Overcoming Panic Attacks - How I Learned Self Help For Panic Attacks to Stop Suffering
Simon Kaiser
It was 3 years ago this month when I started experiencing the signs and symptoms of panic attacks. I was travel to school one day and suddenly, I felt dizzy, lightheaded, and a pressure on my chest. The first day I thought it was just some test jitters, because I had my final exams that day (it was my senior year). Little did I know that that was the day when my panic attacks started.
From then to a little over a year later, I had to live with sharp pangs of panic in my regular routine. I was afraid to go outside or do much of anything, mainly because I was afraid of another panic attack. I even remember always driving on the right-most lane, whenever I need to drive somewhere, so that I could get of the road easily in case of a panic attack. About 6 months into my illness, I decided to seek professional help, which didn’t last very long, but I’ll go into that later. During those sessions with my “shrink”, I learned some very useful and helpful information. I learned that my meekness (or demand of assertiveness), my thought patterns, and my heredity had been the chief triggers for my situation. Since he was of the cognitive behavioral school of thought, I learned from him that I could end the attacks by preventing them in the first place. You see, the real culprit was the chain of thought leading to the panic attacks. A vicious cycle that feeds on itself. In one of my sessions with him, I learned the Rational-Emotive and Cognitive coping techniques to use when I caught myself in the panic loop, as I liked to call it.
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Unfortunately, that was to be my final session. My mother lost her job and with that, the health insurance which covered my treatment. It was a very anxious time for me. After I got myself together (or whatever parts of myself I could get together), I turned to the internet. I’m glad to say I found some real great resources, some free, some paid, but it was worth it. I managed to continue learning those cognitive behavioral therapy techniques I was learning with my shrink. After a while, I realized I was no longer feeling lightheaded, or having chest pains, or having sensations of chest pressure, or just plain fear of having a panic attack. And realizing that prefabricated me feel better
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And now, I’m fine again.
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What I’m trying to show in writing this is that panic attacks are not a permanent thing, and you don’t need medication to sedate your suffering so you can limp by through life.? You just need to find help; from a pro, groups or yourself. I helped myself by first seeking out a professional; a psychologist. Then, when that was no longer an option, I sought out information to end the attacks once and for all. This information told me that I needed to confront and change the irrational beliefs I held and replace negative thoughts with positive ones. The problem is all in the mind, so is the solution, that’s what I found out.
My study is Simon and I no longer have panic attacks! Oh, and before I forget! Here’s one of the better resource I found: Click Here. It’s also based on CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). It helps in overcoming the panic attacks, not just learning how to cope. You shouldn’t settle with coping.