Living with Panic Attacks

You’re sitting in your car trying to will yourself to walk into the grocery store. Anxiety washes over you. You’re cold and hot at the same time with sweat trickling down your back, hair standing on your arms. You finally get out of your car. But as you enter the store, you feel wobbly and like you’re going to pass out. The fluorescent lighting seems especially stifling. The wide aisles, oddly enough, feel claustrophobic. Your breath feels finite, like a balloon floating up to the sky, which you can’t catch. In fact, at times you feel like you’re floating along with the balloon. At times you feel like Edvard Munch’s famous painting “The Scream,” your whole body shrieking. This happens in other places, too. Sometimes, it happens when you’re at the mall or somewhere new. Sometimes, it happens when you’re enjoying a delicious dinner with friends, watching a movie with your spouse or just driving home. “Suddenly your body surges with adrenaline. You are hit with a feeling of dread and impending doom like you are going to die, go crazy, faint or lose control,” said Tamar Chansky, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist who helps children, teens and adults overcome anxiety. She defined a panic attack as the brain, suddenly and out of the blue, engaging the emergency response program like it would if you’re in serious danger. “[This] would be great except that it happens in the absence of any actual threat.” Panic attacks can be terrifying. You might be convinced...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Anxiety Cognitive-Behavioral Disorders General Psychotherapy Relaxation and Meditation Self-Esteem Self-Help Stress Academy of Cognitive Therapy Agoraphobia Antidepressant Anxiety Disorder Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Source Type: news