Triggers and Modern Life

So what are the triggers? Can they be avoided? Once recovered, will they ever come back?

So what are the triggers? There are plenty of reasons why they can start: drugs, angst, depression, stress, pressure, major life changes, upsets. But they can also start with seemingly no reason. None of this matters. The cause does not matter. Most psychologists have discovered that the reason they start is not important, only the understanding of the attacks themselves. Many panic attack sufferers never know the cause but it hasn't hindered their recovery or led them to have recurrent episodes. N.B. I still don't know what caused mine but I'm fully recovered!

Can they be avoided? No and that's the wrong way of thinking. Let them come, let them happen, let them do their worst, let them 'take' you. Once you fully surrender to a panic attack and feel it for what it is - a harmless bodily response - you'll never look back. You'll be cured. Why? Because you are no longer scared of your body's own 'flight or fight' mechanism. You are safe in the knowledge that it is there to SAVE your life. It has merely been accidentally triggered. N.B. When I sat through my last panic attack, I smiled all the way through it. :o)

Once recovered will they ever come back? Not likely... and who cares? If they do, you know what they are and how to deal with them. Just do nothing. Let it pass. Smile through it like I did. It's a harmless bodily response to a non-existent, life threatening situation.

My theory on modern life:
No matter how much our salaries are, if we shop at New Look or Selfridges, prefer men or women, live in the city or country, like minimalism or modern art - one thing links us all; We are human beings, part of the food chain. Top of it, granted, but in it nonetheless. In other words, we are still creatures on planet Earth. Our bodies have evolved from Neanderthal to how we are now. Survival of the fittest was the only rule that got us here. When Neanderthal man was out hunting or gathering food, he always had his wits about him. When faced with danger, his fight or flight mechanism got him back to his cave safely or out of harm's way. His bodily responses were natural and in balance. I doubt Neanderthal man EVER had a panic attack. Why would he? Life was simpler back then, the only instinct was survival. Neanderthal man wasn't striving for promotion, a better car and lifestyle, struggling to balance home-life with a career, pondering his life and where it might take him. The very thought is ridiculous! Yet it's what we do.
Our lifespan has more than tripled since then, we're no longer concerned IF we survive, but HOW. Is it no wonder then, that our responses are adapting? With no lions and tigers to run from - our senses are instead alerting us to emotional dangers. When you were standing over the sink contemplating the mountain of dishes yet to be washed, you were experiencing an emotion - dread. Simple right? You experience dread all the time; when the housework needs to be done, when that annoying neighbour rings the doorbell, when you have to go to work when all you really want is to stay in bed. But on this occasion your body says, ok, I'll rescue you, you're primed for flight, let's run away! But you don't. The adrenaline courses through your veins but you're still rooted to the spot (or possibly pacing the kitchen floor by now) but you're not running from the life-threatening danger of the dishes. Are you?

The Nuisance of Panic Disorder

...and it IS a nuisance. It can disrupt your life, intrude in your thoughts, prevent you from sleeping properly, cause you to avoid situations and people, places. Make you alter your life in ways you wouldn't have if you were still 'normal'.

How does panic disorder happen and what is it?
Once you have had a panic attack you start to worry when you'll have your next one. This then brings on the next one and so on, so forth. Before you know what's happening, you're living in constant fear and anxiety. Experiencing attack after attack with no sign of ever recovering. You're jumpy, suspicious, evasive. Your thoughts become intrusive, disturbing. You begin to question your sanity*. You may even be depressed with suicidal thoughts. You worry about your physical health all the time. Your inward focus is centred on your mortality. You can't help it, there are new aches and pains every day. Surely your heart must be weaked by the constant strain it is under. WRONG**. All this kind of thinking is WRONG. But forgive yourself. Because you don't realise this but you are EXHAUSTED. Your body has been fuelled with the adreneline needed to save your life for however long you have been 'suffering' from panic disorder. It has been tricked into thinking that you are on the run from something that will kill you or in battle with a deadly foe. As you and I know, things always seem worse when you're tired. If you're living with panic disorder, you are OVERTIRED. Forgive yourself for not understanding what was happening to you. Get some sleep. You deserve it!



*Let me tell you now, if you question your sanity YOU ARE NOT INSANE. Insane people or those with mental handicaps think they are normal as they do not know any different.
**If people knew how thick their heart muscle really was, (and we all know muscles get even stronger with exercise) they wouldn't worry!

Flight or Fight

After you ran from the bull you were our of breath and shaking. Your heart was pounding. But you didn't question your body's responses. Your flight or flight mechanism probably saved your life.

When you were doing the dishes and your body reacted the same way, you were terrified. You thought the opposite, that you were having a heart attack, that you were dying. Your fight or flight mechanism was wrongly triggered.

In the instant between you seeing the bull and turning to run from it an amazing thing happened to your body. Yes, AMAZING. Your lungs expanded to get extra oxygen into your blood. The blood in your body drew away from non-vital organs such as your skin. Your heart beat faster than usual to pump extra blood to your muscles. Your mind came sharply into focus and you knew which way to run. Your eyesight became strongest at midrange so that you could find the quickest way to the fence.

When this same physical response happened to you while you were scrubbing the dishes, your body was fuelled with nowhere to run and nothing to fight. If you had realised this, the feeling would have passed over you quickly. Because you became frightened by it, you made the symptoms worsen. As they worsened, you became terrified. As you became terrified the symptoms came at full force. Probably in waves, getting weaker, then stronger. This is what some psychologists call the fear-adrenaline-fear cycle. In other words, you keep the fires burning just by being afraid. If someone had walked into your kitchen at that moment when you were scrubbing the casserole dish and said to you,"It's ok, just let the feelings pass over you. Relax your body and sink into it. Calm your mind. You've just tricked your body into thinking that doing the dishes is a life-threatening event." At this last comment you'll probably laugh. It sounds so silly! But it is that SIMPLE.

A PANIC ATTACK IS YOUR BODY'S RESPONSE TO A NON-EXISTENT LIFE THREATENING DANGER. Don't rise to it, let it pass. The fight or flight mechanism is there to save your life, to protect you from harm. It CANNOT kill you. Panic attacks cannot kill you. In fact we call them 'attacks' because they are unwanted responses. We don't consider our reactions to the bull to be an attack because it's a positive thing to want to save your own life! But when it happens in a normal domestic situation it's a nuisance. But nothing more. It will go away once you acknowledge that.

Stop Panicking

Scenario 1: You're in a field. It's a nice sunny day. You're looking for a spot to have a picnic when suddenly you see a bull. You know bulls are dangerous. It spots you and starts to move towards you. In an instant you're sprinting towards the fence and hurling yourself over it to safety. The bull is charging, but you're safe. You're out of breath. If the coach had timed you, you bet you would have beaten your personal best for the 400 metre dash. You're shaking and your heart is pounding. Phew. You made it!

Scenario 2: You're standing in front of the sink. It's mid-afternoon and you're cleaning up after lunch. You have a lot of dishes to get through. You're scrubbing the casserole dish when you start to feel dizzy. You feel your heart pounding and are feel hot, faint. You're breathing becomes shallow and your chest hurts. Are you having a heart attack? Maybe you're dying. You're scared now. You're gulping in large amounts of air to keep breathing. You feel you're going to pass out. Your legs can barely hold your weight. What's happening to you?

The similarity between scenario 1 and scenario 2 is that in both cases your body's 'flight or fight' mechanism has been triggered. The difference in these two scenarios is that 1 is a very REAL danger to your life, 2 is NOT. Your 'fight or flight' mechanism was accidently 'set off'.