Pocket Full Of Daisys: January 2015

Panic attacks were and I repeat WERE the bain of my life for months, suffering symptoms or full blown panic attacks daily. However, in a way each one made me a tiny bit stronger by learning different ways to cope.

When I have panic attacks, often caused by no apparent reason my body reacts by going really shaky where I can't physically stand let alone walk and the obvious rapid hyperventilating type breathing. However my body does the not so clever holding my breath technique thinking that if I don't breath soo fast then it will stop. Well body that's incorrect. I have learnt not to do this so much now, but still always panic at first and hold my breath to stop it as I hate the rapid breathing. Instead of holding my breath and with support from those who know me best to remind me to breath, I have learnt some calming strategies used during a panic attack or when I feel anxious.

1. Square breathing - Square breathing is very simple and often helps to have someone with you doing it if you are in the mist of a panic attack. Simply breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds then out through your mouth for four seconds. This should help regulate your breathing and calm you down.

2. Close your eyes and relax - This one especially works if you feel a panic attack coming on. Just try move away into someone quite and shut your eyes. Imagine you are somewhere calm and away from the stressful situation. This method is very effective combined with the square breathing.

3.Calming music- I find if I feel anxious then some relaxation music or piano music is very effective in calming me down. When I went through a face where I felt anxious 24/7 relaxing music was a life saviour as I would put it on when going to sleep to help me concentrate on the music and not any other thoughts going around my brain.

4. Progressive relaxation- Progressive relaxation involves tensing and relaxing all the parts of your body. You generally start with your hands making a fist then relaxing and working down your body. I used a podcast sent to me by my therapist with a fellow therapist talking me through it but the video I have put down below is just as effective. Again I used progressive relaxation when I had trouble sleeping or if I felt extremely anxious during the day.

I am going to finish this post with a fact which stopped some of my worries, which is that you can't physically pass out during a panic attack! If I rightly remember from what my doctor said, that people generally pass out when your blood pressure suddenly drops, but during a panic attack your heart is beating really fast and therefore increasing blood pressure. And the reason you feel dizzy, is because the oxygen and carbon dioxide proportions in your blood are all wrong.