thing, even though you know you are not having a heart attack and that the heart can race pretty fast and pound pretty hard for a while without damage and it is normal. And second the fear that it isn't going to happen again. So now in an attempt to open one positive you have opened some more negatives, the escalation of which takes normal panic to panic attack instead. So first you have to have acceptance before you can have belief before you can have change. There are three principles to being able to change negative to positive. They are the same three principles to changing core beliefs which it is too soon to talk about. Perception. You have to know what you are dealing with. Attitude. You have to want to do this. (and not just look for an easy way out, there is no magic bullet) And belief. You really really have to believe in what you are doing. Then and only then when you say I'm not having a heart attack or there is nothing to fear can you believe it and it have effect in your mind with out the negative over ruling it. As I'm sure you have seen it do. Why it does it is conditioning.

CBT does work, It is the only thing that does. But it needs some help which is why the program is in order. Which is why you need relaxation and coping skills first. But don't get discouraged, it does work.

A long way round to saying what the positive is but you have to know how to make the positive work and that will take the hard out of the simple and get it back to being functional.

Davit

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 85

How does one begin the process of replacing negative thoughts with positive obes? This is how my panic starts sometimes. The first thought I get when I feel the palpitations is that I am going to have a heart attack. What positive tought does one replace that specific negative thought with?

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

It is not really possible to weed and meditate. Contemplate yes. I do a lot of thinking while weeding. I do a lot of looking around too. But mostly I play thoughts in my head. A lot of my thoughts would be considered negative if not for the fact they are true. They have no affect since I accept them as they are and for what they are. Life is not always what we would like but we can not change it without looking at what needs changing. and this means looking at things that are negative. Not every thing can be changed. Some things are not controlled by us. So what do you do if it is a major stress builder but can't be changed. Well now we know why couples break up and people change jobs. You can only change it if you have control or if any others involved agree. And they may not if you are out to lunch. They may not if they don't understand either. CBT can cure your panic attacks. It can reduce stress by teaching acceptance and tolerance but it can not change a situation you have no control over. Expecting it to do this will cause it to fail in your eyes. We are geared to handle a certain amount of negativity and experts say 20% is acceptable without causing bad side effects. That means we have four times as much positive thought as negative to counter it. I think it works and is a reasonable goal to aim for. After all you do have the skills to deal with it when it shows up. And don't forget it is negative thoughts that keep you out of trouble.

Davit

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Bottom for me was when I could no longer tell reality. Panic at two in the morning was as normal a life as breathing. It was no longer a panic attack but sheer terror and no control and as normal as all the rest of my life. Bottom for me was when I lost time. I would have an attack at two and I could remember it happening but the time between then and it passing would be as much as 3 hours and I remembered only a fraction of it. Reality did not exist. I would wake in terror with all the symptoms and try to escape. But I did not know what I was escaping from. Only that it was there. A trigger would open panic but the panic would pass on beyond the trigger. I was not afraid I was dying, I would have gladly died to stop it but could not initiate death. In my mind I knew there had to be a reason and there had to be an answer. Medication was not it. SSRIs did nothing. Tricyclics worked but only temporary, it always came back. Relaxation techniques could get me through the day but it wasn't good enough. Why me, what was different? What was different was thoughts and how I used memory to control them. I didn't know this was a normal condition and that it was memory that was the controlling factor. Now I do. Now I know how to change my thoughts, but I can still get the triggers, and I always will. They just have very little affect because there is very little negative for the thoughts to access in memory. That which is still there is covered in positives.

Thoughts control our every thought and movement. Conditioning dictates which thoughts and how we use them. It is really very simple how it works but very hard to change it. Repetition is a factor. This is why what ever a person does it has to be long term and consistent. It has to get lodged in memory. It has to be accessible and accessible first.

Davit.

Ps I have a name for every thing and condition you mention. They are all part of CBT.

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 7

The thing is, do you really know when you are at the bottom? It often feels like but isnt there always another bottom, after your bottom? CBT i think its a really great way. It helps you real good. Keep going on CBT. What i wanted to say is, that your thoughts, how much you suffer or not, how deep is your bottom or not, your thoughts are always the same. The power of your thoughts is your valuation. Nothing else.

And i dont want to say that is easy to say that. You have to experience it. Your thoughts are always the same. Your brain makes a picture in your head. And you create something with that. And we know how the people ere in this forum great it, they create it awful Me too for a long time, it really sucks.But believe me, it is such a simple fact, it is thoughts nothing more. Fear is just a habit. You learned something and in xour brain it is connected with fear. But every situation is different, every breath you take is different. And you can break the habit, i does it and everybody else can do this.

It is not only about relaxation. I am often not relaxed but i dont have to fear something. It would be unnatural to be always relaxed, thats not the way life works. Its the way you see it

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Matt

I see more here than is obvious. What I see is a great relaxation technique, but also I see the repetition of positive thoughts getting into memory where they can be accessed more often than just in meditation. But that is if it is meditation as Freed explained it and not sitting in the position and worrying. I agree with looking at oneself in an objective sense and I agree with not hiding from the panic. As I see it there is not a lot of difference between meditation and parts of CBT. Just that it is not complete where CBT is more information on Why. Why is not 100% important but it sure does help. So what do I really think. Having been in very bad shape and having tried every thing and every medication and only finding CBT to work totally I have to say, add it to the skills (tools) but keep on with the CBT, there are no short cuts. There are many degrees of panic, I'm only familiar with the worst. And a person can never know how bad it can be till they hit bottom and bottom is a long ways down. Do what ever works for you but if it isn't enough there is a reason. You may be closer to bottom than you can understand.

Davit

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 218

Hi Freed,

It is great to hear that you found a stress relieving technique that really worked/works for you. Especially since you put in so much hard work to practice and master it.

Thanks for sharing your example of how meditation/breathing can act as a stress reduction technique.

Take care.

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 7

Hey guys,

nice to hear that other people also started to meditate.

Unfortunately i am from Germany and i read the book in german language. I tried to find the same book in english but i couldnt find it. But however i think there is a lot of literatur you can read about meditation, just be sure it isnt a commercial book. I read several books now and there is a lot of explanation about the buddhism culture and the story of Buddha. its very intresting because when you read about buddha, its like about reading about your life or someone elses life. He was a normal guy, nothing special. And everyone of us is able to find his happines, you just have to understand that.

My biggest mistake when my panic started was to fight against it. its so damn useless.In Meditation is started to understand, that my panix is a normal feeling, nothing special about, nothing to fear about. We have emotions in us, like being happy, being sad, feeling good feeling bad, feeling sexy and not. Its just the way you handle it. The problem with thoughts is, that we are usually value them. And when you have Panic, you value them pretty strong in a unhealthy way.

My first meditations were about looking at my feelings. So i sat down, closed my eyes and played the observer. I looked in my inside, i watched everysing going on in me. BUT and thats the main point, i tried not to value myself and my thoughts.

So i started and there it came. My panic. first impulse was to open my eyes and defend against my panic. But i really let it come, i looked at my panic, and for some reason i really managed it not to value it. And look, there was panic, and then the panic was away, in one second, one freaky second and i got it. Its nothing bad its not special, its just a emotion, a reaction on something, but nothing to scare me. its hard to get in words, i try it but you have to feel this.

So i was going on with reading about meditation and i practiced it at least three times the day for about only 5 minutes. And after two or three weeks it was like someone took of some heavy Chains of my mind. And suddenly there is so much peace and love and happiness in me. its amazing. So it was so important for me to share this with you guys. Because i really really knwo, everyone can heal himself. Its not a sickness you suffer from, its just unknowingness how to see your emotions and how to handle them.

So that was a little bit of experience from me. I hope i can help, and if somebody wants to know more, please ask me. And if i dont know the answer i will inform myself and will help.

Believe in yourselfes, its worth it

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stopped the panic. turned in positive Energy