My first actual crippling attack

[BrookeLynnnn]

It just hit me yesterday.. I was picking my brain & wondering why I couldn't be alone.. Then it hit me:

My first attack that kicked me on my ass a couple years ago was when I was at work alone. I worked at Papa Murphys & I was a supervisor so I would get left alone for an hour almost every shift. One day, it got busy & I was all alone. BAM, panic attack. I had other things going on in my life that were stressing me out but this particular moment brought on the attack. I kept having them after this. Even when I wasn't alone.

So, now I know why I choose to not be left alone. Idk what this helps because I'm still scared lol but now I know why.

[Kuma]

It just hit me yesterday.. I was picking my brain & wondering why I couldn't be alone.. Then it hit me:

My first attack that kicked me on my ass a couple years ago was when I was at work alone. I worked at Papa Murphys & I was a supervisor so I would get left alone for an hour almost every shift. One day, it got busy & I was all alone. BAM, panic attack. I had other things going on in my life that were stressing me out but this particular moment brought on the attack. I kept having them after this. Even when I wasn't alone.

So, now I know why I choose to not be left alone. Idk what this helps because I'm still scared lol but now I know why.

I think understanding it is a step on the road to overcoming it. Being super-motivated to overcome it -- REALLY wanting to do so -- and being willing to push yourself beyond your comfort zone -- is another step. But you might reasonably conclude that you don't want to push yourself too hard, while you are pregnant. You might want to just try to keep your stress level down, get enough sleep, eat a good healthy diet, etc. Then once the baby is born and you can past the initial few months of excitement and activity, you can focus on overcoming the reluctance of be alone, and the anxiety more generally. But I do think understanding it is an important step.

[BrookeLynnnn]

Thank you!! For now, I'm just hiding away in my house with my mom. Lol it sucks.

[BrookeLynnnn]

I also now realize what brought on the agoraphobia..

My ex & I had drove an hour out of town for my birthday last year & as soon as we got to our destination, a panic attack started up. I told him we had to leave. So we immediately turned around & about 40 minutes away, my car broke down. We had to wait an hour for a tow. It was a nightmare. Ever since that day, i couldn't go to many public places. That incident is what originally got me on medication.

[Chiliphil1]

I also now realize what brought on the agoraphobia..

My ex & I had drove an hour out of town for my birthday last year & as soon as we got to our destination, a panic attack started up. I told him we had to leave. So we immediately turned around & about 40 minutes away, my car broke down. We had to wait an hour for a tow. It was a nightmare. Ever since that day, i couldn't go to many public places. That incident is what originally got me on medication.


Ah yes, this is a classic scenario, being stuck somewhere with panic and nothing you can do about it. I think you should work in baby steps, try to go out but stay close to home and gradually go farther until you go back to the same place that it first happened. You have to get yourself beyond the fear that it may happen again. People are crippled by anxiety because they fear being anxious of having a PA, in reality these are harmless to you, even the worst PA you have ever had.. Completely harmless. You just have to learn that it won't hurt you and learn how to get yourself in control of the fear. The one main way to do this would be to speak with your therapist (if you have one) and see if they can get you into a simulated panic attack. Sounds scary, I know but basically they will have you in the office completely safe and will have you hyperventilate until you have an anxiety attack. Having it in a controlled environment will allow you to examine it while it's happening and to truly see that it is nothing more than an inconvenience, it won't hurt you. The next thing would be learning how to stop an attack before it starts. You have to learn what it feels like when it's coming (I'm sure you know this) and then make yourself stop. The most effective method I have found is to yell (in your mind) stop, as loud as you can, this interrupts your train of thought which allows you to replace the thoughts with something which will calm you. Getting the process stopped is the key, if you yell like that the mind looses it's drive to panic, it side tracks it, so to speak. Generally the rushing panic will be gone in less than a minute and it will not climax, you may have to do this several times to get it to completely stop but the longer you use this technique the better it works. Hopefully some of this will help, just remember to not let the fear of fear get to you.