Each of us at least once in our lives has experienced panic – a sudden attack of intense uncontrollable fear. What to do if such episodes are repeated? What therapy can stop seizures? The expert speaks.
In a state of panic, we have unpleasant sensations: heaviness in the chest, rapid breathing and heartbeat, weakness, nausea. Often there are disturbing thoughts: “I’m dying”, “I’m going crazy”, “I’m going to scream now.” And although there is no objective reason for fear, the fear itself is real and physically palpable. Our readers share their experiences.
Evgeniya: “I am desperate, I had panic attacks last year. The first was a year and a half ago, but I did not attach any importance to this, because everything went by itself. And then they returned … with renewed vigor. I moved to Moscow, and here it became a very big problem. They began to follow me in the subway too… Every day turns into torture.
Anxiety has become my constant companion, I cannot understand what is happening to me. I am 25 years old and have always been in good health. I try to form positive thoughts in my head, but nothing comes out. Yesterday I came home and burst into tears, I feel completely helpless … “
Elena: “One night I had an attack of fear and anxiety. Then everything seemed to have passed, but a day later, in the evening, fear seized me again. I thought that it would pass, but over time, the attacks began to occur every day. I have already begun to fear the fear itself, that it will return again. I constantly exaggerated it in my head, and thereby caused fear …
I understand that I wind myself up and try to drive away negative thoughts, but it doesn’t work. Fear seems to take possession of me, I can’t focus on anything, I scroll through these thoughts that it will be constant, that I will go crazy. I’m so scared. At this point, I don’t even want to live.
After that attack of fear that I had 3 years ago, I became afraid of everything: I’m afraid to ride in elevators, I’m afraid to watch scary films, I’m afraid of mental illnesses, I’m afraid to go crazy. I began to get hung up on my feelings, sometimes I perceive myself differently.
At the moment it seems that everything is fine, but when I remember that these anxiety states were, then again I start to wind up, to be afraid that the panic will be with me for a long time or will never end at all. And again everything is new, again it becomes difficult, again I am afraid. It’s very hard to live with it.”
Panic disorder
Panic is a kind of vicious circle. A person feels how strongly his heart is pounding, gets scared and concentrates all his attention on the heartbeat. As a result, the heart beats even stronger, and even more adrenaline is released into the blood. And if such panic attacks are repeated over and over again, they turn into a panic disorder.
Why this happens, says the clinical psychologist, director of the Center for Cognitive Therapy Yakov Kochetkov.
Psychotherapy for panic
“Cognitive behavioral therapy is considered the only proven effective method for dealing with panic disorder,” explains Yakov Kochetkov. AND recommends paying attention to the technique “for” and “against”. What is it?
“The patient says that his heart is beating strongly, so he can die from a heart attack. And we analyze the arguments that confirm or refute this idea,” says the expert. But these must be real facts.
When we start discussing the pros, it turns out that the patient’s grandfather died of a heart attack, who had previously complained of an increased heartbeat. This is an important argument on which the patient is guided.
But when we begin to discuss the arguments “against”, it becomes clear that, firstly, unlike the grandfather, the patient is quite young. Secondly, Grandpa had a chronic disease that did not appear out of nowhere, and palpitations were just one of his symptoms. So we collect arguments that allow the patient to understand that his worries are groundless.