How many of you have experienced a panic attack before?
I have experienced panic attacks and I am aware of the huge impact they can have on daily life. I am currently supporting a family member who is experiencing them. It is because of these experiences that I wanted to write this post.
Apart from a presentation I did whilst training as a counsellor 20 years ago, alongside my own personal and professional experiences I am trained or by any means an expert. So if you do have concerns please seek the support of a medical professional.
In my late teens, I first experienced panic attacks. I remember going into Woolworths in my local town at the time and walking out because I couldn’t speak to the person serving me. I think this came from having experienced childhood trauma and following my parents separation. I eventually overcame them and thought nothing of it. Panic attacks were something other people had. Then in November 2019 this all changed and my panic attacks returned. I struggled for about 18 months with them. It was at this time when the panic attacks returned, that my panic attacks resulted in me being unable to cross roads.
It all started one Sunday morning, when I had been dropped in town and was walking to work. I was waiting at the traffic lights ready to cross, but then I panicked. I couldn’t cross. I dismissed this thinking the road was busy, I would cross somewhere quieter. I tried, but once again I panicked. I was paralysed with fear. It felt like the ground was going to open me up and swallow me up. After many attempts, I did eventually cross. However, this panic continued. I left work that day determined to cross the road and ignore what happened earlier in the day. I couldn’t. I was so fearful, and panicky I had to call my Mum for a lift home. Not only did she have to come and pick me up, she had to come to the crossing I was waiting at to walk me over the road. And so the panic attacks continued. Each time I was approaching a set of traffic lights or other crossing. All the feelings of fear, anxiety, or panic would manifest. I would wait by the crossing but was simply frozen in fear.
I was 49 years old, I have travelled the world on my own. I have my own counselling practice and at the time was working as a school counsellor too. Yet, crossing roads anywhere was impossible.
I felt silly, stupid, and too embarrassed to share this with anyone at the time apart from Mum. I mean who can’t cross roads!
With all my counselling knowledge and experience, alongside other training and experience I have had over the years, I couldn’t make sense of these panic attacks. They appeared to come out of nowhere. It was frustrating and impacted my whole life at the time. After about 18 months they did eventually subside and now 5 years later, I am pretty much back to walking ‘normally’.
However, in the last week, I have been reminded of my own experiences, after a close family member developed panic attacks. Just like me theirs appeared to come out of the blue. They have a fear of falling over and their panic attacks relate to walk. This panic potentially developed as a result of being knocked down by a an E bike last year. However from talking with this family member a commonality with both our panic attacks was that we were feeling under pressure at the time in our lives.
This is partly why I wanted to write this post, to offer support and reassure others experiencing them, that you are not alone.
PANIC ATTACKS ARE NOT SILLY OR STUPID BUT ….
THEY CAN BE OVERWHELMING, FRIGHTENING, STRESSFUL, AND SCARY.
ABOVE ALL THEY ARE REAL!
To anyone who is experiencing panic attacks, there is absolutely nothing to feel embarrassed or ashamed about. Sometimes the reason behind panic attacks doesn’t make sense , no matter how much they impact your life, or how traumatic they might feel to you.
Everyone’s experience of panic attacks will be different, so whilst I can’t guarantee that my suggestions will help ‘fix’ everyone’s panic attacks, they might just help.
I always say to people, knowledge is power, and by gaining a greater understanding of a situation, it can help us to reduce the fear, to think more calmly and to look at ways to find a solution.
WAYS TO HELP REDUCE THE IMPACT OF PANIC ATTACKS AND OVERCOME THEM.
- Focus on your breathing. This is so important in all areas of life however, I think it is particularly key with regard to panic attacks. There are many different clips on You Tube that can help with this.
- Break down the pressure. Write down everything that is causing you pressure. Rate it on a score on 1-10. 10 being the most pressured. Identify what is YOUR own personal pressure and look at what pressure you are taking on from others. What can you do about this? What changes can you make to help you? You can continually break down the pressures. Then destroy the paper so you are no longer holding on to the pressure.
- Talk to some.
- Seek help and support. Ask for what you need.
- Tapping also known as EFT is a really useful self help technique. You basically tap on different meridian points in your body. These can release and let go of any stuff you are holding on too such as anxiety, stress, and angry. I recommend the Tap with Brad You Tube clips to help you with this. Brad Yates does short 5-10 videos where he does different tapping processes around a variety of issues.
- Set yourself small, achievable goals to help overcome your panic attacks. Seek help with achieving them.
- Reduce any pressure you are currently holding onto.
I wish you well, and I hope that your life increases in calm and peace, and your panic attacks are overcome, or greatly reduced soon.
