Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Hi!

First, I have to say that I'm not an expert in this, I'm only trying to help. I've seen other people do this and they might have more experience in these kind of situations. I decided to write this becase I had an attack and I had to write about it

Last week, I was in class and I had a panic attack and had to leave the room because I was feeling bad because I couldn't breath. My friends looked at me because they didn't now what was going on. 

If you, like me and other suffer from Panic Attacks and Anxiety, this blogpost is for YOU.

Anxiety is an awful emotion to feel, a feeling that cannot be controlled and you are unaware of it creeping up on you. Even though anxiety lies in all of us, It affects people in different ways. For example, when we're stressed, our anxiety levels are much higher and some of us can become a lot more sensitive.

Extremely high levels of anxiety, although, cause panic attacks.

I've suffered with panic attacks for the last 3 years, and so i'm writing this blog post to try to help other with what I've learnt about it.

But, for that, we have to learn what is a panic attack

What is a panic attack?

A panic attack is a sudden surge of anxiety and fear, we feel our heart poundig hard and we have the feeling that we can'r breathe.

It's also a 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. Something in our brain is programmed to deal with it in a case of life or death. You need adrenaline, for example, in fight to be strong, and you need adrenaline to run fast and get away. 

What happens during a panic attack?

*We breathe in more oxygen, which our muscles use to turn sugar into energy (causing to produce more energy that we don't need);
* Blood is diverted to the muscles, making you pale and light headed.
*Our digestive system shuts down, making our throat dry and makes us feel sick. Our senses are heightened.
*Adrenaline is released, wich causes your heart to beast faster, and your muscles to tense.  When adrenalin floods in our body, it can cause a number of different physical and emotional sensations that may affect you during a panic attack:

These can include:

➥ A very rapid breathing or feeling unable to breathe 

➥  A very rapid heartbeat

➥ Feeling 

➥ Numbness in your hands and feet

➥ Feeling nauseous

➥ Feelings of absolute terror

➥ 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. 

For me, this happened in classes and around drunk people and around alcohol. The reason being that my first major panic attack, was at a house party, in the middle of nowhere. I only drank a little but wasn't drunk, All my friends were drunk. I didn't know a lot of the people there The next thing I remember was that I couldn't breathe and I felt like the room was closing on my making the air disappear. My heart was pounding really fast and my breathing was out of control. I left the room and went outside. You may think that the outside would help but in this case didn't. I was panicking and wanted to leave and run away from where I was. This was my worst case and lasted about 45 minutes to 1 hour. I couldn't control myself and because I was surrounded by people that didn't know what to do, and I felt even more in panic. 
It got better after walking with my best friends for a while, concentrating on my breathe.

What helps me?

When I'm actually having a panic attack, I find the only things that really take the edge off, are going outside, walking away from the place I was and try to relax. Usally I try to find something that can help me cool down, for example, a fan or a magazine to fan myself. I don't know why but it helps.

Slow, deep breathing.

If i'm with someone, I need them to stay quiet allowing only one person to stay near me and help me calm down. I can't handle everyone talking to me, or trying to distract me, or working me up. It's nice to know someone is with you, but If I'm having a panic attack, I don't have a lot of energy to speak and the only thing that I can think about is trying to breathe and slowing my heartbeats.

How can you help someone who suffers Panic Attacks?

I researched some tips to help avoid panic attacks to help myself from having them..

1. Try to remain calm. Screaming and calling for atention about the situation can only make it worse. A crowd can make the attack much worse.

2. Be patient and accept it. 

3. Let them do things at their own pace.

4. Don't make assumptions about what the panicker needs or you think he needs,just ask them carefully.

5. If you have a friend that's having a panic attack follow this:

✗WHAT NOT TO SAY:✗ 

"Relax. Calm down. Don't be anxious. You can fight this. Don't be ridiculous.Don't be a coward. Pull yourself together, Stop being silly, what's wrong with you".

✓ WHAT TO SAY: ✓

"You can do it no matter what; Tell me what you need now. Breathe slow and low. I know that what you are feeling is painful, but it's not dangerous. You are courageous."

6. Don't try to distract them with stupid questions. During a panic attack, the only thing we wan't is to be over and concentrate on our breathe and our heart ritmn slowing down.

7. 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.

If you, like me and other suffer from Panic Attacks and Anxiety, this is for YOU:

Remember this: You are not alone, panic attacks are VERY common and happens to a lot of people. Don't let them ruin your confidence or depress you, you are an amazing person, and you CAN stop them, with the right treatment and right techniques. If you feel confortable, you can talk to a doctor or a psychologist. Don't force yourself to go somewhere if you don't feel comfortable, you and your health are far more important than keeping someone else happy. You are the one who is important in all of this situation. And remember that you have great friends that are there for you, a family that loves you more that anything.☺

                          Thank you for reading!

♥ ♥

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