Road to Recovery...

There are a number of things you have to realize besides educating yourself on what panic attacks are - they are totally harmless, normal sensations MIXED with scary, irrational thoughts about something going wrong with your own body. Otherwise it would be a normal anxiety episode where you go on stage, get the tremors n butterflies and the minute your off stage your fine!

Lets look at some of the myths about PD and A.

I have to stay at home or in safe zones :
This makes agoraphobia worse. We stay in thinking that this will keep us safe from getting attacks outside - yet no place can ever cause you to get an attack. If your safe at home - your safe anywhere. And only by going out will you get over your agoraphobia. So start going out - Do not sit at home and accommodate your anxiety. Its just that. Anxiety.

I have to be hyper vigilant:
Nopes - this is a complete no-no. And by this I mean focusing on your heart or breathing or something else. Unless diagnosed with a real illness in which case you will get treatment - there is absolutely NO NEED to focus on your body coz being hyper vigilant only takes you out of reality and makes you obsess about the tiniest sensations. Right now do you know your feet are touching the floor and your sitting on a chair and can feel it? No - chances are you probably dint realize it till I asked you to focus. Now if your focusing only on some body symptoms - how do you expect to feel anything else. And with anxiety - we tend to exaggerate the smallest feelings we have. So a slightly higher heart rate which might actually be normal after walking around will have us running for our lives with fear! It's a normal sensation and yet we will imagine the worst - and yes, you react accordingly. AT no point there is any danger to us except for the fact we limit our activities and are less fulfilled.

Instead start a little of this, the more you can do the better yet start small and keep at it.

Nutrition:
I would say start eating healthy - less oily/spicy/junk food and have more fresh fruits, veggies, proteins and fish if possible. Also add a nutritional supplement to your food and take a multivitamin and calcium. Also having 8-10 glasses of water is advisable. Consult a diet expert for the right kind of food you should be having if you are not too sure. Avoid alcohol, chocolate, too much sugar stuff, pineapple, caffeine and papaya as these increase anxiety.

Exercise: Walk for 1/2- 1 hour briskly or do aerobics. Dance, play some sports, go jogging or do breathing exercises/yoga or stretch.Whatever works for you, might be difficult in the start yet will become easier with practice - and don't stop - if your scared the first few times - keep trying till you feel less anxious.

Mental:
Read inspirational books, comics, anything light or with beauty. Watch nature for sometime, the sky, trees, anything that soothes you. Avoid the papers for a while and the news channels and anything stressful. Play crossword, board games, puzzles - anything light and yet involving some thinking.

Relaxation and Visualization:
This is very important in recovery. Find a spot to relax for 5- 10 minutes everyday to start with and increase it to atleast 1/2 hour or more. You can do this by simply listening to some soothing instrumental music or meditating on an inspiring scripture line. You can also relax each part of your body in turn while listening to some relaxation tapes available online. Try and achieve relaxation - it could also be gardening, just walking in the park or the beach or looking at pictures of the same.
Visualization involves writing down the best memories you've had and going through each and trying to feel what you felt at each point as vividly as possible. Hear the sounds, feel what you felt, see what you saw. And make it brighter and louder as you think about it. One word here - list down all these so you don't get distracted or your thoughts don't wander.

Spiritual:
I have found this helps to keep you moving when your hopes are low. Whatever your faith might be, being a christian I find listening to gospel songs and reading a scripture passage everyday helps. Also go for a confession or counseling and let all the hurt, guilt and angry feelings out once and for all. if its difficult , go in sessions. However do it - you'll feel a lot better after you do.

Emotional:
This is the best part. Do what you love doing, paint, sing, talk to friends, do something creative or cook or bake , play with a child or animal - the point is even if it's hard to do at first, after a while you'll be fully engrossed in it.

Medications:
If the anxiety is really traumatic I would suggest some SSRI to start with while on your healing path. Though you can heal without it too, it might take more time and will be more painful. Just medications though isn't the solution unless you want to take it for a long time. It's always best to deal with real issues and move on. Medication will help at that time to give relief while healing. Do discuss with your doctor about withdrawing your medication though.
And if possible don't rely on benzodiapines- SSRI's are safer - again check the list of side effects - sometimes the side effects cause us to think something is wrong with us when its normal side effects and if it's really bothersome check with your doctor about lowering the dose or changing it.

Psychological:
This is very important. Every step along the way as you do one or 2 of the above- list it in your diary and mark it as progress. It doesn't matter if you had stopped going to the store and now you started but was still scared or had an attack there. The fact that you went is a success. And the panic attack that came just shows you have more practice to do! So don't be discouraged. And keep at what you're doing. It might take a while - yet results will come.

Social:
Go to the church or join a support group - however don't discuss symptoms there and get more paranoid. Use it to feel better by cheering yourself up. Help some needy organization if its within your capacity. Sometimes just thinking about someone else makes you forget your own misery. Meet friends or chat online. And make sure you're with happy, positive people as much as possible. Anyone who's very negative at this time is someone you clearly would do well to avoid.

That' s about what you can do in short. I'll keep adding more articles here.
Make sure you get some sun as well.
Make a list of 20+ positive things to tell yourself and say it aloud 3 times daily on waking up, before sleeping and in the middle of the day.
Be an observer if you do get an attack. Ask yourself what you're feeling and merely observe- do not react or fight it although it might seem scary. At the same time tell yourself this is harmless and I will be ok! Thats it. And keep trying coz ultimately we are not trying to get rid of negative thoughts - at any point we could have others - we are learning how to respond correctly to these thoughts. The obvious would be to ignore then yet if you do give in and believe it and even get the worst attack possible - remember it will soon be ok and you'll calm down. Thats all you have to remember before or during or after the attack. It will come and go like the other times and though it feels horrible you'll be fine.
Do a lot of activity in the day. Fill your day with things to do - preferably happy, uplifting activities.
Make a list of the things you want to do and pick 3 for each week(eg: Cooking/ sports, walking to your door, talking to a friend) - give 5 mins to start with for each. Soon you'll be doing it through habit. try and do stuff which involves activity - less of staring at your TV and more of walking around.
Also give each activity an anxiety rating with 0 - being none and 10 - being a panic attack and also mention the time you spend on each coz with time you'll be able to do more of it with less anxiety. Keep this diary everyday and tell yourself even the smallest new thing you do or the extra minute you spend on doing something is a success coz it is. And remember anxiety goes up and down so if u feel more anxious on some days that's normal - just keep doing what's in your list.

God bless - XX