Panic Attack. Influence Of Thoughts And Exercise On Finding Arguments - Self-development

2023 Author: Oswald Adamson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 20:18

A panic attack is a sudden fear that is accompanied by disturbing sensations in the body, a large surge of emotions, and is mainly associated with various psychological disorders. Panic attacks are usually accompanied by a feeling that something terrible is about to happen. They are unpredictable and appear unexpectedly when there is no apparent reason. Panic attacks are not a sign of a serious mental illness. If they are of a regular nature, then we can talk about panic disorder.

Panic attack symptoms

Typical sensations in the body during an attack are:

• Strong heartbeat.
• Trembling in the body.
• Lump in the throat.
• Dizziness.
• Feeling of lack of air.
• Increased sweating.
• Hyperventilation (heavy, rapid breathing).

As far as thoughts are concerned, people who have a panic attack are generally very worried that they might die, have a heart attack, or go crazy. These are typical internal attitudes that should be worked on in order to overcome panic attacks. Often, those suffering from panic attacks misinterpret their bodily sensations as a sign of impending disaster. For example, if the heart beats violently - then this is a signal of a heart attack, dizzy - loss of consciousness, etc. However, for example, it is impossible to lose consciousness from a panic attack. Since during a loss of consciousness, blood pressure drops, and during an attack, on the contrary, it rises.

Vicious circle

A panic attack can begin when a person begins to be bothered by a sensation in their body. And the more a person is worried, the more bodily sensations appear. It is because of anxiety that the heart beats even faster, the head starts spinning and there is not enough air. And thus, sensations can be misinterpreted. Misinterpretation makes your feelings go in circles, gradually intensifying and driving you into a panic attack.

How to get rid of a panic attack?

It is necessary to understand that a panic attack has a psychological basis that can be corrected. In order to get rid of panic, it is necessary to record what the first signs of an impending attack were. Were there any images, pictures, slipping into thoughts during the attacks?

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. At the level of sensations. What's going on in the body?
2. Interpretations. When did you feel this, what was happening in your thoughts? What do you think is the worst thing that could happen?
3. Emotions. How did this thought affect your emotions?

In this way, we reveal a sequence, a vicious circle of attack.

The influence of thoughts on your condition

Some people doubt that mere thoughts can have such a profound effect on the occurrence of panic attacks; how can any thought cause such strong sensations in the body. There are two things to remember:

1. Nobody says that the sensations in the body that you experience are unreal. On the contrary, your heart is really beating faster, you are really dizzy, etc. These changes are not just thoughts, they are real. The only question is what causes these changes. Are they really caused by heart problems, or are they with fearful thoughts of a panic attack?
2. If you look at everyday situations, you will easily notice that in reality, thoughts play a huge role. The simplest example: when you watch a good movie, you experience positive emotions, a horror movie can scare you, it can cause heart palpitations, muscle tension, etc., and a sad movie can make you cry and feel sad along with the characters in the movie. These emotions arise in you despite the fact that this is just a movie that is not reality.

Thus, the main factor influencing the sensations in your body and provoking panic attacks is your thoughts. In order to get rid of panic attacks, you need to examine your thinking and trace where your feeling of panic begins. To be more effective, you need to write down all the thoughts that you have about and during panic attacks, since it is much easier to stay clear by writing down thoughts on paper than just thinking them. After you have written down your thoughts, you need to make the pros and cons that they are correct.

For example, during a panic attack, you thought that you were going to have a heart attack. Ask yourself the question, "What proves this will happen?" The evidence must be strong enough to be taken into account. However, you should beware of being categorical in your judgments. No one can know for sure that there will be no heart attack or any other physical problem.

The main thing here is not one hundred percent certainty, but to understand which scenario is most likely, in this case during a panic attack. Therefore, you can ask yourself: “Does what I am experiencing really indicate a heart attack, or is it just a feeling similar to it? Remember that most serious physical illnesses have nothing to do with the symptoms that come with a panic attack.

By doing regular argument-seeking exercises, you will learn to control your thoughts, significantly improve your well-being, and minimize the risk of panic attacks.