Panic Attacks

[Shadows]

Any of you ever personally dealt with Panic/Anxiety attacks?

I just wanted to know what you or someone else did to treat it.

I know someone who smoked weed and it went away, but im looking for a different approach. :lol:

I guess, since my car was stolen, my girl just started stressing and got a panic attack.

Shes been getting them for 3 years or so when she has been under major stress.

She cant really take no medication b/c she is petite:

5'0, 108lbs...so anything strong makes her worse...and the doctors don't know what to do.

Any ideas?

and no, i don't want google info.

=p

Thanks for the help.

 

[lii]

a panic attack is a way for ur body to relieve large amount of stress that has been building and building so while taking medication or smoking weed may take them away, its not helping anything long term, so its kinda good shes not taking meds. everyone has anxiety at one point in time, its emotional and is a matter of figuring out what those emotional issues are and dealing with them. maybe she could see a good therapist. meditation helps. in the meantime, when shes starting to feel anxiety, get her to focus on breathing 3 seconds in and 3 seconds out for a few minutes or however long she needs, its a really good way to lower the anxiety and focus on something still instead of getting really overwhelmed. and talk about what it is that shes getting anxious about, so u can talk her through it and help her realize that its ok to be anxious but also give her perspective on the situation.

 

[Preach]

breathing through the nostrils, long breaths.

 

[Chronic]

Maybe I don't have all the info but the doctors don't know what to do because she can't take meds? Fucking quacks.

The immediate approach is stress management. There are relaxing techniques (ie. slow and deep breathing like Preach said), natural remedies (I'm trying homeopathy right now, I don't know if it's a load of shit but the remedies are harmless so it wouldn't hurt to try) and exercizing. Apparently there is also a link between stress and magnesium so the doctor's could check out her level of magnesium and provide some good products for magnesium in-take. All those options require some kind of professional.

The long-term solution would be pin-pointing the cause(s) of stress. This isn't your basic "college is so stressful" type of stuff, this is chronic stress and it's something that needs to be dealt with. Imagine it as a disease and the panic attacks are only a (very severe) symptom. Did something happen 3 years ago that she never fully dealt with? Has she always had stress problems? Are the panic attacks triggered by the same things (ie. financial problems) or can they be trigged by anything? Is it specific things that stress her out or just anything? Family problems? Try to think of as many relevant questions as you can and see if the two of you can answer them and pin-point any major source of stress. It might not be the solution but it's a starting point.

Either she just handles stress very, very poorly (ie. the typical crazy female that just acts but never truly thinks) or there are underlying psychological issues that need to be addressed. There are a number of different types of therapy so I don't know which one would help her (if therapy even is the answer) but talking to a psychologist might be a good idea. For some people just talking about it is cathartic experience and once the psychologist has a basic idea of the problem they might refer her to someone else or decide that conversational therapy (that's not a word, I directly translated from Dutch .. don't know the English term) is best. Of course there's the problem of financing the therapy and finding a good therapist.

EDIT: I just took a quick trip to wikipedia ville, the info isn't all that useful but check it out nonetheless

Stress management - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Severe chronic stress is not a joke by the way. I don't know what her condition is but it's a silent killer.

 

[Bender]

It is easy for humans to be overridden by emotions and thought. A lack of self discipline will lead to uneasiness in these areas. I quote 'The mind that is hindered cannot function freely'. This is why I like philosophy so much, people panic out of state of mind, but, if you mix psychology with philosophy you end up in a state of wonder, and the result is there is no need to panic. This is why I say 'do nothing and nothing gets done, doing nothing 'nothing' is not left undone. The apprehension of the cause of the will to act is what causes panic, in a type of situation, when you are between a rock and a hard place. Is it so difficult to sit back and do nothing ... stare through your rear-view

 

[Shadows]

thanks guys. this stuff was really helpful.

im going to try the magnesium thing, and i have tried some of the other things but i think im going to try a little harder.

 

[lii]

This is why I say 'do nothing and nothing gets done, doing nothing 'nothing' is not left undone

i dont understand that, can u explain it for me?

 

[Preach]

its been some weeks, four to six maybe, since i quit getting high, and the past week or two i've started developing mild anxiety attacks. heart palpatations, sweating and derealization. so over the past week i only slept 3-5 hours a night. i don't wake up in a sweat puddle anymore, but i do wake up with an aching neck and back, and feeling very very stressed. then every three to four days, when i wake up, i'm just exhausted. so tired i feel like i can't even get out of bed. i still do, but i've been late to school a couple of times because of it. that won't happen again, but it's fucking hard to get out of bed on those mornings.

i know some very very basic techniques for stress management, but i'm gonna have to get into it more. maybe i should start taking walks at night for some added excercise, but i do walk and move around a lot more than before i moved.

 

[Da_Funk]

its been some weeks, four to six maybe, since i quit getting high, and the past week or two i've started developing mild anxiety attacks. heart palpatations, sweating and derealization. so over the past week i only slept 3-5 hours a night. i don't wake up in a sweat puddle anymore, but i do wake up with an aching neck and back, and feeling very very stressed. then every three to four days, when i wake up, i'm just exhausted. so tired i feel like i can't even get out of bed. i still do, but i've been late to school a couple of times because of it. that won't happen again, but it's fucking hard to get out of bed on those mornings.

i know some very very basic techniques for stress management, but i'm gonna have to get into it more. maybe i should start taking walks at night for some added excercise, but i do walk and move around a lot more than before i moved.

You should try going to see a chiropractor if you can afford it. (No joke)

 

[raywaters11]

chiropractors are expensive...

and once you go one time you feel like you HAVE to go back. its like meth. when they pop your back n neck it feels so good except the thought in the back of your head that they're gonna snap your neck or break your back, but then you feel fantastic afterwards, until you start gettin the itch to go back, after you pawn all your jewelry and sell your pet cat to afford to go back, you realize you're an addict. they need meetings for this shit.

 

[Shadows]

After analyzing her i think its because she never handled the death of her grandpa correctly. she said she never cried.

she hasnt even been to his burial.

but yet, he was the only one in her family that really cared for her.

its confusing, but i think i got to convince her to go to the burial eventually.

 

[Bender]

This is why I say 'do nothing and nothing gets done, doing nothing 'nothing' is not left undone

i dont understand that, can u explain it for me?

Nope. As its a paradox and a double negative use of grammar. Compare a double negative in language to mathematics, a double negative makes a positive number/statement. It is a contradiction to add two minus numbers for them to equal a positive number, result. It is a fact. I was basically trying to address the psychology of panic, if you are lost in an unknown place (mind) do you rush around looking to find your way or do you just stand still and take a good look around? Take a look at Bhuddists they are 'anti-panic', they have a high level of self discipline and probably laugh at panic.


Here's a good song this thread reminds me of:

I like Morrisseys sarcasm in the lyrics - 'I wonder to myself' - panic everywhere, all the while being lost in thought. Hang the DJ!

 

[Chronic]

After analyzing her i think its because she never handled the death of her grandpa correctly. she said she never cried.

she hasnt even been to his burial.

but yet, he was the only one in her family that really cared for her.

its confusing, but i think i got to convince her to go to the burial eventually.

That definitely sounds like a possible cause. She never processed the information (the death of her grandfather) and now it's simmering beneath the surface, constantly causing stress, even when she's "stress-free".

Taking her to the burial sounds like a great idea. You should definitely go with her as well. Give her her space at the burial but be close at hand in case she needs a supporting shoulder or freaks out.

I don't know what information I can draw from "he was the only one in her family that really cared for her" but as a child an unhealthy relationship with your parents usually does some serious damage. Maybe she (partially) shut off emotionally well before her grandfather died. One way for your brain to deal with immense emotional pain is to shut off all emotions so you never have to feel anything like that again. The longer you wait with traumas the harder they are to deal with.

 

[Shadows]

That definitely sounds like a possible cause. She never processed the information (the death of her grandfather) and now it's simmering beneath the surface, constantly causing stress, even when she's "stress-free".

Taking her to the burial sounds like a great idea. You should definitely go with her as well. Give her her space at the burial but be close at hand in case she needs a supporting shoulder or freaks out.

I don't know what information I can draw from "he was the only one in her family that really cared for her" but as a child an unhealthy relationship with your parents usually does some serious damage. Maybe she (partially) shut off emotionally well before her grandfather died. One way for your brain to deal with immense emotional pain is to shut off all emotions so you never have to feel anything like that again. The longer you wait with traumas the harder they are to deal with.

i dont like to give out her info. because shes thinking of joining the forum... but she had it pretty bad growing up. raped and treated like Cinderella.

So i see why she had closed her emotions during that time.
im going to talk to her again sometime when were not busy again.

thank u chronic.