My ongoing experience with Anxiety Attacks

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I suffer from anxiety attacks! I don’t want to make that sound like a final statement because most of the time I don’t suffer from anxiety attacks and panic. It is only when I have let myself get too stressed that I may have them now.

Drinking too much coffee, not getting enough sleep or eating properly or a combination of these can also contribute to my having an anxiety attack. These are my triggers and I have learned to recognize what they are and also how to eliminate or reduce the affects they have on my mental health.

When I am really stressed my anxiety will lead me to a panic attack and I will explain to you briefly how that feels to me. I first feel tingling in my fingers and scalp, I usually am surprised as I don’t usually see it coming. Sometimes I also feel nausea and always my throat is dry and my stomach is upset for a long while, even days. If I don’t do anything about it then it will develop into a full blown panic attack where I feel waves of fear wash over me.

It is not a good experience and note though that I didn’t say it was a terrible experience as I now have learned to stop it in it’s tracks. Also I feel that by saying to myself something is terrible then I am reinforcing that thought.

I have been told that anxiety attacks can be hereditary and was asked about family members but all I can find is that my Aunties were described as ‘sensitive’ or ‘highly strung’ so maybe that is where it came from. I suppose it doesn’t really matter where it came from but how I react to it now.

To me, it doesn’t really help to know that because of my genes I am more predisposed to anxiety attacks, as the bottom line is really that if I get them, I deal with them.

I have found that if I can stop myself from hyperventilating when I get nervous or stressed then I can prevent myself from panicking. This is where Binaural Beat music has been a lifesaver for me. I am lucky that I now have control over panic and it doesn’t rule my life anymore but I do make sure that my stress levels are kept to a minimum if possible.

I don’t know that I would say that I am cured but I sure feel like I have control over my life now. Taking back the power of your emotions is such an empowering feeling. Try relaxation music on your iPod too and see the difference in your stress levels immediately.