Anxiety is a behavioral problem that can easily be corrected with the right guidance and information. That’s a really important point because many people fear that their anxiety problem is a sign of a mental illness. It is not.
The second point is that panic attacks have nothing to do with a lack of courage, in fact it is quite the opposite. People with panic attacks actually do the bravest things.
I have worked with people like firemen, police officers, and soldiers who have done very brave things in their line of duty, but tell me privately that dealing with their anxiety has been the greatest challenge for them. Of course, the average person can’t understand why it’s such a big deal to drive on the freeway, or go to church, or even go shopping.
But for the person who needs panic attack help, accomplishing these things can be a massive achievement. It doesn’t make headline news, but facing your fears daily is real bravery.
The fight or flight response that you experience during a panic attack is a built-in mechanism, going back to our cavemen days. It is there to protect you from danger, not to harm you.
Rest assured that your body’s primary goal is to keep you alive and well. Panic attacks are not your enemy; they are the result of you misinterpreting the signals your body is sending—a bit like a false alarm.
Think of all the panic attacks you’ve experienced and how you’ve always come out on the other side—possibly petrified, but nevertheless alive and undamaged. Aren’t you still here, after all those attacks that convinced you that you were going to die?
By Barry McDonagh, who is an international panic disorder coach.He created the Panic Away program to help people around the world deal with their anxiety and avoid panic attacks – a subject that he is personally attuned to because he himself found that he was prone to these issues since he was young. His hatred of his powerless lead him down the path of finding natural ways to treat himself without having to depend on expensive medications.
Stop Panic Attacks and General Anxiety Forever – How to Turn Fear into Excitement?
Can we turn anxiety and panic into a positive experience? Can we transform fear into excitement with one mental switch?
I believe we can and I am going to explain how it is done.
Anxiety/panic is an experience everyone tries to avoid and run from. Our instinct is to fight against the feeling and find some way to end it quickly so that we can return to feeling calm. All our mental and physical effort goes into trying to feel calm again.
I believe however that people get much faster results if they learn to turn anxietyinto excitement, -rather than trying to create calm.
The reason for this is because being anxious and excited are actually the same physiological states for your body (the aroused state) so your mind can make the switch between those states much easier than it can between feeling anxious and calm.
So by turning youranxiety into excitement, you can quickly remove the fear factor while still feeling physically aroused. Because the fear has been removed you will then feel in control and a state of calm will come about naturally.
Let’s use the example of a panic attack. A panic attack is almost always triggered by bodily sensations. Maybe your heart starts pounding or your chest feels tight. Maybe you feel dizzy or your body shakes. You know very well when it is about to kick off and in a split second your mind reacts with fear to these bodily sensations. “Oh no here we go again, I am going to have a panic attack, -I might lose control, -I might die”.
That initial reaction is so split second it is almost impossible to control but at least now you are aware of what is happening and NOW is your moment to stop reacting and to choose a new response. Instead of reacting with resistance and fear to the sensations,you are going to respond with curiosity and excitement.
Here are the actual steps you need to take so that you can quickly move from fear to excitement:
Do not fight or resist the bodily sensations. (Remember, you are safe these sensations will not harm you)
Befriend the sensations and anxiety you feel, -do not see it as your enemy, it is your guide.
Embrace the sensations fully and observe them with a compassionate curiosity.
NowPLAY with the sensations. Encourage the bodily sensations to intensify. Get excited by this heightened state of arousal. Push the energy out and run with it. Let your heart pound, let your chest feel tight, let your mind race, let your body shake. Do not try and control it, experience it fully and feel really excited and alive because of it.
By taking the above steps you are doing something completely different. You are no longer resisting but embracing and moving with the experience. This movement is one of pure excitement as you ride the wave of fear, instead of letting it toss you around.
Some people like to compare anxiety to a thrilling roller coaster ride. Something exhilarating that they are willing participants in. By becoming really excited by the anxiety you feel, instead of resisting it, you immediately diminish the power it holds over you. You are placed back in a position of control.
That is the secret to turning fear into excitement!
Stop Panic Attacks and General Anxiety Forever – You Are Much Bigger Than Your Anxiety
I am guessing that there have been moments when your anxiety has gotten you down and you have asked yourself “why me?” “why do I have to deal with an anxiety problem?”
It’s during moments like that when you need to step back and try to see the bigger picture of your life. Perspective really helps move you into a feeling of acceptance and when you come from acceptance, your anxiety dramatically decreases and you check in mentally less and less to see how you are feeling. Your attitude really does determine the speed of your recovery.
What we resist persists but what we accept goes through a positive transformation.
Nick Vujicic is an incredibly inspiring man. He completely transformed his life by a change in attitude. He still has no arms and no legs but his life is radically different.
This short video of him will move you into the bigger picture of your life and your challenges. It may be the most important video will see in 2011 and it is only 4 minutes long. Have a quick look then leave a comment below.
Stop Panic Attacks and General Anxiety Forever – You Are Not Alone
Since my last newsletter the overwhelming response was that people were very glad to know that they were not the ONLY ones in the world feeling this way. They were not the only ones that were struggling with panic attacks and anxiety. They were not the only ones who felt afraid. They were not the only ones who feared they would never get over this problem.
Knowing you are not alone with an anxiety problem is very important because it can be hard to reach out and share what you are going through with others for fear you will be misunderstood or be seen as weak. Talking from my own experience I know that for men it is especially hard to reach out for help because that’s not what we are trained to do. Men feel they have to always be seen as strong.
Well, the good news is that through this newsletter you are connected to me and through me you can connect to many other people who are dealing with the exact same kind of anxiety issues as you. TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER.
You can connect this very moment if you like and post a comment to this blog. and please don’t forget to connect to me by becoming a friend of Panic Away on Facebook.com here:
By Barry McDonagh, who is an international panic disorder coach.He created the Panic Away program to help people around the world deal with their anxiety and avoid panic attacks – a subject that he is personally attuned to because he himself found that he was prone to these issues since he was young. His hatred of his powerless lead him down the path of finding natural ways to treat himself without having to depend on expensive medications.
Anxietyat the hairdressers is such a common worry for people. It happens because people feel trapped having to sit in the chair while their hair is being done. No easy escape without having to make an awkward excuse right? Stacy Fiorile writes a guest post on this topic for Panic Away below. ______________________________________________
Just sitting. That is all. That is all you have to do. Is sit. And get your hair cut. You have been doing this since before you can remember. Only you know why, your hair has grown all funky. Maybe your grey is showing more and more.
You recently decided to invest in a good pair of scissors or clippers. Maybe you have purchased a box of do-it-yourself hair dye from Revlon or Clairol. Or maybe, you just let it all grow out. Greys and all.
You would even save a few bucks. You played it off to everyone. After all, why did anyone need to know your secret? It is none of their business anyway, right?
Deep inside you knew, though. You knew. And, you also knew this was getting really bad. You may have thought you were losing your mind. You thought I must need medication, right?
You felt weak and embarrassed. However, you just could not stand the dizziness and racing heart just to get your haircut. The palpitations and feelings of being unattached to your own body were unbearable.
You think that everyone will notice. They will think that I am crazy. Maybe I am? In the chair, everything begins to close in on me. You check for the nearest exit. Voices muffle and the light and sounds are unbearable.
You think I have to get out of here. And there you go, out the door barely signing your credit card or excusing yourself to the bathroom. Maybe pretending your phone just buzzed, just to excuse yourself.
You rush back to your car or home. I am safe. I am now safe, you think. Now how will I get to the store to buy scissors? Then you think of that certain someone.
I will send ______ to the store. You fill in the blank. You know who runs your errands for you when you are just not feeling up to it. We all have that safe and trusted go to. Or maybe not.
If this resonates deep inside, this story was, written for you. There is a solution. And it is not a pill. This is the story of soulsurvivor.
“Everyone knows me as someone who the majority of the time has a cleaned lined up face and most don’t know the real reason I haven’t been to a barber in about 2 months.”
Soulsurvivor, by all accounts appears to be your average regular guy from New York. He enjoys writing, blogging. sports, movies, music, travel, gym, nature and driving. But, have a closer look and you will see a very courageous man.
No, he does not have merit badges or trophies to show for his bravery but he has a story. A story that will help inspire through his bravery and proven internal strength and resolve.
Back in the summer of 2020, soulsurvivor had been experiencing regular panic attacks but on this one particular day, he experienced the BIG one. Soulsurvivor was a trooper.
He did not let it stop him from going to the barber that day to get his haircut. That day while sitting in the barber chair, overwhelming sensations took over his body.
He experienced sensations of choking. It felt like someone just took him off of a respirator. Heart palpitations and dizziness took over. You know the drill. He got up from the chair 8-10 times.
Thinking the barber must think I am on drugs or something. After an absolutely, horrifying experience he actually went back to the barber a few more times, each time, horrifying.
He did not understand what was happening to him. He was so embarrassed. He would make up excuses to walk outside. Telling the barber, he was just dehydrated and needed some water. Getting up mid-haircut.
All those customers staring. It was too much. He was so embarrassed that he did not go back to the barber for months.
He instead grew out his beard. He just could not do it. He had no idea what was wrong with him or what to do about it. He began to feel very sad and unsure of himself. Until one day, he stumbled upon Panic Away.
He was relieved to discover that he was not alone. After reading Panic Away, he discovered that it was common for people with anxiety and panic, to not be able to sit for a simple haircut. He was not crazy after all!
He took control and went back to the barber ready to stare fear directly, down.
While at the barber waiting for his turn calmly listening to Claire Weekes, “passing through anxiety” practicing acceptance, (step two of Barry’s 21 technique), he managed. Until suddenly, a jolt of adrenaline ran through his body when the screeching word “NEXT” echoed across the all of the sudden very dreadful barber shop.
A cold sweat broke-out.
His heart began beating faster and faster. He was overcome with light-headedness and dizzy sensations. Everything muted. And then it happened. “I recognized exactly what those sensations were, and I just said go ahead.
You can make me as uncomfortable all you want but that’s all you’re capable of. I’m just gonna sit still and it’s all gonna be over soon.”
He recognized, accepted and demanded more all while trusting his body to handle the sensations. Once he demanded more, he turned the tables on anxiety. Before he knew it, he was instructing the barber how to cut his hair!
He left the barber feeling like a million bucks! Soulsurviver explained that he felt like a million bucks not just because of the haircut “but because it was so symbolic for me. I’ve been walking around carrying my anxiety on my face for the past 3 months, and every time I face it, every time I dare it to do something to me, it proves powerless!”
The panic loop was broken. The fear of the fear vanished. Just like that. No pills. No magic. Just following this simple behavior changing system, which, flips off the fear switch. Yes, bravery must be to thank. Without soulsurvivors bravery the 21 technique would not work.
Another important point to make here is, while soulsurvivor avoided the barber for about 2-3 months before he ventured back for a haircut, many more people go years and years avoiding sitting in that chair.
It does not matter how long you have avoided getting your haircut or anything for that matter due to fear of having a panic attack. This 21 technique will work in any situation where panic exists regardless of how long you have had panic attacks. You too can flip that fear switch off and put an end to your panic attacks.
In summary, courage and the 21 is all you need to brave the barber. Kudos soulsurvivor! You are amazing! Thank you for sharing your story with the hopes of getting some overgrown beards trimmed, some greys colored and putting barbers back to work! Bravo!
This guest post was written by Stacy L. Fiorile, MA, CAGS, NJCSP, NCSP
By Barry McDonagh, who is an international panic disorder coach.He created the Panic Away program to help people around the world deal with their anxiety and avoid panic attacks – a subject that he is personally attuned to because he himself found that he was prone to these issues since he was young. His hatred of his powerless lead him down the path of finding natural ways to treat himself without having to depend on expensive medications.
Panic Away Has Changed My Life – A Panic Away Success Story
Today I received a Facebook message from Panic Away member, Stephanie. She wanted to share her story with everyone. Stephanie started having Panic Attacks 5 years ago and it ruled her life. She missed days of work, she could not go on long journeys and she couldn’t even get into the car with her partner. With thanks to Panic Away, Stephanie is back to her old self- relaxed, happy and loving life.
Approximately 5 years ago I started having panic attacks. At first, I wasn’t sure what was going on. I would lose feeling in my hands and feet, feel incredibly dizzy and a bit ‘dreamlike’, my breathing gets shallow and I felt like I needed the bathroom. All at once! I started to get really nervous and anxiousabout going out. Scared that I would be stuck out in public and suffer a panic attack and not be able to escape or hide from public eye. The thought of being stuck in a car, in traffic was the worst. Even going for a walk was a scary thought, what would happen if I was halfway through my walk and it happened?
I started to feel nervous and anxious all the time, which resulted in some periods of ‘nervous belly’ and the urgency to use the bathroom. This was just another thing that scared me! In fact, I was now more concerned about this happening to me in public, than having a panic attack. I knew that not a lot of people would know from looking at me that I was suffering a panic attack. But what if I started running around begging for somebody to tell me where the bathroom is?
I get the train 50 minutes one way to work in the city. At my worst, for a long time, the train trip was something I would dread all the time. From the minute I got off a train, I started worrying about the trip home in 9 hours. What if the train broke down and I was stuck in it and I needed to go to the bathroom because I was nervous? What if it broke down in between train stations and we were stuck there with no way for me to escape or get out?
I missed work. There were days I just couldn’t do it.
My self-planned treatment was to stop eating before I had to go anywhere, in the hopes that this would mean I couldn’t feel unwell. I have been Lexapro (10mg daily) for 4.5 years. I am not sure if it helps or not. But i take it, and I have never stopped. I have seen three different therapists in the hope of helping me deal with my panic and anxiety disorder, and what seemed to be my agorophobia.
At my worst, I couldn’t pop down the shops, just a two-minute drive away. I never went in the car with anybody, not even my partner. He would drive separately to thinks just so I could avoid being caught out in public.
In April 2013, my partner proposed to me. In May 2013, my close friend asked me to be her bridesmaid. How was I going to go in a car to the weddings? How was I going to walk slowly down an aisle and not want to run away and be on my own somewhere comfortable? It was time to bust my butt and do something! I tried meditation, I tried a prescription of Valium, I tried drinking champagne a lot before we had to go out! I was getting frustrated with my therapists who would teach me how to deal with an episode once it started, not how to stop having them in the first place.
Being assured that if it ever happened in public, people would help me and not judge me was helpful, but it didn’t stop me from having a panic attack, or getting so anxious I felt the need to escape.
A few months ago I signed up for the Panic Away newsletters. I decided to purchase the treatment once I realised all the self-help books I was reading and the relaxation exercises were not working.
For the last three months, I have not stopped myself from doing anything. I walk my dog every night. I go in the car with family and friends. I look forward to my friends’ wedding and my wedding, instead of dreading them! I am not going to pretend that I do all these things without any sign of anxiousness. Sometimes on walks I can feel my hands start to tingle and I know it’s time to start counting down. Sometimes I have anxious thoughts about whether or now I should eat before I go out, or if perhaps I should drive myself to dinner… but I don’t let them stop me.
Panic Away has literally changed my life. I am happy, relaxed and excited for things for the first time in a long time. My partner, family and friends don’t have to do everything the way I plan to make myself feel better, we can be spontaneous! I cannot recommend and thank Panic Away enough. I don’t have the words.
By Barry McDonagh, who is an international panic disorder coach.He created the Panic Away program to help people around the world deal with their anxiety and avoid panic attacks – a subject that he is personally attuned to because he himself found that he was prone to these issues since he was young. His hatred of his powerless lead him down the path of finding natural ways to treat himself without having to depend on expensive medications.
