Dealing with Anxiety,Depression,Panic Attacks

Hello friends...

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I have seriously debated about making this post public because in my personal life I'm extremely introverted and resolve to dealing with any problems privately. Apart from family and a couple close friends I usually don't discuss my problems with others. Because I feel that sometimes people only ask things so that they will know some of your weaknesses and be able to hold them over your head. I know that this sounds really insecure, and I guess that even at my age..I am that insecure girl.




Well, I'll start by telling you that I have had anxiety since I was about 18; I will be 33 this June, so for about 15 years anxiety has been the constant,unwanted companion by my side. It's sad to say but it has controlled my life and lifestyle so much that there are so many things that I have avoided doing or simply made 101 excuses as to why I could not do them. I'm naturally an introvert and I do enjoy being alone for the most part, however I also have to say that I many times avoid social settings because I feel awkward and out of place. I think that I could probably even trace feeling out of place back in high school, I didn't feel smart enough, pretty enough, or even bad enough to really fit into any group. It is true that life's problems and stresses usually make anxiety worse. Although, I have had good times in between the not so good, last May 2013 was definitely the worst of all.

I would define it as having a nervous breakdown, as awful as it sounds to admit it to you who is reading this. Because to a certain level it does make me feel ashamed to feel and to know that my insecurities, issues have broken me so much. I can tell you that it was the worst thing ever, it made me doubt myself so much. I felt like my constant panic attacks were getting worse each time, until I ended up going to the emergency room thinking I might be having a heart attack. If you have not ever experienced anxiety to such a severe level, I should explain that usually what happens is that your mind, negative thoughts take over;essentially it's you fighting against yourself once those thoughts turn into real physical symptoms.

Because my anxiety turned into something that I could not control at all for the first time I resorted to taking medication. This is something that I had always avoided because I din't want to be dependent on a drug. At this point I couldn't walk outside without feeling an extreme fear and feeling dizzy every time.

Sometimes people think, well how can you be so weak minded and not be able to control this? I would have to answer by saying that I don't consider myself weak minded. I have tried to learn, teach myself methods/techniques in order to make myself better. However, once you do everything possible and like I mentioned, it might help at times, but then you know you will never completely rid yourself of it. I have cried,prayed, talked it out, tried to escape, hide out so many times and then it's there. I really wish I could be that carefree person that does as they please without worry to repercussions, but I have never been that person. I am the person that over thinks every situation/conversation, and then over analyzes all the factors. If it were as easy as just not being a worrier, I suppose it would be more simple but this is not the stress free world that we live in.

I accept that I am a completely flawed person, not for my issues and insecurities-rather because my fears have taken over of my potential happiness. To me this is the one most-important thing in life "happiness"; it seems that we should all be entitled to sheer joy of life but sometimes working at being happy gets so hard. I doubt myself so much because I constantly remember past mistakes, memories, what I could-should have done, and what I fear I may never be able to do. I'm fully conscious that my past is gone, the future feels further from my wishes because living the present can get quite difficult. I should clear up that I'm not that dark-depressed person, I love to laugh all the time. But when it gets down to being alone then we have to listen to ourselves and face our problems and simply live the life we have been dealt with. I know that this may be sounding like the lamest post you ever read about, but I'm a real person and I have real problems.

How I have dealt with anxiety & panic attacks over the years:

These are different methods that I have tried to teach myself and practice. Although, they may or may not work for each individual person, they are alternatives that I have used to reduce anxiety and stress. So, perhaps you may find one or two that appeals to you that may help a bit.

1. Eat Healthy:

Yes, it's true! The type of the diet that we choose definitely affects our overall health. In order to be at our optimal health we have to take care of our nutrition.

2. Exercise:

So hard most of the time-but just finding that initial motivation to get up an become active is so important because in return it will give you more energy. It has been shown that exercise with give you all the feel good endorphines naturally.

3. Practice your breathing:

Well, obviously you already know how to breathe! Duh! Practicing your breathing really is a little more involved than just regular breathing. It's much more about learning controlled breathing; which may mean counting down/up when you inhale and exhale and being able to hold deep breaths. It is very important to be able to control your breathing because when you you're anxious or in a panic state your breathing accelerates and causes your heartbeat to do the same. Essentially controlled breathing helps you learn to become calm and prevent further agitation.

4. Meditate:

Meditation is a very simple technique that can utilize very little of your time and be very beneficial. Whether  you are religious or not you can definitely practice this; just take the time to quiet all your thoughts or insert the positive thoughts that you'd like to live by, you can pray, practice affirmations, or visuals.

5. Create a support group (be supportive):

Having a support group is very important. Your support group can consist of close friends, family member, but also and foremost you need to be supportive of what you are trying to achieve. Others' support gives us encouragement to go on, but finally being supportive of our own person gives us hope and faith.

6. Practice positive self-talk (affirmations):

You can create daily positive affirmations that you can practice during meditation or when you need to relax your mind. They can be short phrases to assure yourself that it will be o.k. Simply remember to always make your self-talk positive; we easily doubt ourselves and can be our worst critic. Be the positive person that you need in your life!

 ex. "I am completely calm and relaxed".

 ex. "I am happiness, I am tranquility".

ex. "I am beautiful,I am intelligent, I am enough".

(These are only few examples but you can practice any that fill you with comfort)

7.  Cold water at the end of your shower:

Although, this seems like quite a random and odd thing to do, it actually helps. I don't know exactly how or what it does but I remember reading it somewhere years ago. To do this, once you finish with your shower-just turn down the hot water and let the cold water hit your head for 5-10 seconds. I believe this is helpful with depression.

8. Expose yourself to (new) experiences:

Most of the time our fears lead us to a less than perfect place. Getting ourselves to have power over our fears means facing them. There is no way around that one, you have to take courage and try to do exactly what it is that you are avoiding. Although, it feels like something bad will happen, it's most likely true that you're not in any danger. Little by little try going out of your comfort zone. Also, don't let others tell you that you should be doing this or that-take your time! You will will feel so much better when you see that you have achieved that which you thought you could not! Take courage and conquer the world!!

9. Confront your fears:

This really goes hand in had with exposing yourself to actually experience life. Confronting your fears can initially mean pretending to be brave, to have courage, or even to be happy. Confronting your fears will very much so translate into being able to release your fears. Once you confront your fears you will see that you most likely gave them power to exist,, so take that power back and be yourself, be happy!

 I still struggle with this on a daily basis, but I like to think that I will conquer them all one step at a time!

10. Be happy:

Being happy sometimes becomes something that we have to work at. After, exposing your mind and thoughts to so much negativity you tend to lose that natural cheer. It sometimes means pretending to put on a smile...but if you do it long enough (often enough) you will not only believe it but feel it. You know that saying "Fake it 'till you make it" ? Well, sometimes we have to put ourselves in that position to be able to pull it off. You'd be surprised to catch yourself being negative about your own person all the time. This really means that you need to train your thoughts be positive and perhaps you will feel positive.

 Personally, I am not someone that desires wealth or material things from life. My ultimate desire from life is just to be genuinely happy. Even if that seems like a very basic for other people, I know that for me that is what's important in life!

Lastly, please stay positive,have hope that it will be o.k. It will get better, it will get easier-you will get stronger....you are important, and you deserve to be happy!!