Saturday, October 22, 2016

Overwhelming Anxiety and Panic Attacks

If you have never had overwhelming anxiety or a real panic attack, you may have a hard time understanding this article.  I don't mean you shouldn't read it though because it will give you a little insight into how others feel when they have them.  I can tell you that they can be truly crippling.  It is similar to having a huge wave falling over you and the result it almost the same as if it were water hitting you.

Imagine being forced under the water like that.  Understand the fear of being unable to breathe in an instant and you can not find your way to the surface.  That is about the simplest but most effective way of explaining it.  The biggest problem is finding the 'surface'.  At least when we are under the water we can look for the light to show us the way out.  When having a panic attack, there is no real light to look to in that instance.

So if you have ever been one of those people who think that anxiety and panic attacks are not real, please think again.  Many people like me have lived this way for a large part of their life, and at one time, many believed that because they could not see how we felt, they felt we were making it up or using it as an excuse for one thing or another.  I eventually learned that understanding the ignorance of those others did not change my anxiety issues, so I simply stopped paying attention to their judgment.

For those who suffer from these issues like I do, I truly understand your suffering at times. Because I have spent 30 years of my life trying to get control of this, I understand the importance of helping others to learn some of the lessons that I have during this horrific inner battle.  After spending years attempting to control my physical symptoms with a doctor's care, I gave up on that.  It wasn't that my doctors did not care, it was simply that they were trying to control and repair my symptoms with physical means, but never truly got to the source of my problems.

Anxiety begins with our mental state, and if it is not controlled through our mental strengths, it will eventually manifest itself physically causing horrific results for the sufferer.  Although I decided to stop taking prescription drugs a few years back, I am not suggesting that others do the same.  I do think it is a good future goal for those who are dealing this way, but it is not a path to venture on until your mental state is ready for the backlash.

I used to have symptoms of panic and overwhelming anxiety and would immediately take a prescribed drug to improve my current state of being.  After a couple decades of this, I learned that those drugs would never help me get better in the end because the root of the problems were still there lurking in the darkness of my mind.  I woke up one day and decided to take control of myself and begin looking for some peace in that darkness.

I began to research everything I could find in books, on the internet and from others about anxiety and panic.  I learned coping mechanisms, breathing techniques, meditation, and any other natural form of relaxation to help me deal with my symptoms.  Many years later I sit here writing to you so that you will understand that you can overcome it too.  If I can do it then so can you!

I still have anxiety issues today, but they no longer control my life or my thinking.  The opposite of anxiety for me is peace.  I found some inner peace and now have a place to go within and calm the effects with simply my own strength and will.  This blog will likely jump around a bit as I put more articles up, but the intent will not change.  The intent of this blog and the network of helpers I am trying to create is to help you better understand yourself.

Your story is different from mine.  We walk different paths in life.  In suffering we can help each other along the way.  Share experience and knowledge to help each other suffer less.  It is my hope that I can help to ease a little suffering in everyone who reads my stuff.  I am certainly not all knowing but I will share the things I have a good knowledge in.

I will try to leave each article with some simple truth you can take away to improve your day.  There are many breathing techniques that are tried and tested which work to help calm anxiety and panic.  You may have no idea how important and vital a few deep breaths can be to both your mental and physical health.

Start with the 4 by 4 by 4 by 4 method.  Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, release for 4 seconds and do that 4 times.  This may sound simple but I am asking you to give it try the next time you first feel that anxiety.  Learn to identify your anxiety and panic triggers, what the first feeling you feel is when it happens, and what you will do at that point.  I am suggesting that you try breathing in a controlled fashion.  It simply works and will help to 'ground' you back to reality.

Be well and have a peaceful day

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