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For those who’ve read my previous article, Panic Attacks and Anxiety: Derealization and Depersonalization - You Aren’t Going Crazy!, this is the perfect follow-up scoop. But if you’ve yet to read it, not to worry, there’s still much to be learned here.

Now, in review, derealization and depersonalization all too often accompany panic attacks and anxiety. In general terms, derealization is a frightening feeling of detachment from one’s external environment, and depersonalization is an equally as frightening sense of detachment from self. Both can be absolutely crippling and take you to the turnstiles of your perception of insanity.

I believe many researchers and theorists would concur that within the context of panic and anxiety, derealization and depersonalization may well be the mind’s self-protective reaction to the ultimate perceived state of overload. See, it goes like this – when the mind feels it’s mega-overwhelmed it flips the switch on a perceptual filter, believing even the slightest additional bit of in-coming stimuli may lead to various degrees of psychic meltdown. Within this theoretical framework, it’s all about the mind in a powerful state of defense, doing all it can to give itself a fighting chance to sort and process that with which it’s already wrestling. So it only makes sense that it tries to survive by inhibiting and prohibiting fresh sensory messages streaming in from one’s immediate internal and external experience. And the resultant mind states are dominated by derealization and depersonalization.

Now, as we approach delivering a knockout punch to derealization and depersonalization it’s important to always keep in mind that, as I said in the previous paragraph, both of these sensations are born of the mind’s effort to protect itself. And the very cool thing about this notion is it leads us to the unique understanding that the mind has – well – a personality of its own. Furthermore, this personality is all too often negatively impacted by the mind being overwhelmed and in great mental and emotional pain. To me, this brings to the fore a “personality of mind,” giving the hellish protection-generated sensations of derealization and depersonalization rather a bit of softness and gentleness, making them seem so much less treacherous. I mean, it’s like the mind is this living, feeling being that actively communicates with us, so often asking for help. And we, in turn, have the opportunity to provide compassion and relief.

Alrighty then – so let’s move on to what one can do to make these horrifying, but now familiar and much less terrifying, phenomena go bye-bye. First of all, if one is willing to accept derealization and depersonalization as mind-protecting phenomena, it only stands to reason that their appearance – more importantly, disappearance – will be greatly influenced by our ability to maintain balanced and tolerable loads in our mental/emotional wheel barrel. And this is accomplished by stress management, which is so often driven by how we monitor and adjust our processes of thought. Now, of course, in many cases high levels of stress, and resultant anxiety, can’t be avoided – that’s just life. But we still hold the ability to manage their intensity and fallout by keeping tabs on how we think and subsequently react. It’s a matter of maintaining enlightened perspective and calm as our reasoned powers of interpretation have time to take the stage after the panic alarms have sounded.

Allow me to reiterate, there’s no doubt that the best first strategy to keep derealization and depersonalization at bay is to do all we can to maintain management over our stress and anxiety levels. Whether it’s through relaxation, visualization, diet, guided imagery, exercise, job or school change, relationship change, lifestyle change, therapy – or my techniques of interpreaction, interpreversal, S.A.I.L., S.P.A., I.A.M. not F.E.A.R. – whatever – we must do what it takes to stay self-managed on a day-in and day-out basis. If we do this, not only will we be able to keep derealization and depersonalization at arm’s length, but should they strike and the alarms sound, we’ll be able to cruise our way past any exaggerated and inappropriate reactions. See – it’s our misinterpretations and overreactions that cause the problems, not derealization and depersonalization. How ‘bout that thought?

And as we’re approaching all of this, let’s not dismiss the concept of the mind having a personality and its expression of its need for “some love” through the frightening sensations of derealization and depersonalization. To me, as we accept this seemingly strange notion we apply a very soothing balm upon a potentially fevered mind. And this very much relates to the concept of mindfulness – a clear-minded, in-the-present-moment, self-observational technique that emphasizes viewing self as an outside observer – without criticism or judgment.

Okay – but let’s say in spite of our self-management efforts, derealization or depersonalization make a surprise visit. Ya’ ready? First and foremost – just stop whatever it is you’re doing. If you’re driving, pull over when you can. If you’re in a meeting, take a break. Heck – take a walk, if you’d like. Now, take a few full abdominal breaths, and as you take them immediately tell yourself that the one and only thing happening right now is your mind telling you it’s operating on overload and needs a little help. It’s talking with you, and that’s pretty cool. Nothing dangerous, without a reason, or permanent is happening to you. And since you know what’s going on, and why, take some time to communicate with your mind, letting it know you’re there for it and will do whatever it takes to provide aid and comfort. Visualize your mind as if you’re looking at it from outside of your physical self (a healthy “out-of-body” experience). And as you do, visualize your mind very nicely calming down. Simply open yourself to a spirit of insight and reason, as you employ relaxation techniques, guided imagery, visualization, the strategies I’ve mentioned before, or anything that’s worked for you in the past. And as you’re keeping yourself together, know that as soon as you get your sea-legs back, moving on with your day is the next order of business. It’s this thinking and believing that keeps the alarm from increasing in decibels, and keeps it from sounding in the future.

Yes – it’s this mindset, along with a few victories, that will enable you to function in the presence of derealization and depersonalization, allowing you to explore these uncomfortable states, accumulating insight along the way. And I’m betting you’ll find that this philosophy, as well as time-proven strategies and techniques, will keep these icky sensations at bay – period. It’s all about making peace with derealization and depersonalization - indeed, making the best of an initially perceived unpleasant situation. I mean, who knows what kind of inner secrets could be unveiled upon exploration of our altered states of perception and consciousness. And I’ll tell you this – establishing a level of insight and comfort with a nemesis is a great way to remove any potential threat. But, make sure you identify the true nemesis. In this case, it’s not derealization and depersonalization, rather our misinterpretation and overreaction to a foreign perceptual experience.

From tons of experience I can tell you that you must ride out episodes of derealization and depersonalization. As was said earlier, if and when they pop onto the scene, acknowledge they’re there and calmly tell yourself they’re not a permanent state of consciousness and will shortly pass – that is if you stay cool. Remind yourself that your mind is overloaded and it’s talking with you, asking for a little help. And do a friend a favor. Just use any intervention strategy and technique you’ve come across, including those presented in my book, and go on about your business and your day, as no one will have a clue as to what you’re going through. I’ll go you one better. I’m challenging you to welcome derealization and depersonalization as they arrive, and dive right in to some intrapersonal exploration in their presence. Wouldn’t that be an interesting twist? And how disarming would it be to the all out dread and fear these sensations traditionally generate.

Ah – the mysteries and miseries of derealization and depersonalization. Nothing with which we can’t peacefully coexist. Go get ‘em, tiger!

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panic attacks self help information No Comments December 11th, 2009

Here is another article on panic attacks self help that you may find useful

This article will help you start the process of overcoming anxiety disorder and panic attacks.For me overcoming panic attacks was very difficult. I have suffered from anxiety disorder for many years and that is why I dedicated much of my time researching for the most effective ways to overcome these terrible attacks. Now my mission is to share my knowledge and help other sufferers to cure their anxiety and stop the fears in their life.Panic attacks can be very frightening. You feel like you are losing control over your body and you can’t do anything about it. Your body is reacting like you are in a real danger even if you are physically safe. Most of the people who suffer from panic disorder or anxiety usually try to avoid social situations because they afraid that the stress can trigger these attacks. That’s why panic attacks also known as “the social killer”. Please don’t worry. It’s a very common condition (about 5-10% of Americans suffer from it) and there are a lot of great treatments that will help you overcome it.If you need more information about what causing these attacks, how to prevent them or how to eliminate them completely, you can look for my other articles.Here we will concentrate about a few points you need to remember in order to break out of an attack:1. These feeling are an exaggeration of the body’s reaction to stress or fear and nothing more. It’s not real!2. Remember that you are not in a real life threatening situation. Nobody has ever died from a panic attack.3. Stop avoiding social situation. When you avoid them you only increase your fears. Facing the fear is the most effective treatment for any kind of phobia.7. Don’t blame yourself for having panic attacks. Simply accept the fact that you do and think what to do next. Blaming yourself it’s pointless and it will increase stress levels.5.  Don’t try to force yourself out of a panic attack. It won’t work and it will and more stress. Just let it pass by it self.6. Another way is to distract yourself. Just concentrate on your surroundings.Every time that you will overcome an anxiety attack (using these tips) your will reduce your fears and increase your self esteem which will help you prevent future attacks. Make sure you remember and understand all of the tips I gave you here. Keep using them and you will notice the difference soon. Remember that what you have read in this page is not enough. You should keep reading and learning so you can treat you condition as effectively as you can. Overcoming panic attacks is possible and you WILL succeed doing it if you won’t give up!

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panic attacks self help information No Comments December 9th, 2009

Here is another article on panic attacks self help that you may find useful

Here, you’ll discover what sleep panic attacks are, and, how they can be addressed. Sleep or nocturnal panic attacks aren’t harmful, but can be scary. You’ll also learn why it isn’t your dreams that cause these nighttime attacks, but events that have happened earlier.

Somewhere between 40% and 50% of folks with panic attack disorders have attacks when they sleep, although only about 10% of all attacks happen nocturnally. However, because of the circumstances, the symptoms of sleep panic attacks can seem to be more intense and terrifying than during the day. And an attack can seem to last longer for many sufferers.

The symptoms of sleep attacks are the same as daytime attacks; sweating, tight chest / throat, hyperventilation, palpitations, fear of impending doom, fear you’re having a heart attack, etc. However, just as with daytime attacks, nocturnal panic attacks symptoms cannot harm you.

Do dreams cause sleep panic attacks? No. It is known that your dreams don’t trigger nocturnal attacks. Tests have shown that the majority of nocturnal attacks happen in the early phases of your sleep cycle.

There are 5 phases or stages to your sleep cycle; 1, 2, 3, 4, and REM (not the band! but ‘rapid eye movement’). A complete cycle ( 1 thro’ 5) takes around 100 minutes, and then you repeatedly go through the cycle again. Your dreams occur in REM, but the majority of your sleep attacks generally occur in stage 2.

Nocturnal panic attacks occur for the same reason as daytime attacks: a stressful event or situation occurring on top of an already heightened anxiety level, typically someone with an anxiety or panic disorder.

This event can occur some hours before the actual attack is triggered, so something that happened during the day could trigger an attack during the night. This could be any stressful situation, and / or, overstimulation through alcohol and / or drugs, etc.

Remedies are the same as for daytime attacks; medication, therapies and self-help such as; exercise, diet, breathing exercises, meditation, self-hypnosis, yoga, etc. These basically help to treat the symptoms or help you cope better with your condition.

But a critical element in preventing panic / anxiety attacks and curing general anxiety is the ‘fear’ of suffering another anxiety or panic attack. The symptoms of an attack are just so great that the ‘fear’ of another is implanted in your psyche. This adds to an already higher-than-normal level of anxiety, so that when a stressful situation is encountered, a panic attack can be triggered by it.

This cycle of anxiety can be described as ‘anxiety > fear > panic attack > anxiety > fear > panic attack’ and so on. And unless this vicious cycle is broken, you’re unlikely to prevent further daytime or nocturnal panic attacks, and so be able to cure your general anxiety.

To discover just how you can break this vicious cycle of anxiety and fear in order to prevent daytime and sleep panic attacks and so cure your anxiety, please go to http://eliminatepanicattacks.blogspot.com and get your life back on track.

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panic attacks self help information No Comments December 7th, 2009

Here is another article on panic attacks self help that you may find useful

You are in a crowded store with a basket full of shopping. Suddenly you become aware of a slight dizzy feeling and your heart starts beating a bit harder and faster. You realise you are sweating slightly and your breathing has become a bit faster. There is a knot in your stomach and a strong feeling that lots of other shoppers are looking at you. Your heart gets even faster and the breathing does too until you feel lightheaded. It feels like the walls are closing in and you really have to get out of there fast. Sound familiar? If so it may be that you have had panic attacks. When panic attacks become frequent and the worry or anxiety of about having them starts to interfere with normal life, then you may have panic disorder. Here are three trusted methods of self help for panic disorder.

*Avoid caffeine and smoking

Caffeine, which is found in coffee, tea, cola drinks and dark chocolate, among other things, is a stimulant, as is nicotine. They can interfere with the brain’s natural tranquilizers and cause insomnia, and can also makes the heart beat faster. As increased heart rate and palpitations are symptoms of a panic attack, it is easy to see that avoidance of these products could be a very simple but effective form of self help for panic disorders.

*Breathing exercises

During a panic attack the breathing becomes fast and shallow, and this is called hyperventilation. This leads to some of the other symptoms that are experienced such as tingling and lightheadedness. If you can teach yourself deep breathing and try to force yourself to do it during an attack, it will reduce the severity of the panic attack. Breathing into a paper bag can help too (yes, really!)

*Relaxation techniques

Meditation and yoga help the sufferer to envisage stressful situations in the mind’s eye under controlled conditions and imagine a relaxed and happy outcome. This sort of technique can improve self-awareness and self-confidence.

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panic attacks self help information No Comments December 7th, 2009

Here is another article on panic attacks self help that you may find useful

Control your Anxiety Panic Attacks through recognizing the Panic attack symptoms.

You have everything inside you that you to control your anxiety and  attack and the related anxiety. The problem is, often we don’t realize that we have the tools let along being in control to implement that which we need to control the anxiety and panic attack. Why? because we feel so out of control at the time. But the tools are there, you just have to develop the internal skills to use them effectively and we will talk about this latter in this article.

Let’s first look at the barriers we put up that are preventing us from becoming healthy and getting rid of or control anxiety panic attacks and stress. What is it that we do that causes the panic attack? What is it that causes the anxiety, what is it that causes the stress. For lets face it if we delete the stress, we control the anxiety which stops the panic attacks.

All very neat but a long way from reality, isn’t it? Why? Because we need a degree of stress in our lives, we use stress to invigorate our actions and improve our personal health. Excess stress however leads us to excessively smoke, drink or eat. Physical activity drops and a feeling of a general loss of esteem develops as we start to feel bad about ourselves. So balance is the key if we are to stop panic attacks and avoid long term reliance on panic attack medications.

We talked about barriers that cause anxiety and panic attacks. So what are these barriers we build that develop into the grounds for a panic attack. We will look at the three key primary issues that most problems can be brought back to

The first is obsessive negativity.

When you are obsessively negative, it means that you have a tendency toward being “negative” about people, places, situations, and things in your life.

Secondly you have obsessive perfectionism.

When you engage in obsessive perfectionism, you are centered on trying to do everything “just so” to the point of driving yourself into an anxious state of being. You may find yourself making statements such as, “I have to do this right, or I’ll be a failure!” or “If I am not precise, people will let down or maybe be mad at me!”

Finally there is obsessive analysis.

When you are obsessed about analyzing things, you find yourself wanting to re-hash a task or an issue over and over again. I must have forgotten something!” or “If I let things go/don’t do them my self, things will go wrong!”

All sound familiar to you don’t they and the reason why is because we all do them, time and time again. However some people just get obsessed about a certain point and then over analyze the issue beyond all reasonable levels. They build doubts that lead to fear that traps them in a spiral, leading ever down words taking there self worth, their ability and self esteem with it. This results in the development of anxiety and potential panic attacks

Some people are more susceptible than others to stress; for some, even ordinary daily decisions seem insurmountable. Deciding what to have for dinner or what to buy at the store, is a seemingly, monumental dilemma for them. On the other hand, there are those people, who seem to thrive under stress by becoming highly productive being driven by the force of pressure.

What are the symptoms of a Panic attack. There are quite a lot of issues that lead to panic attacks as each individual reacts in a different manner under the same conditions. Many may react in a different manner, under the same set of circumstances, should they be exposed to it again. Let’s look at the key points that cause the reactions within our body to stress, anxiety and panic attacks

Stress is the way our body and our mind react to something, which upsets our normal balance in life. During stressful events our adrenal glands release adrenaline, a hormone which activates our body’s defense mechanisms causing our hearts to pound, blood pressure to rise, muscles to tense, and the pupils of our eyes to dilate.

The principal indicator of stress are as follows;

 An escalation in your pulse rate; (however, a normal pulse rate doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t stressed).

Constant aches and pains,

Palpitations,

Anxiety,

Chronic fatigue,

Crying with out reason or over small issues,

Over or under- eating,

Frequent infections,

Decrease in your sexual desire

These are sure signs you may notice, which indicate you may be under stress and indirectly heading for a possible panic attack. Of course, every time we are under stress, we do not react the same as we may not be under as much duress or fear the next time we are confronted with a stressful situation.

Anxiety, on the other hand, is a feeling of unease within the body usually reflected in a queeze stomach, muscle aches and pains and a lightness in limbs. It is normal to feel anxious when facing something difficult or dangerous and mild anxiety can be a positive and useful experience. Its as we pointed out earlier when we stated a degree of stress and anxiety is good as it improves our performance.

However, for many people, anxiety interferes with normal life. Excessive anxiety is often associated with other psychiatric conditions, such as depression. Anxiety is considered harmful when it is very prolonged or severe. It often appears during a stressful event and continues on after the stressful event. If it is interfering with everyday activities such as going to work or family life it is very important that the suffer of anxiety seeks medical assistance in dealing with the issue.

Unlike stress and panic attacks the physical symptoms of anxiety are caused by the brain sending messages to parts of the body to prepare for the “fight or flight” response. The heart, lungs and other parts of the body work faster. The brain also releases stress hormones. Untreated anxiety is as bad as stress as it will lead into a full blown Panic attack. Such attacks can be totally debilitating and lead to complete breakdowns as previously outlined.

Understanding you stress levels and how you respond under pressure are important to your ongoing health. With this understanding you can make the right choices in the type of work you undertake or the positions you accept in regards to the stress them will apply on you.

Finally anxiety and panic attack medications are now widely available and can be prescribed through your local medical practitioner. As part of the treatment the doctor may refer clients for mental evaluations. Such evaluation will help the individual identify the issues, suppressed or otherwise, that need to be overcome if a full recovery is to be achieved.

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panic attacks self help information No Comments December 7th, 2009

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