How do you know you are going to have a panic attack?
What does your body tell you, what are your thoughts? Most people feel the sensations of the panic creeping up and this is the indicator.
With me it started in my head as a rush of adrenaline and I also got really numb fingers as the blood was directed away from the skin and to the muscles and the main organs - the heart and the brain.
You all know this as the fight or flight response. Most of us don't need to hunt for our food or have to fight rival tribes but the response has remained with us - unfortunately!
Although a little adrenaline does prepare us for situations in which we might want to get out of or face full on.
Its a known fact that you cannot be anxious at the same time as being mentally and physically calm and relaxed - but not many of us can use self hypnosis in the middle of a supermarket!
One good technique is to keep the left and right hand side of the brain occupied - to do this, pick a nursery rhyme and sing it in your head.
The lyrics occupy one side of the brain and the tune occupies the other.
If both sides of the brain are busy, this is often enough to ward off a panic attack.
It was a technique I used often when I was going through attacks. I was also fortunate to be able to stop them when they started to appear - I learned how to tell them to stop. And even though I may start to get one, it will last seconds rather than minutes.
If you can, before you go to sleep at night, try to imagine a safe place. A place where you felt so calm and relaxed - it maybe a holiday, on a beach maybe, or even in your own back garden or yard?
Close your eyes and remember the sights and the smells and what you heard and amplify them, almost as if you where right back there.
Say to yourslef, this is my calm place, this is were I felt that wondeful relaxation. And let that feeling flow right through you, from the top of your head right down to the tips of your toes.
You can then start to introduce the safe place in the daytime. When you are sitting, just close your eyes and be there.
This is very useful in the long run as when you feel panic descending you can retreat mentally to your place of calmness - Evoke relaxation and the panic subsides.
Just dont try to do this in the car driving or operating any kind of machinery.
best wishes
What does your body tell you, what are your thoughts? Most people feel the sensations of the panic creeping up and this is the indicator.
With me it started in my head as a rush of adrenaline and I also got really numb fingers as the blood was directed away from the skin and to the muscles and the main organs - the heart and the brain.
You all know this as the fight or flight response. Most of us don't need to hunt for our food or have to fight rival tribes but the response has remained with us - unfortunately!
Although a little adrenaline does prepare us for situations in which we might want to get out of or face full on.
Its a known fact that you cannot be anxious at the same time as being mentally and physically calm and relaxed - but not many of us can use self hypnosis in the middle of a supermarket!
One good technique is to keep the left and right hand side of the brain occupied - to do this, pick a nursery rhyme and sing it in your head.
The lyrics occupy one side of the brain and the tune occupies the other.
If both sides of the brain are busy, this is often enough to ward off a panic attack.
It was a technique I used often when I was going through attacks. I was also fortunate to be able to stop them when they started to appear - I learned how to tell them to stop. And even though I may start to get one, it will last seconds rather than minutes.
If you can, before you go to sleep at night, try to imagine a safe place. A place where you felt so calm and relaxed - it maybe a holiday, on a beach maybe, or even in your own back garden or yard?
Close your eyes and remember the sights and the smells and what you heard and amplify them, almost as if you where right back there.
Say to yourslef, this is my calm place, this is were I felt that wondeful relaxation. And let that feeling flow right through you, from the top of your head right down to the tips of your toes.
You can then start to introduce the safe place in the daytime. When you are sitting, just close your eyes and be there.
This is very useful in the long run as when you feel panic descending you can retreat mentally to your place of calmness - Evoke relaxation and the panic subsides.
Just dont try to do this in the car driving or operating any kind of machinery.
best wishes
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