One of the most distressing situations anyone can ever find themselves in, is in the midst of a full blown anxiety attack. It sucks. In fact......It worse than sucks. It is absolutely bloody terrifying. Nothing else will ever give you the sense that you're dying quite like an anxiety attack.
Racing heart
Tight chest
Feeling of Impending doom
Pins and Needles in hands, feet arms and legs
Dizziness
Intense and Intrusive thoughts
....and many many more awful sensations and feelings unique to every anxiety sufferer.
So, it goes without saying, that when you are in the grip of the fight or flight response (which is exactly what an anxiety attack is) the natural reaction will be to want to run away from or fight against the symptoms of the attack.
This might sound nuts, but in order to defeat the anxiety attack you must accept it and allow the sensations to flow through your body without any resistance. I know that this is probably the very last thing you want to do when those familiar feelings of panic begin to arise. Trust me though. Nothing starves a panic attack more than saying to yourself "I am allowing these feelings to consume my body. I accept that they are uncomfortable, but they are only temporary and are totally harmless".
You can even go one step further and say to yourself "I challenge these uncomfortable sensations to increase in intensity. I invite this anxiety attack to get worse". By challenging the anxiety attack you are turning it on it's head. You are no longer feeding it with fear. Anxiety cannot survive where there is no fear.
The moment you can allow the uncomfortable feelings to run their course is the moment you will notice your anxiety fading away into memory. Your anxiety attacks will lose their intensity and will occur less and less until you are left with no anxiety attacks at all.
You deserve to have the freedom you were born with. the freedom to live your life on your terms.
Here's to your success, and your freedom from anxiety
Sam & Ed
Comments