Panic attacks

Coping with bereavement
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Any one have panic attacks out of the blue

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I have experienced those in the past fairly frequently when I was full of grief!

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HI
yes i have suffererd panic attacks out of the blue, they are horrible and scarry, i went to my doctor and was given cognitive therapy , this really helped me, i would say to anyone who has them, please see your doctor they are there to help you. :slight_smile:

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Thank you may give GP a call had a couple days after Mick passed but now 3 months later just come in suddenly sometimes 2 a night awful x

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Hi. All you panic sufferers. Panic will not harm you physically, although it may seem to. A visit to your GP is always advisable. But medication can be short term. Maybe understanding why we panic may help. Panic and anxiety always have fear at their base. No fear no anxiety no panic. OK, so I appreciate it’s not easy at all.
The insecurity left by your loss creates ‘danger’ in your mind. The future is so uncertain and looks so bleak. Now our bodies respond to danger in a specific way. Our ancestors have handed down the fight/flight mode. It’s the reaction they had when confronted by a big hairy Mammoth. To fight would not have been an option, so they ran. Your body, when anxious, prepares you for flight. Heart beats faster, mouth goes dry, you want to rush to the toilet to lose weight so you can run faster. Limbs may seem heavy and you may tremble and shake. Sounds familiar? When you feel panic coming take deep breaths and try not to add fear to fear. Sit down if you can and let it pass. The fear hormone Adrenaline, that gets our body in the fight/flight mode, has a limited life if you don’t add fear to fear. Panic always passes. It’s awful and upsetting, but it is harmless. Honest!! We may think we are going to die. No one ever died of a panic attack. I am not minimising the event because I have been there.
The knowledge that this is a perfectly normal response IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES to fear can help recovery. Knowledge is always a powerful tool. Counselling can certainly help.
Take care and, above all, no fighting or struggle with ‘IT’, that’s a battle you wont win. Blessings. John.

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Thank you Jonathan hard at the time if never suffered with them

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There’s an old book called ‘Self help for your nerves’ by Claire Weekes. It’s very old style, but it has a considerable amount of wisdom. I teaches you to “let time pass” and to float through anxiety.
Also, you could find something relaxing and meditative on youtube.

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Thank you Daffy I will look for it x

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Hi. Daffy. My Bible!!! Dr. Weekes was an authority on anxiety and especially agoraphobia and panic. I first got her recordings back in the 80’s when she was going strong. No longer with us sad to say.
She compiled a further book which was published just before she died which is an amalgamation of all her previous works. ‘Essential help for your Nerves’, available on Amazon.
She advocated the four principles. Face, accept, float and let time pass. We could use that in bereavement. We could face what has happened and accept it. We could float through our emotions instead of being fearful of them, and letting time pass means not being impatient with time. All very well but also very difficult. It can be done given the will, as I found.
Very best wishes. John.

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Hi Kim. Yes - clammy, sweaty, nauseous and trembling. They are awful xx

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Hi
laughed at " No one ever died of a panic attack" I have suffered from them but got counselling which really helped. Knowledge is indeed a powerful tool. nicely written. :slight_smile:

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Thanks Jonathan
Reading your post

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Hi. JoMorgan. Yes they are awful but their bark is far worse that their bite. Can you see that when you feel you are in danger, and so many feel that here, danger in the future, the unknown. When that happens your body goes into the 'fight/flight mode automatically. It’a nasty emotion handed down to us from caveman. He had two choices when confronted with a Sabre Toothed Tiger. Run or fight. He soon learned that fight would be useless so he ran. This emotion is all stored in the unconscious and is a normal reflex action when confronted with fear.
‘Clammy-sweaty, nauseous and trembling’. You are sweating to get rid of excess heat so you can run faster, you feel sick and may want to dash to the toilet to lose weight so that so you can run faster. Every nerve in your body is alert and ready for action, so you tremble and shake. Once you realise why this happens it can help. Knowledge is an important weapon in anxiety. What so many fail to understand is the normality of all that. You are literally ‘running scared’ in your mind. Deep breaths and let it come. Yes, let it!! It’s the trying to lose it that causes further problems. ‘Second fear’ is added to the first when you feel an attack coming on, and that perpetuates the awful feelings.
In modern society we can’t run or fight. Caveman would have run pretty hard to escape danger, and once it was over and he was out of harms way, he forgot it and went about his business. We don’t do that. We carry the memory with us. ‘What if it happens again, and in the local store, what will I do’. This anticipation is laying the foundation for a panic attack. Far better to say ‘OK, let it come, I know how to cope with it and if I don’t add second fear it will subside’. Adrenaline, the fear hormone, has a limited life and it must stop after a while, provided we don’t add fear to fear. None of this is easy and I do know, been there.
Take care and try to calm your mind. Counselling can be very useful. Have you had any or thought about it?
Blessings. John.