Overcoming Panic Disorder.

[punk rock warlord]

Been suffering with Panic attacks recently. Have suffered with them since I was a teenager. I have chosen to keep off the ale and certainly any drugs - why I thought they would help with my paranoia is beyond me. Anyway I spoke to my psychologist and he reminded me that healing from trauma is not a destination it is a lifelong process. You exercise your brain as you would your body in a gym. I know there are quite a number of people on here continuing to suffer, so as an almost 60 year old here is my advice to those like me who feel trapped in mental pain.
1. Dont bottle it up inside - speak to someone about how you feel without guilt or embarrassment.
2. Take advantage of the multitude of resources out there on the internet. Loads of podcasts, websites and audiobooks that will help you develop strategies to overcome your demons.
3. KEEP OFF the ale or any drug that provides only short term relief. Self medicating will only worsen your situation.
4. Get to your doctor sharpish and tell him how you feel. Anti-depressants plus a referral to a psych might be what you need.
5. Try and maintain a healthy lifestyle - exercise and diet are crucial. Meditation is also a great tool to help combat depression and anxiety.
6. You are not alone. There are millions suffering from mental health problems and the number grows each year. Do not be fearful of any stigma attached to mental health.

[TrueSeeker]

Hello

Thank you for sharing your story, I find it very interesting. I really like the bit where you describing that we need to exercise our brain just like we do in a gym.

I think that sometimes it can be very hard to change our thinking habits that can cause distress. It does need a lot of practice, repetition, patience and hope that things will get better once we fix the thoughts that aren't useful to us. It also needs to make sense to us as other competing thoughts can keep interfering with our good efforts. And the hardest thing can be to get the courage and strength to actually face out thoughts and prove them wrong or align them with reality. It's a bit harder with actual memories that I'm still working on.

Sometimes all we can do is to just keep trying and hoping that things will get better