What is the best thing do do if you have a panic attack and irrational fears?

Question

Bit of a delicate situation, I suffer quite severe panic attacks when I am with my boyfriend. I even have nightmares about it. I start to think the worst and go silent quite frequently.

Answer 1

A panic attack is scary and can be serious at times. This panic attack happens because your fight or flight response in your brain (which is there to make you run when you're in danger) is over reacting. You need to train your brain to set off this fight or flight routine at a higher level of real life threating stress rather than every time you start to worry about your job, your boyfriend, etc. A panic attack can broadside you for the first time with full blown hyperventilation, tingling in your fingers, burning in your extremeties, and at worst, can paralyze you for a short time. When you hyperventilate, you take on too much oxygen which affects your muscles. There are medications like Clonapin that will lower your anxiety level and stop the panic attacks. Even when you go off of them, you may have retrained your brain to set off the fight or flight response at a higher level. Your fears whether real or unreal need to be dealt with (with a reputable psychotherapist, social worker or psychologist) in the long run. Clonapin works very well for some people, but you can't stay on it forever. It can give you a break from the scary attacks where you can't catch your breath, etc.... Good luck... I feel for you, but do get help now!

Answer 2

Just remember to breathe.. meditate by counting to 10 or 100 for a bad one :).. learn what triggers them by going over the situations that brought you to the point of having the attack.. and then aviod those situations the best you can. Perhaps yoga?.. but if you can't find a natural approach.. see a mental health professional.
After they go through the symptoms and all of that stuff with you, they may decide that your problem requires a prescription to help get you through. I have occasional panic attacks in unaviodable social situations.. and have personally had great sucess with a prescription called Ativan (Lorazapam) on an 'as needed' basis.. it is a very nasty drug with horrible side effects if it is taken long term or every day. It's said to be very addictive and very difficult to get off of (worse than heroin)
But it totally mellows me out. Different people have different reactions to it.
As always.. your doctor knows best.. be honest about how you feel at the doctors office.. and take it from there.. :)
Good Luck.

Answer 3

I had a severe panic attack on the motorway, I'm not even sure what the hell caused it, all I know is I stopped traffic on the M6 for an hour and had the police and paramedics in attendance cos they initially thought it was a heart attack..... I'm only 30!

The symptoms can be severe, I hyperventilated, had tingling in the hands and legs until I couldn't move & spasms in my stomach! Not nice at all!

After this I started getting them more frequently but luckily i've learned how to control them, you need to slow your breathing down cos its the increased oxygen levels in your blood that start the symptoms like the ones I had, try breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth but concentrate on how fast you're doing it.... count 3 seconds before exhaling, you also have to work out why they're happening and train your mind not to react to the triggers. It's not easy but persevere and you'll be better for it!

Good Luck!

Answer 4

You need to think really carefully about why you have these panic attacks. Be completely present to what is happening in your head next time you have an attck and try to see exactly what it is you're scared of and what has triggered it. Once you can identify the fear or anxiety, then you can think back into the past and identify the experience in your past that causes this fear. I did a course a year ago called the Landmark Forum, which deals with things in your past. Google or Yahoo Landmark Education and you'll find out about it. You need to be totally honest with yourself, which can be hard, but it's the first step to solving the problem. You already know why you have these attacks and what you need to do to get rid of them, but that knowledge is in your subconcious mind, and you have to have the courage to acknowledge that that information is there and is true.

Answer 5

What are you panicky about? Is he a Mafia hit man? Is he that bad in bed? Does his favorite game involve a pistol with one round? Does he like to hold you by the ankles over the edge of the roof?

Ask yourself when the attacks start, what's the worst that could happen? Is there anything in your history that would make that a reality? For the nightmares, before you go to sleep, write down your worries on a piece of paper. Repeat out loud, "these are the problems my subconcious mind is going to work on because my conscious mind is going to sleep". You will sleep better.

Mostly, you need to force yourself to think about how good it's going to be today, how much fun you're going to have today, what interesting things you are going to learn today. Bad thoughts are a learned behavior, a habit. You can allow them to run your life or you can train yourself to be happy and have a positive outlook. Like anything learned, it may not be easy at first, but everytime you find yourself slipping into the negative, stop and think about happy things, Disney birds and animals singing, flowers growing, babies laughing. It will take a little time and effort, but it will work.

Answer 6

Go to your health food store and buy these items:
1) SAMe
2) 5-HTP
3) L-Tyrosine

Take one of each every morning. Panic attacks are caused by the depletion of nuerotransmitter chemicals in the brain. These natural products will help to replace the depleted chemicals.

Also, try to conciously decide in your mind whether or not something is worth worrying about, no matter how minor it is. The things that are worth worrying about need to be dealt with. A great rule of thumb is the Serentity Prayer.

Answer 7

It's a horrible thing to have. When you get one just keep reminding yourself you are NOT going to die (because you really wont) and the attack passes after a few minutes, it's never a sustained thing. The problem is anticipating the next one or situation. Ask around for a good counsellor who deals with panic attacks. Good luck.

Answer 8

If your having panic attacks when with your boyfriend then there is something wrong with the relationship. It could be that your are deeply concerned with his behaviour around you or you feel unsafe with him. You would need to be more specific before I could help. What are your nightmares about for example? And what do mean by ' I start to think the worst?'

Answer 9

DON'T breathe deep. Breathing deep actually takes away CO2 from the body, and replaces it with excessive oxygen. Oddly enough, though we breath in oxygen, and expel CO2, our body needs CO2 just as much as it needs oxygen. That's why when someone has a panic attack, they are told to breath into a paper bag, so that they can take back the CO2 they are excessively expelling.

Breathing deep and hard while not exercising only causes vertigo and thus, panic.

When you're with your boyfriend, try chewing gum. Chewing helps regulate breathing, preventing panic.

Answer 10

there are loads of different techniques that u can use. I had panic attacks for 7 years, i found that the best thing to do is to listen to my favourite music to calm me and take my mind off things. Another good one is to tell yourself that your fear is irrational and that you are going to be fine. There are also some medications that can help, go see your doctor. Good luck, i hope u get better!!