Overcoming Panic Attacks

Most people, when we have panic attacks, we don’t know where they came from. They seem to come out of nowhere, controlling our minds with anxiety that make us spiral. We have the thoughts, sometime reeling in repetition, but we don’t have the complete ‘why’. Our thoughts are telling us to be afraid, but most of us don’t have access to the root of whatever we are afraid of. We might know where they come from on the surface, but not the root cause. The voices in our heads live on repeat, creating a surface thought on repeat as we panic.

But, the best way to overcome any hammering anxiety is by identifying the root cause, and, once it’s identified, talking yourself out of the anxiety. It takes a long time to learn oneself this well, but once we understand where the fears and panic come from, and the traumas that got us there, we can learn to utilize these signs we’re giving ourselves by using them to push ourselves, and our self evolution, forward.

As a human with conversion disorder, much of my panic attacks display themselves as seizures. I start to shake violently. Sometimes, if I’m in public, I can focus the energy into bouncing my knees, or shaking my hands. Other times, when in public, I need an immediate escape route — like to a stall in the restroom, or to the car.

Having these seizures has taught me a lot about having anxiety, and a lot about talking myself out of it by focusing on what my thoughts are, and what these shaking episodes are really about.

Learning to talk myself down, and out of a whirlwind, has helped me to learn how to be proactive about my panic attacks, and conquer my anxiety rather than go down with it. If my mind is trying to tell itself where the danger is, then fighting the danger rather than freezing, or allowing it to defeat me, is going to force my evolution to go in reverse, devolving rather than creating myself as a better, stronger human being. In life, if we want to succeed, we need to learn how to use our fears in order to push us, rather than allowing them to make us crumble.

The best way to help the attacks is by listening to them. This does not mean to allow them to hammer you. This means to become familiar with what you are afraid of. The more you know about what you panic over, and why you panic, the more proactive you will be by understanding yourself better. 

A huge part of this is teaching yourself to take a step back when you start to panic, and asking, ‘Why?’ Many people learn not to ask this because we’re taught not to, ‘Borrow sorrow unto tomorrow’, but not allowing yourself to feel your anxiety will only make it worse. So, once you begin to panic, ask yourself, ‘Why?’ 

Allow your answer to be fully formed, and then ask layers of this question, allowing each layer to unravel as an answer until you reach the root of why you believe you are in danger, and what the danger is. This takes a while to be able to do. At first, your mind will want to repeat the first layer reasoning over and over again, and that might feel like the answer. Sometimes, it might be the actual answer. But, keep going until you feel you can ask yourself the biggest question, “What can I do about this?” 

Sometimes, this final question will get many, many answers. That might be one of the reasons why you’re having a panic attack. Your mind, from any trauma, believes it’s in danger, and you can see all of the solutions once you allow yourself to dig into what your root anxiety is. Having many solutions can sometimes throw our brains into overload, and then have us ‘short circuit’ by repeating a thought in our brains.

If your panic attack comes back at you with only one or two things you can do to take action against it, you can choose whichever one you believe will help you the most. Much of the time, it isn’t this easy, but also much of the time, one action can very clearly be the best option, whether you like it or not.

Once you understand your anxieties, you will be able to steer yourself toward taking action and getting yourself what you need, rather than allowing anxiety to cripple you. 

There are always three outcomes to the start of any conflict: fight, flight, or freeze. The more you know what brings your panic attacks, the more you can teach yourself to fight what scares you, rather than fighting the attack.

You can utilize your ear into working for you, rather than against you, to get what you need from life. Allow your anxiety to tell you what is wrong so you can get what you need, and learn to fight for what you need.

Panic is a way your mind and body show fear. What you are afraid of tells you not only what you want, but also what you need. Learning to listen to the attacks will show you what you need in the moment. They can also teach you to fight for what you need in the moment.

Even if you don’t understand the panic beyond, “I want to feel okay,” you’re allowed to give yourself a second. The more you strive to understand your fears, the more complex what you need in the moment will become…

… and, someday, you will understand yourself so well, that you will immediately understand your panic attacks, and you will know why they’re there.

You will also learn to understand how to utilize them, and allow your fears to lead you to success.