FEAR of FEAR- A repeated circle!

I know why and when i get panic attacks. Trying to trick myself out of it is not the best solution. When you have a phobia of being scared its like being terrified in a room with no doors for an exit. all you can do at that moment is to get comfortable being in that room. Same with the panic attacks. If you panic over panicking it will just make you run around that empty room with no exits until your tired. There never will be an exit. All that must happen is that you have to change scenario. The room with no exits should not even exist in the first place. The same way it was triggered in an instance, the same way it should disappear.

I had tried everything, Psychiatrists, various psychologists, hypnotherapies, meditation and so on. All these just feed my panics and make them more present in my life. It has stopped me from doing many things such as going to cinemas, having fear of planes, dont want to go for coffee or restaurants etc. Not because I feel anxious in those situations, just because i had a panic at those areas and automatically each time i was going to do it again i thought i might have a panic and then i did.

I seem to be abit on the Opposite side of panics. I dont panic attacks when im with many people or in crowded places. I actually feel safer with more people around. although, I panic when im one to one person that maybe i dont know well or even if i do. This is because when i panic i need to leave the room and be alone, whereas i feel uncomfortable to leave the other person alone at the restaurant or cinema. The reason i panic at these situations is because i dont want to panic at those situations! Theres alot to it but I don't want to tire anyone with my ongoing personal thoughts.

So for me its just a circle of recurrent thoughts of not wanting to panic at certain situations and for certain reasons. Everybody has their own reasons.

I always thought that my panic disorder would be cured if I forgot I ever had one. What are your thoughts on this? Does anybody feel the same?

Thanks for this!

I don't think that I would cease having panic attacks if I forgot that I ever had one. I have had attacks maybe 1-2 times a year for a couple of years before they became frequent. They had no precipitating anxiety, I perceived them as unlikely, and honestly thought for a long time that they were just a result of food poisoning or something of the like (that is probably why I didn't have the fear of them just happening again -- I didn't know it came from me!) Now, I percieve these as "Stress Attacks" -- probably some random manifestation of stress at the time, not really a panic disorder.

Now, YES, I know there is a strong psychological driving factor. I have a bad issue with panicking in classroom thanks to a few bad experiences. The fact that I can do other things such as work and leave the house without elevated anxiety (elevated from my base, I can still be very anxious) proves that my issue with classes is my own adopted fear I have to cope with.

I think all psychiatric/psychological disorders have a positive feedback loop we must destroy. For example, when you are depressed, you easily get depressed because you are depressed. You feel like a failure, stop doing things that help you feel happy or satisfied, and cut yourself off from friends -- thus, more depression! Stress tends to breed its own stress as well.

Welf, i kinda get your point. Everyone says to think of the worst case scenario when u panic. Ok, i can think of some pretty awful stuff, that doesnt help! I am afraid of the fear. We cant really change the future, but worrying about it negatively affects us presently. I'm not sure if im making a whole lot of sense, i have been up all nite. Good luck!

I agree with you Odee, I believe fear or anxiety is the most adaptive thing once it gets involved with your perception. it can be situated anywre even if its not a threatening situation or we have never been anxious about the situation before!

Getting it out of our conscience as thretning or stressful is were the real problem lies. I think the more we try to deal with it the worse it gets as we give greater attention to it. But trying not to give attention to it may be even worse than that in the first place as your trying to avoid the thought of it. I guess for you as you do not expect it it may be different, but for me i believe i cause it through my thoughts. I never used to be an anxious person before my panic attack and so maybe thats the reason i believe that if i forgot i had this i would never construct a building of situations were it may happen again.

I agree with wat yous said about the addition of stress and depression as one act leads to another. I think the positive feedback loop you are talking about should not be destroyed it should be accepted understood and let it pass as many other things do. We anxious people seem to be so stigmatised by it that we do not seem to accept these things..

Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.
~Eckhart Tolle

Thinking of the worst case scenario will make me experience it:P i am abit of a hypocondriac. You are making sense to me redbandit! We really do have to learn to stop the negative thinking and stress out for things that we think might happen! We'll come around eventually maybe one day it will all dissappear such as the way it all appeared

I do expect my panic attacks, now. Now they are frequent and expected, I have generalized anxiety most of the time. I was never a highly anxious person until two years ago, when the GAD and panic has been harsh. The first anxiety attacks I had were isolated cases that I didn't realize were panic attacks and I did not have GAD -- and I think one of the reasons I never adopted a fear of them that could make them happen was because I never knew they were stress induced. They were unpleasant and intense, but in the end it was like "whew, that was weird, moving on now."

I still think panic attacks would happen out of stress even if I didn't fuel the positive feedback loop, but I still know that my fear of them, tied to particular situations, worsens it. I help cause my attacks as well.

I love this!

I like your metaphor of describing a panic attack like being in a room without exits. That's exactly how my panic attacks felt like. I had my first panic attack 16 years ago. It was the result of breaking up with my then fiance. Then I didn't have one for a very long time. Then I started having them in 2004. They were infrequent. Therapy and medication management helped me deal with my panic attacks much better. I haven't had a panic attack in a long while. I know my mental illness is due to past trauma in my life. Healing those wounds helped tremendously. Also I have learned to deal with my panic attacks much better these days. They are much shorter now. Therapy helped a lot.

Glad to hear therapy and medication have helped you and the fact that you are in a better place in regard of panics now. Well done for getting by and better over the years. Ofcourse healing past wounds does help alot but panic attacks are so intense that they create new wounds themselves! Maybe thats y after a first panic people may develop an anxiety disorder. Thanks for your comment! Take good care!

I understand, after living with a harsh period of GAD it seems its pretty tough to be able to go back to the normal anxiety levels we had before. Maybe il try thinking back to where i might have had a panic attack before knowing it was one. I can recall being very depressed but i think my first panic attack was also the reason i developed panic disorder!

lets hope for the best!

There are some really good self-help measures you can take to help with panic attack. That doesn't take away from it being stressful and hard. You might want to google empirically supported techniques for panic disorder. That might help.

I also feel my 1st panic attack caused my GAD. It caused
My over analyzing of what was wrong. Continues today.
PG

I read an excellent psychiatrist's view about anxiety
being a 'Transference'. A transference,that is,from
when we were children and having any kind of fear
of our parents--even fear of talking back to them,
then transferring that fear on to the world at large.
And another doc altogether,re your panic,recommends 'reverse psychology'. That is,
do the opposite of what you are habitually doing.
I.E. With a friend or relative you can trust, take
them to a place you would normally panic, only
the purpose is to: SHOW THEM HOW GOOD
OR SEVERE YOU CAN MAKE YOURSELF
PANIC! "OK,I'm going to show you how easy it is
for me to panic/get uptight/anxious, watch this."
Get the point? Hope it helps.
Deepest Respect,
BLUEDOVE

Thanx for the post! Good points!

Love the icons!

I've had the same thought. If I could forget about my first panic attack, clear the slate, then back to normal. I'm sure many of us would love to be able to do this!

I believe my first caused by GAD. Many years/tests/meds/therapy later, it continues to stay with me. I'm not backing down, but get frustrated.

Thanks for your post..it made very good points. Thanks also BLUEDOVE for sharing about the view that anxiety could be a form of transference. It really gave me some things to think about for my next pa : ))
I can relate to you. I feel like I have exhausted my options. Whether I imagine the worst case scenario; try to keep myself distracted; try coping techniques..in the end I still have a panic attack and/or I faint. On some days it doesn't seem to bother me at all to go outside, while on others I can't leave my room. I'm sorry that you are going through this, but I hope you are going to find a solution for you. Being here might help you on your way