How To Overcome Anxiety and Panic Attacks for Good

By: Wendy Brausch

You have shopped until you are about to drop and are waiting your turn at the register, it has been a long wait, and however there is only a sole customer linking you to the cashier. When all of a sudden that familiar sensation begins to build within you, it begins by the tightening of both your throat and your chest as you feel short of breath and a bit dizzy when your heart skips its familiar beat. You wish you were somewhere else besides right here, right now.

Your eyes quickly scan your surrounding as you check to see if there is any personal threat. Pins and needles prick at your right shoulder as you become over conscious of the four strangers who have slipped up behind you and the person standing in your way of purchase and freedom from this situation. Your head then begins the slow explosion of fear that now has you a little dizzy as you dread the worse. A panic attack is about to come over you.

Your breath catches as in your mind you are now contemplating this being the big one you have feared. Stop, now focus: Calm down and remember what you have learned, you should apply these coping procedures right now. As your physician has advised, begin with your deep breathing, your mind and body needs air. In through the nose and out through the mouth.

Slowly now, remembering to think relaxing thoughts and again, while inhaling, tell yourself to relax then exhale. However, it seems that you may be feeling very self-conscious of concentrating on breathing and even more stressed than before.

It is all right, just switch to the second coping procedure. Gradually relax your muscles. Begin by tensing your shoulder and hold for ten seconds and then release and again. Still you feel no difference. The very fact that you are running out of coping procedures worsens the panic you feel, as the anxiety seems to worsen. You wish for a close friend or family member to be close by, someone who understands your attacks, rather than the group of strangers where you would feel more confident in experiencing this situation.

A dreaded feeling of losing complete control engulfs your emotions as your body begins to tingle with an uncomfortable sensation as your adrenaline is reacting as it pumps through your body. No one around has any idea of the terror you are experiencing. It is just another day in an annoyingly long service line, awaiting their turn.

If you feel you are out of options, the next coping procedure is to flee. Simply excuse yourself from the line as you are now slightly embarrassed as it is not your turn at the register. A disorientated cashier watches as you lay your shopping behind on her counter, as you escape the freedom of the location of this attack as you exit the door. Once out of the supermarket you get into your car and begin to ride it out alone. You struggle within as you wonder, could this be the big one. The attack you fear most, one that will push you past your limits both physically and mentally. The panic subsides within ten minutes or so. Nevertheless, it is only ten in the morning. You wonder how you will make it through the entire day.

If you suffer from panic or anxiety attacks, the above scenario probably sounds very familiar. It may have even induced feelings of anxiety and panic just reading it. The particular situations that trigger your panic and anxiety may differ; maybe the bodily sensations are a little different. Or maybe it happened to you for the first time on a plane, in the dentist chair, or even at home, while doing nothing in particular.

Nevertheless, you should take comfort in knowing that you are not the only one who suffers from panic attacks. An acute sense of impending doom often accompanies a panic attack. You experience a fear of either collapsing in the middle of the check out line, or that you are about to lose your mind in public.

You are by no means alone; you're not even one in a million. In America, it is estimated that almost 5% of the population suffer from some form of anxiety disorder. For some, it may be the infrequent panic attacks that only crop up in particular situations-like when having to speak in front of others, while, for other people, it can be so frequent and recurring that it inhibits them from leaving their home. Frequent panic attacks often develop into what medical physicians refer to as an "anxiety disorder."

Recovery for you starts here and now. Here you will find out just what you should do to end this vicious cycle of panic attacks. Since you will not only learn to take back your carefree lifestyle while developing a new confidence in living your life.

First you must realize that key to avoiding panic attacks is to want to have one as this will naturally push it away from you. For example, give it a try right this minute. Are you able to have a panic attack? No. The reason is that what ever you choose to refuse to go along with will refuse to go away. This fact also includes the feeling of fear. That is to say that if you resist a fearful situation, that fear will continue. The way you stop an anxiety attack is to embrace it as you move directly in its path, doing so will discourage the attack.

What this means is if you try daily to have an attack on your own you will not have an attack at all. Try it right now; you cannot do it, can you? Whether you realize it or not, you have always chosen to panic. You make the choice when you tell yourself that things are beyond your control.

You should keep in mind that the racing of your heart or the panic you feel will not cause you harm; you are perfectly safe although you may feel overwhelmed you are safe from harm. It is in your best interest to choose not to have an attack of anxiety.

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Author Wendy Brausch runs an anxiety and panic disorder support website. For self-help tips and advice on dealing with panic attack symptoms get her free report at Conquer Panic Attack Symptoms
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