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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    How can I overcome anxiety?

    Related Topics
    Anxiety Mental Health Panic Attacks
    Hello,

    I suffer from panic attacks, my first one was 7 years ago. After seeing a psychologist and changing some areas of my life I seemed to overcome it naturally.

    About 2 years ago I had another one, it shook me up for months, I was anxious & depressed daily living in fear of having another one.

    I tend to worry a lot now, especially about my health.

    Recently I have began the cycle again, it seems to be I'm worrying about worrying. I'm at the point now where I'm experiencing horrible tension headaches & sleepless nights. Sometimes I'm so wrapped up in my thoughts I'm finding it hard to concentrate at work an making silly mistakes. My confidence has definitely taken a beating. I feel down & in a daze most of the time.

    It's such a hard illness to beat and I really feel for you amazing people who are experiencing some of the same symptoms.
    I haven't tried medication before but I am considering it now. I guess I'm looking for some positive info about them. Thanks :)
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  • 2

    Thanks

    Mariela Occelli

    Clinical Psychologist, Psychologist

    Mariela Occelli is a Clinical Psychologist with well over 20 years experience in the assessment and treatment of clinical disorders. She has worked in private … View Profile

    Panic attacks represent the activation of our body's ‘fight or flight’ response often in the context of stress. Engaging in life style changes to reduce stress and to increase body and mind ‘fitness’ is a good start to reduce physiological hyperarousal and the incidence of ‘false alarms’.  However, you problem is not the panic attacks themselves but the fear that you have developed of having them. The fear itself ironically, increases your body's hyperarousal making that which you are fearful-of more likely. Perhaps you have a tendency to worry a little more than most people and you may have developed Panic Disorder. Panic attacks are relatively common in the normal population. However, Panic Disorder involves living in fear of you next panic attack to the point that your ‘life space’ becomes dominated by a vicious cycle of panic attacks, stress and worry about the possibility of further attacks, which provokes more attacks and so on. Panic Disorder is a very ‘treatable’ disorder. I highly recommend that you consult a Clinical Psychologist to help you understand and break the painful cycles.

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  • 4

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    George Swan

    Hypnotherapist

    George Swan Clinical Hypnotherapist is a real-life example of how hypnotherapy can help bring about extraordinary life change. His first experience with hypnosis and hypnotherapy … View Profile

    The phrase ‘panic attack’ is somewhat scary one. We are not actually ‘attacked’ by anxiety any more than a building is attacked by a fire alarm. It’s important to remember that you don’t cure anxiety as Mariela pointed out its part of our natural inheritance the fight or flight response.

    Without anxiety the human race would never have survived.

    Hypnotherapy can help you reset your anxiety just like resetting an over-sensitive car alarm that being going off by a gust of wind.

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  • Dr Simon Easterbrook-Smith

    Health Professional

    My research interests include immunology and the mechanisms of amyloid formation. The latter has implications for people who are dealing with Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease … View Profile

    I think that the clinical health professionals have offered you good ideas.

    Sometimes (I am not meaning to invalidate your experiences) panic attacks have a purely physiological basis - shallow breathing, which means that the CO2 levels in your blood can get messed up.

    My clinical psychologist taught me this breathing exercise, which has helped me:

    (1) Sit with your hands on your stomach around your navel, fingers just touching,

    (2) Breathe in deeply so your stomach expands and your fingers move apart.

    (3) Count to five and then breathe out so your stomach contracts and your fingers touch again.

    (4) Count to five and then go back to (2).

    (5) Repeat (2) - (4) for about 15 minutes or so.

    This works for me when I (not commonly) get panic attacks.

    All the best.

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