Bad Panic And Anxiety With A History Of Self Harm. What To Do?

Hello I'm Dr Hunter

I am sorry you have been having panic attacks and anxiety. This can be very very uncomfortable and get in the way of doing things you want to do. It's good to hear that you will be able to see a psychiatrist in about a month to discuss medication. For now I have some self-help strategies that may be of help to you. You can absolutely overcome these symptoms.

Below is an excerpt from one of my articles taken from my website/blog. You can find more information here; https://www.attackingpanicsystem.com/single-post/How-To-Stop-Panic-Attacks

Change How You Communicate with Your Amygdala

Changing the way you think and behave, changes the way you communicate with your amygdala.

Changing how you communicate with your amygdala has the power to stop a panic attack fast!

Your amygdala will believe whatever you tell it. If you continue to react with thoughts that you are in danger and you believe the myths about panic attacks, then your amygdala will continue to sound the alarm.

Communicating with your amygdala more accurately will help to stop a panic attack fast.

Start responding with more accurate and helpful thoughts about what is happening.

Tell yourself that you know you are not in any danger because you know what a panic attack is.

Label Your Emotions

A brain imaging study at UCLA discovered that when people were shown a photograph of an angry or fearful face, they had increased activity in the amygdala and the left prefrontal cortex (Matthew D. Lieberman et. al. 2007).

But when people attached a feeling word such as “Afraid,” there was decreased activity in the amygdala and increased activity in the right prefrontal cortex. They discovered that only “feeling words” caused a decrease in the amygdala and an increase in the right prefrontal cortex. Attaching a name like “Coffee” did not have the same effect.

So Labeling your emotions during a panic attack has the potential to turn on your right prefrontal cortex and shut off your amygdala.

Challenge your inaccurate and unhelpful thoughts. Ask yourself:

1. What do I think is happening during a panic attack?

2. "I feel light headed and I think I will faint.”

3. What facts or experiences suggest that this thought is not true?

“I learned that fainting only occurs when blood pressure is low and there is a lack of oxygen to the brain, and during a panic attack, blood pressure is actually high and there is more oxygen in the brain. Also I have never fainted before. So I will not faint.”

Reduce your fear of the symptoms

You can reduce your fear of the symptoms of a panic attack by being able to create, control, and understand the physical and mental feelings of a panic attack with exposure exercises.

Exposure exercises:

• Running in place for 30 - 60 seconds (racing heart, breathlessness, chest discomfort).

• Rapid breathing just long enough to begin experiencing dizziness, breathlessness, racing heart, numbness and tingling.

• Breathe in and out through a small straw for 30 – 60 seconds while pinching nostrils (choking sensations, breathlessness, racing heart).

• Shaking head from side to side for 30 seconds (dizziness).

• Spinning around in place or spinning in a chair for 30 seconds (dizziness, nausea).

• Hold breath for 15 to 30 seconds (breathlessness, dizziness).

• Stare at yourself in a mirror or stare at a blank wall for two minutes or long enough to experience feelings of unreality.

I hope this is helpful. Please reply with any other questions or comments.

Sincerely, ***** *****