Terrified the world will stop turning

[Snee]

Any strategies for panic attacks caused by an irrational fear of the Earth ceasing rotation and gravity stopping, causing myself to drift into space? It is destroying my life and no psychologist or psychiatrist has been effective.

[baet123]

Hey Snee,

Welcome to the forums.

Sorry to hear that you are struggling at present and that you aren't receiving the answers your looking for from medical professionals but it is important to stay strong and never give up. Have you explored the option of CBT with your psychologist?

As for your panic attacks, here are some common techniques which may assist you when you are experiencing a panic attack:

Breathing slowly and deeply - Anxiety can cause you to breathe very quickly, which makes both the mental and physical symptoms of a panic attack even worse. When you start to feel panicky, be sure to take slow, deep breaths to soothe your mind and body.

Stop and think - When your thoughts start spinning out of control, simply tell yourself to stop. Organize your thoughts and decide what you need to do to get yourself calm again.

Think positively -Push negative thoughts out of your mind, and remind yourself that you are in control. Think about times when you've been able to manage situations successfully and reduce anxiety.

Regular exercise - Particularly aerobic exercise, will help you to manage stress levels, release tension, improve your mood and boost confidence.

Eat regular meals to stabilise your blood sugar levels.

Hope this helps Snee.

Nick

[Jacstar44]

Hi Snee,

I myself have sought help from psycologists, and I had to go to a few before I found the one that helped me.

Symptoms like yours sound like aren't going to have a quick fix, and there is no one thing that is going to help you.

I know and feel that panic, I regularly ride the emotions brought about by thoughts and nothing my logical brain says can remove that emotion from me immediatley. I need to stop and take back the control.

And they are just thoughts, my logic knows they aren't true because they aren't true, just thoughts.

One thing that sometimes helps me, is to tell myself it is just an emotion. I pretend I put that emotion on a chair and give it a name, and I talk to it. Mentally removing it from my body, really helps me to see it for what it is. I then do some self care, usually I use my CALM app to do a brief mindfulness meditation and the emotion sitting on the chair gets smaller and smaller.

It sound airy fairy, but it is a way of taking back the control the panic had over my life.

It takes practice, it is a journey and it is something only you can do for yourself.

I wish you the greatest amount of strength and self love to work towards your healing. Reach out and let others love you, but most of all, keep yourself loved and safe.

[geoff]

Hi Snee, thanks for getting back to us after your first thread which was very distressful and so pleased this has happened.

Your thoughts I believe are linked to 'intrusive thoughts' that suddenly appear for no reason about something that has really worried you, I'm really sorry they keep coming back to you at probably the most awkward times, unfortunately, it happens to many people, some that want to talk about it, but some who are embarrassed to do so.

It's nothing you should worry about, and I say this without knowing the actual thought, because it's part of having anxiety and could be linked to OCD.

That's exactly what I've had for a very long time, intrusive thoughts that keep coming back to annoy me, and we are joined by many others who have these thoughts, so you and I aren't alone in this.

My thoughts were about hitting my dear Mum who I loved so dearly, so I could never understand why I would ever think about doing this, but I'm so pleased all of this stopped at some stage.

I am more than happy to let you know why, and it's great to hear back from you.

I'm about to log off, as I start very early in the morning, but I have bookmarked your thread/avatar and will respond back to you in the morning.

Please take care.

Geoff.