On 7 Oct 2006 14:47:43 -0700, "John Jones" <jonescardiff@aol.com>
wrote:
>Be honest. You are not having ANY panic 'attacks'. You have been sold
>snake-oil, indian beads. Your 'panic-attack' is just jargon, a buzzword
>for 'I like to think of some of my bodily feelings are a diagnosed
>illness'.
>
>You like to think you are ill. You like to think you are ill but just
>wacky-cool enough to show some autonomy, like a rebellious patient.
>Well you are not a patient. Don't sell patient, ill, panic attack,
>because I don't buy it.
John,
I consider myself as having panic disorder. But I do not
see (or treat) myself as mentally ill, or sick. 'Panic disorder'
is simply a name given to a type of anxiety which has
more severe symptoms - as a way to help doctors differentiate it
from other degrees of anxiety. I personally do not believe there are
different forms of anxiety, just different degrees.
In my estimation, panic becomes a disorder when it substantially
interferes with a person's quality of life and ability to function. I
say this because everyone experiences panic at some point in their
lives.
I have had problems with anxiety and panic since my
late teens, but never really fully recognized or understood
what I was experiencing. In the last year, my panic has worsened
somewhat. Where once I used to get one small panic attack a week,
just a few months ago I was having 4 - 5 attacks a week, many of them
spontaneous in nature and they were beginning to interfere with my
life.
Despite extreme reluctance to do so, I ended up
starting a low dose (we're talking really low here, 0.75mg daily) of
clonazepam. Despite my reservations about the dependency
benzodiazepines are known for causing, I figured it was a better
alternative than SSRI's, which are notorious for severe and
significant side effects to say nothing of an often hellish
discontinuation syndrome which rears its ugly head when
people try to discontinue them.
The idea behind taking the medication was to break the cycle of
attacks, and stay on the medication long enough until I could access
other forms of treatment. Indeed, Dr. Stuart Shipko, author of
Surviving Panic Disorder, says the objective is to have a patient
take benzodiazepines just long enough to stop the spontaneous
attacks from occurring and get the patient to a state where they
feel secure that spontaneous attacks will no longer occur. Once that
state is reached , the medication is withdrawn.
The drug is working, but I realize at such a low dose, expectation
of benefit (i.e. a placebo effect) is probably taking place. No, it
doesn't completely eliminate all panic attacks, but it does blunt the
few that occur now.
I have since started exercising daily, watching what I eat and
eating healthier foods. I have also started seeing a psychologist.
The things I have learned from my psychotherapy sessions
are the following:
1. Panic attacks are not dangerous. Anxiety is a good thing
because it prepares the body to deal with dangerous situations, and
thereby survive. The parasympathetic nervous system eventually
kicks in to restore calm, and other chemicals in the body destroy
the adrenaline and noradrenaline which are present in a panic
attack - thus explaining why panic attacks are short-lived.
2. Many panic attacks are triggered by fear of having one -
this alone can create an endless loop of fear-panic-fear-panic.
2. Interpretation of what we see and feel often dictates whether
a panic attack will occur. In other words, if we perceive otherwise
innocuous internal body sensations as dangerous or a sign of
illness, or impending doom, the brain will respond accordingly in an
effort to explain the odd sensations. This is one reason why people
who suffer from panic often feel that there is something wrong with
them, even though medical testing has ruled out any physical
cause for the attacks.
3. Unusually high levels of stress often act to lower a person's
ability to resist anxiety. Aging plays a role (hey, guess what, I'm
middle-aged) as do other factors.
4. Once the person learns and truly believes that panic attacks
are not dangerous, and learns to properly interpret internal and
external forms of stimuli, the attacks will diminish if not completely
disappear.
Obviously, other strategies (like slow, diaphragmatic breathing,
which is started at the first sign of stress or odd sensation, not
when an attack is in full swing) need to be employed as well.
I'm at the point now where I am almost ready to begin the
process of withdrawing from the benzo I'm taking. I feel better,
and I'm functioning better.
Although I'm curious, John, as to the method you use to
deal with panic, since you've discussed the issue of panic
at length in this newsgroup but not really elaborated much.
Steve
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Re: Quick resolution for panic? 
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