Take Panic Out of Pandemic
When a person is panicked, finding a solution through typical thinking practices and acting that out in the moment is extremely difficult, if possible. That’s one of the reasons I’m writing this book. When I am going through panic attacks, if I can pick up a quick handbook like this, to pull me out of my head and remind me of tried and true solutions, then I can get back to calmer quicker and easier.
According to PubMed panic has increased during the Covid pandemic by 50%. I’ve been managing a panic disorder for a decade, and a more mild anxiety disorder before that through various life stages and challenges.
For people who are new to anxiety and panic, I can shed some light on how to get through these moments faster and easier. I also want to let you know; you are not alone, and you can make it through this! You can make it through anything!
Happy Tip #2: Use Calming Remedies (Click Here for FREE printable version)
When you’re feeling increased anxiety or panic:
- Take a few deep breaths.
- Avoid caffeine.
- Go on a walk.
- Talk with a friend who can help resolve immediate concerns.
- Set up an appointment with a psychiatrist, or other therapist your physician or gynecologist may recommend; set aside some time to read reviews and find a professional team who will take time to address your needs appropriately.
- Consider trying one of the following natural supplements that can reduce anxiety, like Rescue Relief gum or drops (from Whole Foods), or search for a calming supplement that can assist you.
- If you experience anxiety/panic frequently, consider taking one of the above supplements daily for a few months to help maintain a chemical balance of calm. When I remember to take the supplements that work for me daily I greatly reduce my anxiety and panic attacks.
- Read for a few minutes; Reading reduces stress by 2/3.
- Lay down and raise your legs; this reduces blood pressure within 5 minutes.
- Make Note of Your Own Strategies that Work.
* Ask your doctor if they’d recommend a specific supplement for you. If you’re still feeling anxious after trying these tips, call a help hotline (or warmline) in your area, or journal as if you’re writing or talking to a professional listener.
Keep this tip on hand for when an anxiety or panic attack comes on.
A panic attack can range from a racing, pained heart, to an icy feeling of adrenaline through your veins, or emotional pain throughout the body, hyperventilating, uncontrollable crying, all the way to uncontrollable screaming.
I’ve significantly reduced the type and frequency of panic I experience through medical attention, practicing self managment tools, and steps towards greater life satisfaction and stability over time.
Your mind tells your body what to do. If it doesn’t respond in the moment, that just means you need more practice with managing the event you are experiencing.
I’ve experienced many debilitating panic attacks triggered by events related to chemical imbalances along with information stored in an inconvenient way in my brain. It’s like in those moments my mind and body are separate, and my mind is saying, “Come on body. Don’t scream. Don’t writhe like that. Just calm down.”
Those have been surreal, upsetting experiences; and often embarrassing for me. It’s also been, at the very least, disruptive for any witnesses, especially my kids–though we talked about it afterward, and started laughing as soon as we could about the aspects of humor we found in it.
One time I was alone with my son, who was nine years old at the time. He was having an autism meltdown. I can usually be patient through those, but sometimes I cross my window of tolerance, and I have my own meltdown. This particular time, it was an extreme hyperarousal reaction, but I’d decided to not take medicine for it.
My rescue medicine was not ideal, but is the only kind I was able to get a prescription for then. Since the medicine makes me feel groggy and I need to be alert, especially around my kids, I wanted to see if I could wait out the panic attack. I wanted to let my body calm down on its own.
During my panic episode then, my son’s meltdown stopped. It was apparent he wasn’t going to get what he had been crying for, since mommy was losing it. I laid face down on the floor, grabbing onto some sheets and screaming into those.
My son pulled on my arm. He still wanted to go in the car. He likes to go and see electronic ad signs. We’d already been driving around all afternoon. I needed to rest, but I couldn’t.
So my body resorted to gaining control … by losing control. I mean, that’s what I infer was going on with me. I screamed into those sheets repeatedly for an hour. I decided that was long enough to let it play out. I pulled myself up off the floor, down the hall to the medicine cabinet and took one pill. For more mild panic attacks I’ve divided the pill into a half or a quarter. Some panic attacks are so mild that no one knows I’m having them except me–they can be quiet, yet paralyzing–a near total shutdown from hypoarousal; a state below the window of tolerance (reference Dan Siegel).
Anyway, a few minutes later the panic attack subsided; the calming chemicals from the medicine sedated my body. I haven’t liked taking it, but it’s been necessary when something happens to push me over the edge of my personal ability to control myself.
My anxiety and panic attacks are usually a lot more mild. Sometimes they present as icy adrenaline through my veins for hours or days (that’s a lot longer than the 10 minutes I’ve heard some professionals estimate). I can manage the various less severe attacks with one or more of the many emotional management tools I’ve picked up over the years, included in this book.
In fact, I’ve reduced extreme episodes like the one described above by learning the signs that it’s coming–when it’s only a matter of time and events before a trigger releases it. When I observe the signs and make the connection that this must mean a chemical imbalance in my brain is reaching critical mass, I can take the medicine in advance–at a good time, like night time when I’m about to sleep, and definitely not right before driving. When I take it early, the medicine can re-establish chemical balance before having to experience one of the screaming panic attacks, and avoid it altogether.
I’d like to share more tools; with the intention that organizing them here will help me remember and manage them even better, and also that you may receive some benefit from them, as well–hopefully without having to go through as much. But if you have, or if you’ve gone through even more, my heart goes out to you; I wish you many miracles, relaxation, peace, and the winds of positive change in your life.
This book is not intended as a substitute for professional help, and should not be used as such.
I have an undergraduate physics degree; I’m not a doctor nor a therapist. I’m not a psychologist nor a psychiatrist. I have big emotions combined with analytical nature and articulation. I can show you how I deal with my personal life challenges, including but not limited to a collection of “disorders” or different orders. Whichever brand of challenges you face, I hope you may learn something from the ideas presented here that can help you navigate each day more easily.
That, combined with professional guidance whether you find that through a spiritual guide, a coach, a physician, trainer, psychologist, psychiatrist, etc., provides you the opportunity to transform it at any time. It’s your life; you can decide to be at the head of it; how you want it to look, and take steps every day that bring you closer to that goal.
Your mind tells your body what to do. You are more powerful than your current situation. I have learned that by overcoming countless panic attacks, and other temporary roadblocks, and it’s good to continually re-evaluate and move forward. You can use your body and mind as a resource to help you shape your world.
Read on, and find out how to overcome obstacles and recover from repeated setbacks. You will reach the intentions you set if you spend the majority of your attention and free time in the emotional space of imagining the results of those intentions.
Universe Rules 