In this article I offer you a beautifully simple insight into your panic attacks which will change your reaction to them. It is only by changing your reaction to your panic attacks that you'll ever be free of them. So what is that insight? "Accept your panic symptoms and ....they'll go. Fight them, and they'll intensify." Look at that word 'intensify'. It's about tensing up. Becoming worried and even more panicky about....what? Your feelings of panic. Once you really, genuinely, understand that they're only feelings, you'll also come to accept that those feelings can't harm you. Yes, I know that they're frightening and uncomfortable feelings. But you're not in physical danger. You're not having a heart attack. Answer this question honestly: "In the past, has tensing up and worrying even more about having a panic attack helped those feelings to dissipate, to go away?" Your honest answer? I know it's NO. Just so you're very clear: tensing up and fighting your symptoms of panic help did not help in the past. It will not help you today or in the future. One person selling his e-book on the Internet claims that this 'float with your panic' insight is his unique discovery to send panic away. The truth is that we've known for decades that instead of fighting panic feelings and tensing up, you must take a counter-intuitive approach. You feel fear, intense enough to be called terror, but to eliminate panic attacks, you must just accept those feelings. More than four decades ago, the Australian General Practitioner the late Dr Claire Weekes advised people that instead of fighting panic and tensing up, they should float into their panic, and welcome it like an old friend who couldn't harm them. From my counselling practice helping people with all sorts of anxiety disorders, I know that you know there's nothing to fear. That's at a rational level. Not on an emotional level. At an emotional level, you still feel overwhelmed. For many of you, the fact that you can't explain why you feel so terrified is often the most upsetting. Especially when those panic attacks come out of the blue when you're enjoying a day out with friends at the Mall, or at the movies. For absolutely no reason, your pulse starts racing, your mouth goes dry, you feel faint and most of all, you feel terrified that people around you will notice your panic attack and think you're weird. The Panic Cycle is Fear of Fear Itself Once you accept that there's no real danger, you'll see that your real and lingering fear is the fear of the panicky feelings. If you let those inappropriate messages of fear come and do their worst, you'll learn how to send those fears packing. So to summarise: When your pulse races, your heart pounds, do the opposite of what you normally do. Stop. Smile... even though you mightn't want to B r e a t h e... d e e p l y... and slowly O b s e r v e... Observe your fear floating away. Mimic Mother Nature - Flow With the Hurricane Just as the grass and the trees sway with the cyclones, rather than rigidly resist, let your fear feelings come. Then, just observe your feelings as if you're watching a science experiment. You might want to practise that simple approach at home a few times. You'll soon see how well it works. I know you can make yourself feel great fear. Bring back those memories of your last panic episode. Right now. Recall every detail. Feel those fear symptoms and now.... just accept them. That's right. I'm not saying try to do anything. I'm not saying try to relax. I'm not saying try to divert yourself from your fear-filled thoughts. I am saying - do absolutely nothing. Just accept your fear-filled feelings for what they are: only feelings that can't hurt you. They're feelings that make you uncomfortable but they'll quickly settle down if you lose your fear of them. If you lose your fear of having a panic attack, you'll eliminate panic attacks from your life. When you recognize your role in your own panic episodes, you're 90% closer to being able to eliminate panic attacks. Next time you feel the first fluttering of fear and panic follow the simple steps above. If you've been experiencing anxiety and panic attacks for a while, it's your fear of the fear-filled symptoms that feed your panic. You have become a major part of your problem. But you're also the total solution.
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