When Panic Attacks

Imagine sitting at your desk when all of a sudden this overwhelming feeling of doom comes over you. Your hands begin to shake and sweat, your breathing is rapid, your heart is drumming a mile a minute, you feel this sudden tightness in your chest all the while sweat is pouring down your face. You want to scream for help, but it’s as if the words are stuck to the roof of your mouth. What is this feeling, am I having a heart attack, you wonder? What you are experiencing is called a panic attack. The text book definition of a panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear that triggers severe physical reactions when there is no real danger or apparent cause.

I remember my first episode several years ago. I had been stressing constantly about bills, work, my toxic relationship, and all of that stress caught up with me. I remember lying down to go to sleep and waking up feeling like an elephant was sitting on my chest. That was one of the scariest feelings ever! I would often get them at work or whenever I stressed too much! I remember going to the ER for what I thought was a heart attack, but after several test, I found out I was healthy as a horse. The doctor asked me had I been stressing because everything I was experiencing seemed to be caused by it. I remember having a conversation with my dad about what happened and he told me that whatever was causing my stress, I needed to remove it out of my life or else it would remove me. I had to make a conscious decision to eliminate the source of my problems. Once I started eliminating those stressors I started getting less panic attacks.

I use to think that people with mental disorders or some kind of chemical imbalance were the only ones that experienced panic attacks. I didn’t realize that something as simple as stress could be the cause of mine! Thousands of people deal with panic disorder everyday and aren’t even aware of it. Some of the symptoms include: feeling of impending doom, fear of death, rapid breathing/heart rate, sweating, trembling, tingling or numbness, tightening of the throat, chills, nausea, dizziness, and stomach issues. Although panic attacks can come without warning, there are different techniques to help you through an episode such as: deep breathing, talking to a loved one or someone you trust, exercising, focusing on an object in the room, meditating, closing your eyes, hugging someone tight, and etc. Life is unpredictable and you may not always be able to avoid certain situations that cause stress. Sometimes we have to deal with issues head on and face the consequences later. Remember, “What consumes your mind controls your life.”