Advice on exposure, what should I do if I have panic attack?

[Ambition]

Hi
I've been waiting nearly 4 months for intense CBT referral for anxiety attacks and agoraphobia.

In the meantime I've been trying self help techniques such as exposure.

Last week I drove 4 miles to a beach car park without having a panic attack or high anxiety and was ok. I had a feeling of accomplishment and success :)

Today I did the same route and just as I approached the beach car park, started getting an immense feeling of anxiety and unreality feelings :( so I drove back home quickly and felt ok when I got back on the main road and almost normal within a few minutes, knowing that I was on the return leg.

I feel so demoralised that I almost had a panic attack and feel I may avoid doing that exercise again.

What should I have done? I remember my last therapist said I should just stay put at point of highest anxiety and wait until my anxiety drops by 50%.

Should I have done that? Even though the panic may have incapacitated me and stopped me being able to get home. Should I continue doing that same exercise until habituation and desensitisation reduce my agoraphobia over all.

Any advise please?

[Ryker]

By turning round and going back what you do is accidentally reinforce the panic situation by 'negative reinforcement'.

The therapist is right. You need to relax through the attack, at least until you're feeing better and then returned, or even better carried on a little further.

You're doing great. Don't worry.

We do that all the time. I would be ok going out to a few places, then one time, bam, panic all over and you feel like all the hard work was wasted. It wasn't. It just takes time.

Go and do the same journey again. Get to where you turned around before. Stop. Do your relaxation. And then go just a little further. That's victory, and another nail in the coffin for your agoraphobia.

[gypsylee]

Hi
I've been waiting nearly 4 months for intense CBT referral for anxiety attacks and agoraphobia.

In the meantime I've been trying self help techniques such as exposure.

Last week I drove 4 miles to a beach car park without having a panic attack or high anxiety and was ok. I had a feeling of accomplishment and success :)

Today I did the same route and just as I approached the beach car park, started getting an immense feeling of anxiety and unreality feelings :( so I drove back home quickly and felt ok when I got back on the main road and almost normal within a few minutes, knowing that I was on the return leg.

I feel so demoralised that I almost had a panic attack and feel I may avoid doing that exercise again.

What should I have done? I remember my last therapist said I should just stay put at point of highest anxiety and wait until my anxiety drops by 50%.

Should I have done that? Even though the panic may have incapacitated me and stopped me being able to get home. Should I continue doing that same exercise until habituation and desensitisation reduce my agoraphobia over all.

Any advise please?

I don't know much about this technique (it sounds like Claire Weekes?) so I can't really say what you should've done.

But I wanted to say good on you for trying and helping yourself while you wait! Please try not to feel demoralised.. You had a successful trip last week and you will again :)

All the best to you,
Gypsy x

[Ryker]

When I help people I know with phobias, I always break the news first that they're actually ADDICTED to the pleasure, or release, obtained by escaping from the fear and getting back to a safe place.

Your brain is so addicted to it, that it creates irrational fears as required, for you to escape from. I know this takes some serious amount of swallowing but it's true.

The fix is to not allow your brain to have that negative reinforcement when you get close to a panic situation. If you can pick a place where you know you'll reliably feel that 'buzz' of anxiety and go there, and feel what you were expecting, and enjoy the sensations rather than run from them, you are winning.

You've absolutely got to wean yourself off that 'escape'. When you do that, your brain will give in and stop playing silly bugger games.

[JustAnotherMe]

No-one "fixes" their anxiety overnight. Sometimes you will have crap days when you try to push it. Just keep on trying, like you said the first time you managed it and that was a great feeling. Every time you pick yourself up and try again, you are proving to yourself that you can do this, that it can't beat you. No quick fixes but each step forward is a major victory. Each time is a positive reinforcement to build upon.

Keep it up! :)

[jon mike]

Hi
I've been waiting nearly 4 months for intense CBT referral for anxiety attacks and agoraphobia.

In the meantime I've been trying self help techniques such as exposure.

Last week I drove 4 miles to a beach car park without having a panic attack or high anxiety and was ok. I had a feeling of accomplishment and success :)

Today I did the same route and just as I approached the beach car park, started getting an immense feeling of anxiety and unreality feelings :( so I drove back home quickly and felt ok when I got back on the main road and almost normal within a few minutes, knowing that I was on the return leg.

I feel so demoralised that I almost had a panic attack and feel I may avoid doing that exercise again.

What should I have done? I remember my last therapist said I should just stay put at point of highest anxiety and wait until my anxiety drops by 50%.

Should I have done that? Even though the panic may have incapacitated me and stopped me being able to get home. Should I continue doing that same exercise until habituation and desensitisation reduce my agoraphobia over all.

Any advise please?


Don't feel demoralised when you are trying to get through it,
Well done for pushing yourself, it just takes time but eventually
The fear will subside, it's just thoughts and feelings remember that they
Cannot hurt you, well done keep at it and eventually it'll be fine for
You

[aml0017]

yes, you do need to just relax and keep going. Keep telling yourself the fear is not real, there are just thoughts. So running away to a safe place is comforting in the short term, but what are you really safe FROM? At the moment you were having the attack, the car park seemed so scary. But as panic attacks don't last forever no matter how bad they are - what if you had just pulled over and breathed through it in the car? Talked to yourself and reminded yourself that it is all in your head? Once it passed, would it have been so scary? Probably not. Maybe you would feel a sense of accomplishment knowing you got through it. The car park wouldn't be so scary anymore.

I'm not saying that it will magically go away overnight but if you continue to give in to habit and go back to your cocoon you will never make progress. There is a point that you just have to get through it and know that it will not kill you.

[ashly1221]

Hi
I've been waiting nearly 4 months for intense CBT referral for anxiety attacks and agoraphobia.

In the meantime I've been trying self help techniques such as exposure.

Last week I drove 4 miles to a beach car park without having a panic attack or high anxiety and was ok. I had a feeling of accomplishment and success :)

Today I did the same route and just as I approached the beach car park, started getting an immense feeling of anxiety and unreality feelings :( so I drove back home quickly and felt ok when I got back on the main road and almost normal within a few minutes, knowing that I was on the return leg.

I feel so demoralised that I almost had a panic attack and feel I may avoid doing that exercise again.

What should I have done? I remember my last therapist said I should just stay put at point of highest anxiety and wait until my anxiety drops by 50%.

Should I have done that? Even though the panic may have incapacitated me and stopped me being able to get home. Should I continue doing that same exercise until habituation and desensitisation reduce my agoraphobia over all.

Any advise please?

The best thing that worked for me was just to sit tight. I had a panic attack in the grocery store once - Superstore to be exact (which is pretty big)- and it was awful. I had a cart full of things and before therapy I would have just left the cart and walked out. But because of therapy I kept going. It sucked A LOT and I thought I was going to faint, I felt like everyone knew what was going on with me and got even more worked up, it was horrible, but I stayed anyways and kept shopping and tried to concentrate on other things, like my grocery list and where I needed to go in the store next to get the next thing on the list. It was hard, but I did it and when I left the store panic attack free I felt very accomplished. I also once had a MASSIVE panic attack at a funeral! Like while I was sitting in the church pew while the ceremony was going on, I obviously couldn't just get up and walk away, so I had to stay put. I remember feeling my heart rate climb and feel my heart pound harder and harder and I just thought to myself - I will be ok, it's a panic attack, it will go away soon- luckily that time my brother was sitting next to me so he grabbed my hand and tried to help calm me down because he knew exactly what was going on, probably because my heart was pounding so hard he probably felt the vibrations through the bench!!! I always seem to feel a relief after a panic attack, like having a panic attack is a way for me to release built up stress and anxiety, I always feel lighter in a sense afterwards. I'm not sure if it is the same for everyone else, but that's how it is for me. Just stick it out, or try to with the panic attacks. Try pushing yourself to sit with the feeling longer each time, once you can sit out a panic attack, you're pretty much over it because you've owned it by then. Other things I used to do was run in one spot. Sounds crazy, but it was basically me tricking myself into thinking my heart was working so hard because I was running in one spot. Then it would get a little better. Everything works different for everyone and everyone has great pointers on here. Just try them out and see what works for you. Best of luck!

[PanicCured]

Hi
I've been waiting nearly 4 months for intense CBT referral for anxiety attacks and agoraphobia.

In the meantime I've been trying self help techniques such as exposure.

Last week I drove 4 miles to a beach car park without having a panic attack or high anxiety and was ok. I had a feeling of accomplishment and success :)

Today I did the same route and just as I approached the beach car park, started getting an immense feeling of anxiety and unreality feelings :( so I drove back home quickly and felt ok when I got back on the main road and almost normal within a few minutes, knowing that I was on the return leg.

I feel so demoralised that I almost had a panic attack and feel I may avoid doing that exercise again.

What should I have done? I remember my last therapist said I should just stay put at point of highest anxiety and wait until my anxiety drops by 50%.

Should I have done that? Even though the panic may have incapacitated me and stopped me being able to get home. Should I continue doing that same exercise until habituation and desensitisation reduce my agoraphobia over all.

Any advise please?

Try this, but modify it for when you drive, Obviously don't close your eyes when you drive:

http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showthread.php?9512-The-Quick-Guide-to-Stopping-Panic-Attacks