I empathize with people looking to cure panic attacks. Without the right stress training , it can literally feel like the end of the world when an attack strikes.
I had panic attacks over a 6 month period when I was twenty years old.It seemed to have appeared out of mid-air, but after my first experience, I could never fully forget it.One burst of stress no matter how ridiculous the circumstances, and my mind would race to the end-state of a full blown panic attack.That would lead to the stress ratcheting up even higher, and the war would be waged on whether I could keep it under control.
One night at college while up at 4am, which often happened, because I loved to stay up late and sometimes anxiety would keep me up even if I wanted to go to bed, an infomercial came on. It was a 12 tape set on how to beat anxiety and panic attacks.
These cassettes worked magic and my panic attacks were history in a month's time. In fact, other than randomly on airplanes, I haven’t suffered an attack in 17 years.
The course used visualizations and guided relaxations.I did not notice this originally, each tape was a numbered cassette. The one that did the trick for me was a specific guided visualization.
The guided visualization put me through a relaxation phase with deep breathing. Once the deep relaxation was reached, I was instructed to picture a time when I felt safe, secure, and happy. I remember this was a tricky one – not that I didn’t feel those things, but to think of a situation that perfectly summed up all 3 was not easy to do.
I thought of riding in a car as a young child.My parents were driving, I was in the back, and the window was all the way down.The sun was upon my face and I was sleeping with pure content.
Why that moment? No idea. But the combination of being guided to deep relaxation, then fully envisioning a moment that I felt content and happy, it made me feel the best I’d felt in a long time.
What is strange to me, and I still don’t understand why this worked, is that the anxiety immediately ceased to be an issue in my life. When a wave of potential panic reared its head, I was able to consciously recognize it and breathe through it, letting it wash over me. This isn’t to say that I wasn’t tense or that some waves weren’t more intense than others, but never again an attack (except on a flight…still working on that one).
If you are having issues with panic attacks I am sure you are looking for anxiety cures . Investigate guided relaxation and visualization. We have a number of options in our meditation masters network.
