Can we turn anxiety and panic into a positive experience? Can we transform fear into excitement with one mental switch? I believe we can and I am going to explain how it is done. Anxiety/panic is an experience everyone tries to avoid and run from. Our instinct is to fight against the feeling and find some way to end it quickly so that we can return to feeling calm. All our mental and physical effort goes into trying to feel calm again. I believe however that people get much faster results if they learn to turn anxiety into excitement, -rather
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Are anxiety and panic attacks making it difficult for you to enjoy your daily life? If you’re like most people who suffer from high levels of anxiety and experience panic attacks on a regular basis, you may not be aware of what your “triggers” are. I talk more about what causes panic attacks and anxiety in my book, Panic Away. In most cases, the trigger for panic attacks and other forms of general anxiety are related to physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. Basically, you are more vulnerable to having a panic attack or experiencing an uncomfortable level of anxiety when
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One of the Hardest Things About Having Anxiety and Panic Attacks, is that the People Around You Simply Do NOT Understand How You Feel. You tell them how terrifying a panic attack is and they think you are just exaggerating. You explain the anxious thoughts you have and they remark, “Hey I get stressed too”. You tell them that you wake each morning with a sense of dread, and they say “Oh come on, who is a morning person?”. They simply don’t get it. The weekend is coming up and your partner wonders why you can’t just go out for
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When you’re experiencing anxiety and panic attacks on a regular basis, one of the most important things you can do is practice self-awareness. Being aware of the sensations and feelings you are experiencing can make anxiety and panic attacks that much more manageable, and you’ll be able to find ways to cope with the distressing feelings and experience once you acknowledge them. The physical and mental manifestations of anxiety can take their toll on your body and mind, and can be very unsettling when they appear out of the blue. Some of the sensations can be addressed with medication, but
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If you are usually more of an introvert in social situations, you may feel very uncomfortable – even anxious – when surrounded by extroverts. It’s not uncommon to feel a high level of anxiety in a new social situation, or when you don’t know anybody in the party. Still, there are several strategies for overcoming anxiety in social situations, and some can even ward off a panic attack. Many people who experience panic and anxiety attacks on a regular basis are vulnerable to feeling an uncomfortable level of anxiety in certain social situations. Instead of avoiding the event, there are
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Flying is often an anxious experience for the average person, so it’s understandable that it poses a difficult challenge for a person with high anxiety and frequent panic attacks. I’m going to demonstrate how to apply the 21 Second Countdown to conquer a fear of flying—so you’ll feel confident and safe within yourself while flying both long and short distances. Most people who suffer from panic attacks generally don’t fear a mechanical failure in the aircraft, but rather a failure within themselves (i.e., an out-of-control episode of sheer panic while flying). This is because people who experience panic attacks feel
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One of the more common questions I’m asked is how to cope with anxiety while driving. People have many different fears in this area, ranging from fear of being caught in traffic to crossing waterway bridges. Often the anxiety stems from a fear of being trapped in the vehicle in gridlock traffic or losing control of the vehicle and causing a collision. Needless to say, even though they may have been battling a driving phobia for many years, almost all of the people I’ve consulted with have not actually had any of these mishaps occur. Let’s look at the primary
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If you’ve been diagnosed by your doctor with general anxiety disorder, don’t convince yourself that you have a clinical illness—you don’t. This disorder doesn’t mean that you have a physical or mental illness. Your brain is fine, and your body is fine. You’re suffering from a sensitized, anxious state. You have probably come across this list of generalized anxiety disorder symptoms many times before. • Nausea • Dizziness • Exhaustion • Vision problems • Cramps • Intrusive thoughts • Feelings of unreality and depression • Sleep disturbance • Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank But what do these symptoms really
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There’s a fine line between anxiety and feelings of excitement. Instead of robbing you of your confidence and drive, anxiety can actually motivate and excite you. The following exercise demonstrates a simple way to handle the nervous energy you feel. When you feel anxious, accept the way you are feeling in that moment. Instead of getting upset by the anxiety, decide to turn it to your advantage. You can turn your nervous energy into excitement and stimulation by pretending you have just finished a strong cup of coffee! Just like caffeine, anxiety stimulates your nervous system. Under its influence your
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Are anxiety and panic attacks making it difficult for you to enjoy your daily life? If you’re like most people who suffer from high levels of anxiety and experience panic attacks on a regular basis, you may not be aware of what your “triggers” are. I talk more about what causes panic attacks and anxiety in my book, Panic Away. In most cases, the trigger for panic attacks and other forms of general anxiety are related to physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. Basically, you are more vulnerable to having a panic attack or experiencing an uncomfortable level of anxiety when
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People who experience a high level of anxiety on a regular basis, and those who suffer from frequent panic attacks, often struggle with dealing with unwanted anxious thoughts. These thoughts are typically based on a particular place, situation or thing, and may include worrying about one’s health, fear that a loved one is in trouble, or other fears that limit the person’s ability to make rational decisions. Unwanted anxious thoughts, sometimes know as intrusive thoughts, can become intrusive to the point that they lead to obsessive compulsive disorder or other disturbances that take away from the person’s quality of life.
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When it comes to herbs to help stop panic attacks, there are several options available and it can often be quite confusing when trying to decide which ones to try. To add to the confusion, several herbal supplements come combined in one remedy and are sold as all-in-one ‘cures for anxiety’. After several years of communicating with people who have used various different herbs for panic attacks, I can recommend two herbal supplements that appear to be effective for reducing panic attacks: Passiflora and Valerian. Passiflora (Passiflora incarnata) has traditionally been used as a folk remedy for anxiety and insomnia.
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