This is the type of worry that comes on like a terror, a frightening hurricane headed right for you and you are in the path. It strikes without warning and all of a sudden your heart is pounding, you feel weak, feel like you could collapse. You might feel flushed or chilled and you may get a numb feeling going through your body. You could have severe chest pain and a feeling that you are going to smother and might actually die. You think you are really going crazy and won’t be able to stay in control. You may actually pass out briefly because this is so intense.
This attack could last for up to ten minutes and the symptoms may not go away for even longer. This is an anxiety problem which can really destroy your life. It happens to millions of people every day and the emergency rooms are filled with people with panic problems. I know so many people who are so fearful they are going to die that they demand immediate treatment and will raise quite a ruckus until they get it.
Anywhere you have had a panic attack in the past is a place you want to avoid. If you were in a plane when you had one, you may refuse to ever fly again. If your job requires you to fly, you may be saying goodbye to that job and finding another where your feet are firmly planted on the ground. The problem is, these panic attacks will happen in different places so if you decide to avoid every place where you have experienced panic, you will soon run out of places where you are comfortable.
Some people are so afraid of having a panic attack that it is difficult to leave the house. If you go out alone, there would be no one to pick you up should you have a fainting spell. If you get the panic in the car, how can you continue driving? If you had one in the grocery store, you feel that it is impossible to shop there again. So what happens is that you start to avoid any situation where you feel a panic attack could happen. One third of people who have panic type worry develop agoraphobia which means a refusal to leave the house.
Here are some signs you are having a Panic Attack:
Choking, smothering feeling
Sweating, visibly shaking.
Feeling lightheaded
Getting pale, feeling clammy
Feeling you are losing control
Feeling you are going crazy
Skin breaking out, itching, hives
Need to use restroom immediately
Overwhelming dizziness, nausea
Feeling you are outside yourself
Tightness, tension in chest
Collapsing, losing consciousness
When it’s over you are exhausted and have a hard time recovering.
Ronnie is 42 and is a plant supervisor at an automotive parts company. He has been promoted up the line and is considered very successful by friends and family. He has a way of talking, sort of putting himself down, which puts others as ease. Even though everyone sees him as having it together, underneath he has always been a really anxious guy who is always doubting that he is good enough for the job, wondering if he will be found out as not as competent as he appears to be. It was a cold winter Saturday morning when he was sitting having a second cup of coffee that he started having the most terrible feeling come over him. Suddenly his heart was racing and he broke out in a sweat. He couldn’t stop shaking and thought he was having a heart attack. His wife was alarmed and called an ambulance, taking him to the emergency room. Every test was done and the doctors told him he was fine physically but very tense and apparently very stressed. They recommended he go home and try to relax. Easy to say. Ronnie tried to go to the mall with his wife on Sunday and when they got there, he could not get out of the car. He felt he was going to have another attack if he got out of the car. His head was spinning and he told his wife to drive them home. Ronnie called in sick and said he would have to get some help before he could get it together . He did get some tranquilizers from his doctor but still dreads the thought of something like this happening to him at work. He would look like a mental case and someone who couldn’t hold it together. He feels he can never let down now and must keep very busy and not think about what has happened to him.
Clare is 43 and a head nurse in the surgery ward at an out patient center. She runs a tight ship and keeps pointing out to the other nurses that there is no room for mistakes in their jobs because a patient’s life might depend on it. She is a worrier who will not cut corners or take a short cut where medical care is concerned. When she is ‘off duty’ Clare is a lot of fun, having a good sense of humor and being a friend people can count on when the chips are down. She is going for her yearly pap smear and mammogram in a building she has been in many times. She pushes the button and gets on the elevator. Without any warning, she feels her throat start to tighten, her pulse races, she has tingling in her arms and legs, and feels dizzy. Being a nurse, she immediately thinks she might be having a stroke. She pushes the button frantically to get off the elevator and tries to calm down but she can’t. A woman coming by sees her in extreme distress and takes her into an office where they call the paramedics. By the time the medics get there, the attack is over and Clare is terribly embarrassed. Clare thinks she must have had a slight stroke and gets herself checked out but nothing is found. Now Clare wonders if she is up to being ahead nurse and if she will fall apart again when she is needed in a surgical procedure. Every day is miserable because she never knows when she will collapse again.
Panic pandemonium can make you a nervous wreck, afraid when it happens, afraid that it’s going to happen again, afraid that you can’t control yourself, afraid you are going crazy, afraid you will be found out as a weak person who can’t even get your nerves under control. It’s a real bear and panic is just like the big bad bear, waiting to eat you up alive.
People with panic attacks are often convinced they are dying. If you have had one or are having them now, please tell yourself that you are not going to die. You are simply scared silly and I am going to help you turn this bear around. Take a deep breath and just keep going.
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