Power of Imagination

Posted by Dewa Abi | 23.28

Cure from Panic Disorder not as easy as counting 1, 2, 3….and gone. For me it’s like eliminating memory from your brain until it’s gone. Sometimes when get stress/ under pressure panic comes again. Breathing begins not stable and get confuse.
Here’s some suggestion to reducing anxiety :

1. Change Your Focus

When you get near of anxiety, you may not focus on your breath or focus on what will happen next because of your anxiety. Stay calm, relax and try to CHANGE YOUR FOCUS, for example if you get anxious in crowded street, try to focusing around, the detail of something, the color of cars, the smell around or you can imagine a red traffic light.

2. Use your imagination

Believe it or not, when I get confuse of panic, I visualize entire negative emotion and anxiety of my body move to clean white paper until the paper get dirty of negative emotion/anxiety (do it only in imagination/just visualize). Do it with motion by waving your hand around your head (to take negative emotion and move it to imaginative white paper). Until the paper get dirty and shrink (as anxiety begins to reduce) . Do it until you can control your anxiety.

Coping Statements for Anxiety

Posted by Dewa Abi | 22.33

Purpose: to put a stop to the thoughts that lead to anxiety, and to replace those thoughts with realistic, rational thoughts. Then, when these self-statements are practiced and learned, your brain takes over automatically. This is a form of conditioning, meaning that your brain chemistry (neurotransmission) actually changes as a result of your new thinking habits.

First, use thought stoppage. Be gentle but firm about it.

"STOP! These thoughts are not good for me. They are not healthy or helpful thoughts, and I have decided to move in a better direction and learn to think differently." (You are reminding and reinforcing your brain each and every time you make this rational and realistic statement.)

Then, pick two or three statements from the list below that seem to help you, and repeat them to yourself OUT LOUD each day. (You don’t have to believe them fully yet – that will happen later).

When Anxiety is Near:
General Statements

1. I’m going to be all right. My feelings are not always rational. I’m just going to relax, calm down, and everything will be all right.

2. Anxiety is not dangerous -- it’s just uncomfortable. I am fine; I’ll just continue with what I’m doing or find something more active to do.

3. Right now I have some feelings I don’t like. They are really just phantoms, however, because they are disappearing. I will be fine.

4. Right now I have feelings I don’t like. They will be over with soon and I’ll be fine. For now, I am going to focus on doing something else around me.

5. That picture (image) in my head is not a healthy or rational picture. Instead, I’m going to focus on something healthy like _________________________.

6. I’ve stopped my negative thoughts before and I’m going to do it again now. I am becoming better and better at deflecting these automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) and that makes me happy.

7. So I feel a little anxiety now, SO WHAT? It’s not like it’s the first time. I am going to take some nice deep breaths and keep on going. This will help me continue to get better."

Statements to use when
Preparing for a Stressful Situation

1. I’ve done this before so I know I can do it again.

2. When this is over, I’ll be glad that I did it.

3. The feeling I have about this trip doesn’t make much sense. This anxiety is like a mirage in the desert. I’ll just continue to "walk" forward until I pass right through it.

4. This may seem hard now, but it will become easier and easier over time.

5. I think I have more control over these thoughts and feelings than I once imagined. I am very gently going to turn away from my old feelings and move in a new, better direction.

Statements to use when
I feel overwhelmed

1. I can be anxious and still focus on the task at hand. As I focus on the task, my anxiety will go down.

2. Anxiety is a old habit pattern that my body responds to. I am going to calmly and nicely change this old habit. I feel a little bit of peace, despite my anxiety, and this peace is going to grow and grow. As my peace and security grow, then anxiety and panic will have to shrink.

3. At first, my anxiety was powerful and scary, but as time goes by it doesn’t have the hold on me that I once thought it had. I am moving forward gently and nicely all the time.

4. I don’t need to fight my feelings. I realize that these feelings won’t be allowed to stay around very much longer. I just accept my new feelings of peace, contentment, security, and confidence.

5. All these things that are happening to me seem overwhelming. But I’ve caught myself this time and I refuse to focus on these things. Instead, I’m going to talk slowly to myself, focus away from my problem, and continue with what I have to do. In this way, my anxiety will have to shrink away and disappear.

Source
: Thomas A. Richards, Ph.D., Psychologist

Common Irrational Fear

Posted by Dewa Abi | 22.30

Acrophobia fear of Heights
Aerophobia/Aviophobia fear of Flying
Agoraphobia fear of Open spaces, public places
Aichmophobia fear of Sharp pointed objects
Ailurophobia fear of Cats
Amaxophobia fear of Vehicles, driving
Anthropophobia fear of People
Aquaphobia fear of Water
Arachnephobia fear of Spiders
Astraphobia fear of Lightning
Batrachophobia fear of Frogs, amphibians
Blennophobia fear of Slime
Brontophobia fear of Thunder
Carcinophobia fear of Cancer
Claustrophobia fear of Closed spaces, confinement
Clinophobia fear of Going to bed
Cynophobia fear of Dogs
Dementophobia fear of Insanity
Dromophobia fear of Crossing streets
Emetophobia fear of Vomiting
Entomophobia fear of Insects
Genophobia fear of Sex
Gephyrophobia fear of Crossing bridges
Hematophobia fear of Blood
Herpetophobia fear of Reptiles
Homilophobia fear of Sermons
Linonophobia fear of String
Monophobia fear of Being alone
Musophobia fear of Mice
Mysophobia fear of Dirt and germs
Nudophobia fear of Nudity
Numerophobia fear of Numbers
Nyctophobia fear of Darkness, night
Ochlophobia fear of Crowds
Ophidiophobia fear of Snakes
Ornithophobia fear of Birds
Phasmophobia fear of Ghosts
Phobophobia fear of Phobias
Pnigophobia fear of Choking
Pogonophobia fear of Beards
Pyrophobia fear of Fire
Scoleciphobia fear of worm
Siderodromophobia fear of Trains
Taphephobia fear of Being buried alive
Thanatophobia fear of Death
Trichophobia fear of Hair
Triskaidekaphobia fear of The number 13
Trypanophobia fear of Injections
Xenophobia fear of Strangers
Zoophobia fear of Animals

This is my favorite treatment, easy to do and big effect. Person with panic disorder also phobia has to change his or her mind set to destroy anxiety and phobia. This is simple way to do, make a simple rational card. Bring it to your pocket and read it 8-10 times a day. First write down your old belief, why you anxious and write a rational reason to neutralized negative emotion. My example :

Old Belief :
When I get tired outside home my heart beating fast, I can’t breath, nobody will help me
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
New Belief/Rational Reason :
Nothing to worries, heart beating fast when tired is very normal, a lot of people outside will help if something happen. Breath normally and relax.

Make your own negative believe and new rational reason, read it both,.so you can change your negative mind/emotion to positive mind/emotion. Read it 8-10 a day in 3 months.

EFT simple but effective

Posted by Dewa Abi | 20.57

EFT ( Emotional Freedom Technique) is a simple technique to eliminate worries also phobia developed by Gary Craig. I use this EFT technique in emergency Panic Attack, this technique is very simple but effective, could eliminate my panic just in minutes (10-30 minutes). This technique is doing by tapping on several point of your body.

Second Attempt to Treatment

Posted by Dewa Abi | 20.55

I used to be using medical treatment for just 6 months, and when the medications stops, anxiety and panic attack coming again and again. It was very confusing for me to know what is exacts problem happen to me. So I try another treatment.

Treatment for Panic Disorder

Posted by Dewa Abi | 22.05

What should do for treatment? For frequent panic attack, it better go to mental health professionals (psychiatry) to get treat panic disorder with medications. As usual psychiatry use alprazolam (Xanax) and diazepam (Valium), to reduce anxiety with few physical side effects. However, these medications can be addictive and may impair movement and concentration in some people. Medications can eliminates panic symptoms in 50 to 60 percent of patients. For many patients, panic attacks return when they stop taking the medication.

Cause of Panic Disorder

Posted by Dewa Abi | 21.57

What cause of panic disorder? People with panic disorder or phobia have unusual activity on his or her hippocampus (area of the brain that process memory and emotion). Stress and anxiety could increase risk of experience of panic attack. For example, if a person experiences a racing heart during a panic attack, he or she may begin to associate this sensation with panic attacks. A rapid heartbeat, even if caused by exercise, he or she associate this rapid heart beat as a danger (for example dying from heart attack) and then may then trigger future panic attacks.

People living with panic disorder will developed agoraphobia (an irrational fear of some situation or places that escape might be difficult if panic attack happen), Claustrophobia (fear of closed space) and Monophobia (fear of being alone) . For me I was fear inside elevator alone, go to shopping mall or public space alone, on train alone, in small room with a lot of smoker. When I felt panic attack will occur, I’m going quickly quit from that room/situation. And search some new fresh situation. This is automatically for a person to response from danger (fight or flight response). This is very big mistake to run for such situation, because panic attack might be coming again when person with panic attack on the same situation. So people with panic disorder might be comfort to stay at home, than working outside for traveling or meet someone else.

So why people with panic disorder avoiding some places or situation? People with panic disorder fear of felt at first time that panic attack occur (cannot breath, fear of nobody helping if something happen, fear of dying from heart attack) so they avoiding some places or situation that they think to trigger panic attack

Welcome to my blog. I live more than 1 year with anxiety and panic disorder. People with panic disorder living with anxiety and discomfort living.

Panic disorder is mental illness that people living with panic disorder experiences repeated, unexpected panic attacks and persistent anxiety about the possibility that the panic attacks will recur (irrational response of heart beating fast, fear that cannot to be handle like someone without panic disorder). Panic attacks may last from a few minutes to several hours. From my experience it occurs abut 30 minutes until 2-3 hours, and it comes without warning. Several symptoms before panic attack are racing heartbeat, discomfort of breath, shortness of breath, feel anxious or fear about something happen in the future (when being alone, fear of dying and nobody will help or dying from heart attack), losing control and going crazy