Panic attacks

Hi Guys,

So for this past year i have been dealing with anxiety, anxiety is a horrible emotion to feel and cannot be controlled and can creep up on you at any time.People suffer with different levels of anxiety, me being a very emotional person have high levels of anxiety and it can cause panic attacks when i am very stressed or nervous. Not many people or any actually understand what a panic or anxiety attack is, which to me is not a good thing because it is very popular and all around us. My closest don't understand how it can affect me, my life and the decisions i make on a day to day basis even from a train journey to getting dressed. Nobody will understand where your coming from unless they have been through it themselves. 

What is a panic attack?

A sudden feeling of dread, the sudden urge to push your way through to the nearest exit, the whole room shrinking down around you and everybody staring at you and smothering you. In a split second, without you anticipating it, or knowing it's going to happen, your body releases adrenaline. This adrenaline is released as your body is preparing for "flight or fight". Something our brain is programmed to do in a life or death situation. You need adrenaline for a fight in order to be strong, and you need adrenaline for flight, in order to run fast and get away. This would have prepared our cave-dwelling ancestors to fight or run away from danger, but it’s much less appropriate to the stresses we encounter today. Clearly, we are not cavemen any more, and we don't need to hunt for our food, but this adrenaline is released in situations like tripping over a step, being extremely excited, being on a roller-coaster, being in a fight, In an accident, adrenaline is released into our bodies all the time, but us panic attack sufferers have a "SENSITIVE ALARM".

 "You are like the car in the street, who's alarm goes off with the smallest gust of wind, whereas all the other cars, take a good beating before their alarms go off"

What happens during a panic attack?

Adrenaline is released, thus causing your heart to beast faster, and your muscles to tense. We breathe in more oxygen, which our muscles use to turn sugar into energy (even though we don't need extra energy for anything), Blood is diverted to the muscles, making you pale and light headed. This also causes you to shake. Our digestive system shuts down, making your throat dry and making you feel sick. Your senses are heightened, you become more aware of sounds and smells around you (It's like someone turned up the volume, and in a busy place, it was loud enough anyway).

When adrenalin floods your body, it can cause a number of different physical and emotional sensations that may affect you during a panic attack:

These may include:

very rapid breathing or feeling unable to breathe

very rapid heartbeat

pains in your chest

feeling faint or dizzy

sweating/Shivering

ringing in your ears

tingling or numbness in your hands and feet

hot or cold flushes

feeling nauseous

wanting to go to the toilet

feelings of absolute terror

feeling smothered

feeling claustrophobic

being extremely emotional/uncrontrollable crying

feelings of unreality, called depersonalisation and derealisation.

Panic attacks come on very quickly, symptoms usually peaking within 10 minutes. Most panic attacks last for between 5 and 20 minutes. Some people report attacks lasting for up to an hour, but they are likely to be experiencing one attack after another, or a high level of anxiety after the initial attack. After i have a panic attack my anxiety levels will still be heightened until i am in a comfortable place where i feel the safest and on my own so sometimes it can feel like im having a panic attack for hours or until my body calms itself down. 

What triggered my first panic attack was when i was catching a train to my boyfriends and it was the first one i had ever got on and i was really nervous and scared along with already having problems with confidence etc, my body didn't react well. The only problem with that is every time i go to catch a train or go to see my boyfriend i have a panic attack because my body now thinks that when im in that situation its a bad one and i need to get out.Which is so annoying because it made me feel like i didn't want to go and see my boyfriend, that i COULDN'T go see him because it was a bad thing to do. Also when you have a panic attack after you have calmed down you feel absolutely exhausted.

When you have attacks people around you who don't understand can get quite fed up and annoyed by it, which in some cases can lead them to shouting at you or falling out with you because of it, which makes us worse guys!?! 

What can help?

When i had my first panic attack i found walking around and 'reading' something helped by using some of that extra energy and trying to take your mind off it. I also took slow, deep breaths and fanned myself as you get hot flushes and that also uses a lot of energy up. When im with someone and this happens i like them to stay quiet unless i talk to them and it also helps when they drive you around because the views and sounds can help relax and take your mind off things. Any music that's on actually makes me worse as well because its just extra noise and makes me panic more. For some people it can help relax them though. I also read a couple off books about it some can help and some don't. I didn't want to be put onto any medication from the Dr's but i took GABA which my mum gave me which happened to help a lot with my anxiety which helped with my panicking. 

How can you stop it from happening?

You can help to stop from these attacks happening, i find the best one is to say yes to things you wouldn't dream off (and i don't mean like dangerous things) i mean getting on a train and doing anything else that you feel uncomfortable doing and just thinking to yourself this isn't a bad situation and i can do it and i won't let it bother me. Positive thinking is the key and i am getting a lot better at going to catch trains on my own etc.

How to help someone who suffers with panic attacks?

I didn't know how to answer this because every ones different and ive never been in the position of being with someone while they have attack only being the person having one. So i did some research online and picked this up which i think will help a lot and can imagine it helping me alot. Show this to family members, friends, other halfs. Because they may feel lost about not knowing too.

1. Remain calm. There is nothing worse than being with someone who is freaking out whilst they are, they will never calm down if you are flapping about like a headless chicken.

2. Do not be forceful. Be patient, and accepting. Do not settle for them panicking and being affected alone.

3. Let them do things at their own pace.

4. Don't make assumptions about what the panicker needs, ask them.

5. Find something positive in every experience. If the affected person is only able to go partway to a particular goal, such as the cinema or out for a coffee, consider that an achievement rather than a failure.

6. Remember that they don't choose to be this way. Do not show any dissapointment or annoyance when panic strikes or if they don't feel they can't do something.

7. In a panic attack, DON'T say: 
"Relax. Calm down. Don't be anxious. Let's see if you can do this (i.e., setting up a test for the affected person). You can fight this. What should we do next? Don't be ridiculous. You have to stay. Don't be a coward. Pull yourself together, Stop being silly, what's wrong with you".
Instead, DO SAY: 
"You can do it no matter how you feel. I am proud of you. Tell me what you need now. Breathe slow and low. Stay in the present. It's not the place that's bothering you, it's the thought. I know that what you are feeling is painful, but it's not dangerous. You are courageous. Remember that panic attacks only last a maximum of 20 minutes"

8. Do not try to distract them with stupid questions. As I said before, we don't want to say the alphabet backwards or talk about our day, it just highlights the fact that we are having a panic attack, thus creating more panic.

9. Be supportive & reassuring. After a panic attack, the person can feel down, depressed, angry, insecure and with very low self esteem. It's your job to help them to feel better about themselves and to let them know you are there.

I hope this has helped with anybody suffering with panic attacks or knowing someone close who suffers with panic attacks or if you just generally wanted to know about panic attacks and how they affect people in different ways. I will be doing a blog post tomorrow about anxiety attacks.

Love Christina xox