Panic is hard to deal with

[Karen0901]

Hi,

I'm really struggling with an increase in my anxiety symptoms. I have been placed on medication and it has helped but not enough. My doctor said severe anxiety is hard to medicate so I'm feeling a bit let down with medication options.

If my mind wanders to things that are causing me anxiety, my physical response is immediate and difficult to calm.

Does anyone have any ideas for things that have worked for you with controlling the feeling of panic? It's difficult to stop thinking in cycles so the panic is coming too often.

I have tried breathing techniques but it only seems to help with some symptoms. Examples of symptoms I can't control include a sick feeling, restless energy and a lack of concentration. Lack of concentration means I find it hard to distract myself to change my thoughts and to focus on ways to change my thought narrative.

Thanks

[sbella02]

Hey Karen0901,

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I'm so sorry to hear that you've been struggling.

I understand your situation. You're right, breathing exercises can be helpful in certain situations, but sometimes they're just not enough.

I can offer some advice from my own experience. I had a panic attack recently (the first in about a year), and there were a few ways I could think of to calm myself down. I have a drawer full of stress balls, and they can be really great to squeeze if you're feeling overwhelmed. I also video called with my friends, and talking things out with them really helped calm me down as well. Even if I'm feeling restless, I find stress balls can be very useful, or doing some physical exercise, dancing, running around etc.

As somebody who is quite prone to procrastination and gets very distracted, lack of concentration resonates with me. For me, I have to really make an effort to remove any distractions, such as my phone, from my field of vision. If there's a task I really need to get done, sometimes I'll set timers to give myself a "deadline", as I tend to work best under pressure. There are many ways to beat a general lack of concentration, and we each have different methods that work best for us. It may take a few tries to find something that really helps for you.

You may also find value in seeking the opinion of another professional, like a psychologist or therapist, about your anxiety. They may be able to offer you further insight or perhaps treatments tailored to your experience that could help you out.

Please feel free to keep chatting with us, we're here to support you. I hope my advice is somewhat helpful.

All the best, SB

[Petal22]

Hi Karen0901,

Im sorry you are dealing with severe anxiety I understand that it is hard to deal with.

I believe medication and therapy go hand in hand, did you do a mental health plan with your gp? This will enable you to see a psychologist.

I suffered with severe anxiety OCD it was a very hard disorder to deal with while I was in its grips.

Ive now recovered thanks to professional help, I was put on a antidepressant and I did a therapy that was especially for OCD.

It was a marathon of a journey but through perseverance I got to the end of the tunnel.

Have you ever had a diagnosis?

I know how hard it is when we are feeling severe anxiety.

try to keep busy

Change your environment just walking into another room can help

Meditation is great

Exercise is also good

Practice mindfulness

Hang in there if I can recover there is hope that you can too……….

You can beat the severe anxiety and live a normal life I’m living proof of it….

Dont loose hope it’s very treatable……..

If your not happy with your current gp see a different one.

[Karen0901]

Thanks for the replies.

I have been in contact with psychologists/psychiatrists but it seems very resistant to treatment. I haven't had an offical diagnosis but my psychologist tells me that I need trauma counselling.

It's nice to know others have felt as bad and gotten through it. Things have improved for me but I'm still trying to find something to get me back to a functional level of anxiety.

I've tried different things such as exercise and meditation. I find meditation very hard as my mind doesn't settle. Exercise is good sometimes but motivation is hard and it is doesn't stop the thoughts.

[Petal22]

That’s ok Karen0901,

Im glad you have been in contact with psychiatrists and phycologists, have any of them been helpful?

How do you feel about having trauma counselling?

I understand that it’s very confronting feeling the way we do and when our psychologists tell us that we need to see someone else our fear grows.

I understand this, because it happened to me too…….. my psychologist told me for me to be able to move forward with my life that I needed to do this specific therapy for my OCD, the thought of doing this therapy scared me but by the way my psychologist told me that I needed to do this therapy, I got an understanding that it was the only way forward for me and the only way that would help me to recover.

During this therapy I was confronted internally by so many things but this was the unraveling of my internal world which was something I needed to do …… I learned to challenge my internal world … it was quite a journey but it was the best thing I ever did… it bought me great internal growth and it has helped to grow me into the person I am today.

Maybe if you do this counseling it will help you to challenge your internal world and also grow…. We really can learn to challenge what makes us so anxious we can learn to see things in a different perspective, the mind set we have now can evolve.

I understand that some thoughts may cause you great anxiety…… but once a professional can help you with this you can learn how to by pass the thoughts so they don’t cause you so much distress..

I understand that you want to stop the thoughts but the best thing you can do is let them be there and float away.

I was the same I just wanted to stop the thoughts but then I learned with meditation that I wasn’t my thoughts I was the observer of my thoughts…. I learned to detach from them.

I highly recommend meditation I believe it got me over the line….. my mind didn’t settle either but that’s the point of meditation we learn to “ watch our thoughts “ we begin to realise we are seperate from them.

Please chat to me anytime

[Amanda2000]

Hi Karen,

I've found this to be a simple and practical strategy .... Do you recall the many times that you've been all worried about nothing? But you only know this after having wasted a lot of time and energy feeling so so so worried. And then at the end, you're fine! When I find myself excessively worrying about something/start to panic, I try to remember one of these positive incidents from the past. So now that I have proof from past experience, there's no need to panic.

I also experience the lack of concentration that you've described. Feeling lost, trapped and unable to get myself out of the situation. When I can't distract myself, I just keep telling myself that this feeling is only temporary - it will pass and I will be ok again.

Take care.