Hi everyone!
Some of you may have seen posted on my Facebook that in February it had been one year since my last panic attack. Although it doesn’t sound like a ground-breaking accomplishment, to me, it is probably one of my greatest and proudest achievements to date! Here’s why.
The definition of a panic attack is “the abrupt onset of intense fear or discomfort that reaches a peak within minutes and includes at least four of the following symptoms: palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate, sweating, trembling or shaking.” In other words, they are nasty, and I wouldn’t wish a panic attack on anyone! Listed above are all the physical symptoms but I would say that the mental side effects of a panic attack were worse for me.
During a panic attack, as well as feeling great discomfort and general exhaustion, my state of mind would begin to deteriorate. Accompanied with feeling confused, I would often find myself saying, “why am I like this” or “what’s wrong with me.” These feelings could last anywhere between 20 mins and several hours. After a panic attack, crying would be a great comfort. Talking to anyone else about it wasn’t an option, so I would attempt to console myself, but it wouldn’t make me feel any better.
My panic attacks made me feel like a burden to everyone around me and this is partly the reason as to why I kept it to myself. It was hard, but I tried, where I could, to have panic attacks out of sight from anyone else. My bedroom or the toilet were the usual places. I do sometimes wish that I had not tried to hide them from everyone. Having a panic attack in front of people would have probably helped me and given me the push that I needed to talk about it with other people.
This leads me on to the main point of this post – talking to people. My mental health has improved beyond recognition down to the simple fact that I started telling people about it. It feels like a weight has been taken off your shoulders once you start to share how you are feeling. Personally, I found comfort in telling all sorts of people; family, friends, my doctor – I found it especially helpful talking to people who I didn’t know. It was so refreshing hearing people’s opinions and suggestions with how to cope with it and has ultimately lead to me having more effective coping mechanisms.
I haven’t had a panic attack in over a year, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t still have anxiety. By no stretch of the imagination has my anxiety gone – it has certainly subsided, but I have reached the point where I can no longer imagine myself not being a very anxious person! But that’s okay. What matters is that I have people to turn to should it get worse. I have a doting family, loving friends and a whole health care system to support me.
One last thanks to everyone who helped me get to one-year panic free. Let’s make it two!
B x
love you <3
ReplyDeleteomg thank you! <3
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