Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
The piece of advice that I get that is most consistent across therapists and friends is to breathe deeply when you are very anxious/having a panic attack. Almost everyone tells me to do that. And I've honestly been trying to do it for several months now.
But it does absolutely nothing. I must be missing something because as I do it, my anxiety and panic still starts to rise exponentially as if I'm not even doing it in the first place. As I concentrate on my breathing and count or describe my surroundings to myself, I can still feel my heartbeat becoming faster, pulse quickening, shortness of breath, a choking feeling, sweating a lot, feeling clammy, etc. It gets so bad at a point that I can no longer breathe deeply because I am so out of breath and start choking on nothing.
No matter what I do my panic attacks still get the better of me and eventually I start freaking out, screaming, crying, fainting, etc, when literally nothing is happening to me. Can anyone post a specific step by step instruction on how to breathe deeply? What should I do?
But it does absolutely nothing. I must be missing something because as I do it, my anxiety and panic still starts to rise exponentially as if I'm not even doing it in the first place. As I concentrate on my breathing and count or describe my surroundings to myself, I can still feel my heartbeat becoming faster, pulse quickening, shortness of breath, a choking feeling, sweating a lot, feeling clammy, etc. It gets so bad at a point that I can no longer breathe deeply because I am so out of breath and start choking on nothing.
No matter what I do my panic attacks still get the better of me and eventually I start freaking out, screaming, crying, fainting, etc, when literally nothing is happening to me. Can anyone post a specific step by step instruction on how to breathe deeply? What should I do?
How you feel is something you cannot stop. How you behave, however, is 100% you. It's all on you.
I'm thinking you probably scream and cry in private, which I have found myself doing (lost keys once, screamed and cried desperately looking for them, because if I was late for work my boss, who did not like me, would treat me bad.)
But if in public, screaming and crying cause embarrassment, which feeds the anxiety. So they have to be quelled.
I guarantee you that for an anxiety episode, if you can hold still for three days, without doing anything about it, it will run its course. Three days. If you can accept it, and endure it, and do nothing to relieve it, for three days, it will release its grip on you.
And it will never be able to have that kind of grip on you ever again. Three days.
:)
Sorry to hear you have been having difficulty with the anxiety and deep breathing. I know when I am really worked up it is very hard to calm down, but I think there are definitely techniques that can help, its just finding what is right for you. I think crying is a healthy thing, so if you need to cry maybe let yourself, it may help to let go of some of the anxious feelings you are holding on to. But I do think you need to find something that helps with out with the shortness of breath and fainting. Have you spoken to a doctor about it at all? because if your anxiety pushes you to the point of fainting maybe you need some professional support? One technique I was told about is counting and breathing, breathing in for 3 holding for 3 and breathing out for 3, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth fully, like you are blowing out a candle. I find a comfortable position is on my back with my knees bent and my feet on the floor and my hands on my belly. And as you breathe in and out you feel with your hands the rise and fall of your belly with every breath. if you find your mind trying to concentrate on your heart beat keep bringing it back to your counting and fullness of breath. talking to someone really helps me when I feel I am going to have a panic attack, do you have someone you could call or talk to in that moment? I find my heart rate slows drastically after having a conversation, as you have to concentrate on what the person is saying rather than the physical effects of anxiety. do you do anything else for relaxation? Have you ever done a guided meditation? there seems to be some nice ones on youtube.
Hope you feel better soon and can find a technique that works for you, sending healing thoughts, Ophelia
Here is something that will help.
I have a pretty good idea as to why your deep breathing is currently not working. Deep breathing can also cause you to hyperventilate if you are not doing it correctly....which will worsen your symptoms...as you have described.
The way to fix this problem would be to practice deep breathing when you are calm. This practice will give you the confidence and experience to finally have deep breathing working for you instead of against you.
I too used to struggle with deep breathing....I would end up feeling light headed which scared the heck out of me because I too was doing it incorrectly.
I am sure there are probably many sites on YouTube that could walk you through a few different ways to calm yourself with deep breathing. Also the library is full of books on stress reduction. Yoga was a huge help for me and ultimately the place that I finally had my A-Hah moment with completely feeling the benefits of deep breathing.
Once you find the avenue that works for you as far a learning how to deep breath be sure to practice it often and when calm......this is a biggie!!!! Not only is it relaxing but the more you practice deep breathing when you are not anxious the more you will be ready to use it when you begin to feel anxious. This is one of the first steps to overcoming anxiety.
Good for you for reaching out for help on this one. This is an extremely positive skill to teach yourself. Bravo to you!!!!
My best to you!
When I feel the anxiety setting in....I grab 2-3 gumballs and pop them in my mouth. I do this at the onset of the attack. The chewing and flavor take over as a bit of a distraction.....just enough for me to set my breathing into motion.
The trick is to distract yourself and interrupt your thought pattern long enough to implement the breathing. I then take inventory of my surroundings and tell myself out loud that I am NOT in any danger. I continue my deep breathing. I take a deep breath in through the nose. I hold it for several seconds (sometimes longer). Then I blow out slowly through pursed lips.....all the way out until I can not blow out any more. It usually takes about 4-6 deep breaths before it totally kicks in. Be patient and keep telling yourself that you are ok. Continue to look for distractions and counter the negative thoughts with positive (i.e. I'm stupid.....counter it with I'm very smart and deserving of a normal life).
You can do this....it just takes time and consistency. It is not a fast cure. Remember.....you didn't get anxiety over night and you won't get rid of it over night.
If you keep concentrating on the symptoms, you will only get more of what you do not want. You KNOW it is anxiety bothering you. Know that it hasn't killed you thus far. Even before the attacks start, work on changing your negative thinking and talk into positive thoughts and talk (this is a choice). I know you feel horrible about yourself which leads to negative self talk. You have to take 'action Jackson" in order to change it. Once you start loving and accepting yourself.....you will slowly start to feel better.....I promise.
I hated myself for years and self injured. I got into abusive relationships, and I allowed people to treat me badly.
With years of counseling I begin to realize that there was a lot of truth in what Glenda the good witch in the Wizard of Oz said, "You had the power all along." Dorthy just didn't realize it until it was pointed out. Everything AdventureGuide has posted is absolutely spot on......and free. It is the magic bullet you are seeking....but you and you alone must do the work.
I am doing the work for the second time and I am finding it to be very helpful as there are things I didn't get the first time around.
My anxiety is so low that it doesn't even bother me. In fact.....I feel cured.....so I must be :)
Hang in there.....You can do this!
Bridgie I'm not sure what you were getting at. Are you suggesting I try and not do anything during an anxiety episode/panic attack? Because I do try and not react to what I'm feeling. I concentrate on breathing and self talk. It holds off my panic for a little while, but it always beats me in the end because it just doesn't stop rising no matter what I do or think.
Hi Ophelia. Yes I did originally go to my primary care doctor when these panic attacks first started, and he referred me to the therapist I saw for several months. No, I don't have someone I can call or talk to when I'm not doing so well. It's something I'm working on finding. My friends are cool and supportive of me but they do not get this whole panic attack thing at all. They think its completely alien, as none of them have experienced one, so I'm trying to find someone else I can trust who understands. I listen to calming music to relax. I've tried meditation several times but I can never sit still long enough to do it correctly. It's just not my thing and I don't get it.
Anxiety doesn't come from nowhere. Just like a toe you have banged too many times it can, after a while, be very hard to hear, so just like with a toe banged too many times, you have to stop moving the toe. Stop banging it. Stop acting. Let it quiet down. Find a place of silence and let it settle.
There are two schools of thought on anxiety. The ones who get you to distract yourself till it's over, and the sort that say 'take it seriously. find out what's going on.'
You should only make a choice as to how you will handle it after you know what's causing it, but the fact that nothing you can do is fixing it tells me you're just going to have to bite the bullet and do it the hard way: front on, painful. Endure, accept, survive, without action. without doing anything to release it. Without avoidance techniques.
But it's my tuppence worth. I personally do either, depending on what I think is causing it. If I think I have an ancient brain groove throwing self hate my way, I distract to get past the groove in the record. If I think I have to learn to do something a different way to avoid experiencing this pain, I will face it, endure it. Accept it. Try to learn from it. :)
But different strokes for different folks, something else might work better for you.
Hi JDavenport. Yes, I have had my blood pressure checked many times during this time period that I've been having these attacks, if that's what you meant. The nurses mentioned that it has risen or dropped a huge amount in a matter or seconds just in between readings. Like they would check it and it would be very higher than normal, and then they would check again in 30 seconds and it would be significantly lower than optimal. But they've never done any more than just comment about it.
You have to listen to it. That's an active thing to do, although you physically do nothing, you mentally do a whole lot.
You have to listen, and learn, and understand.
But as I said before that's only after you have decided whether this is simply a chemical issue, or an emotional one.
If a chemical issue, go ahead, ignore, distract, do what you like. But if it is an emotional issue, then you GOT there by blocking your emotions, and you won't get out again till you learn to listen to them and accept them, and let them flow through you.
anyway that's a decision only you can come to. cheers, B.
Yes.
You have the attack. You endure the attack. The attack comes. You don't get to avoid having the attack with this method. You simply ensure that the attack is useful, and achieves something. Achieves learning, maturation.
Attacks don't come out of nowhere. Either you have a chemical issue, which you might want to explore, or else i'm wondering if you have a blocked emotional life to the point where you can't tell when you're having feelings. This happens to people who were never given language to express their emotion; they can't identify it. It also happens to kids who were never given time to rest and relax as children; they simply distract themselves. Life gets to a point however where you can no longer actually manage to distract yourself. That's when that particular method comes crashing down.
But I've got absolutely no facts about your life to know what it is: it's for you to figure where you fit into the spectrum. it's your job as a human to know your insides. :D