Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Imagine it, a 21 year old male who just recently ended a long friendship with an individual he thought he could trust, his mother just lost a good friend to heart trouble, and on top of that has a sermon to give for the first time in his life at his home church…and by the way, everything is happening within a month's time. It's like "Breaking News" if your life was a TV news top story.

Notice that not once did I mention that I took a break, or that a took a minute to breathe and settle down!

One afternoon, I was working in Washington, D.C., where I was involved in a very stressful expensive, but beneficial, internship with a nationally syndicated news / talk radio station. As I was getting ready to go after a stressful day, my wrists were hurting from the carpel tunnel symptoms I was experiencing for the past week, and on top of that the day went terrible because of guests who didn't show up and more!! It was very hectic. My left arm went numb, and I started to get a little nervous. "I thought I was having a heart attack or something" is what I tell most people! Then I noticed my heart beating rapidly, and I realized something wasn't right. I started to feel light headed, and the next thing I know I'm asking one of my co-workers to get an ambulance, and not but a few hours later come to find out that "I was not gonna die….I was fine." But it took a couple of months to really get over something like that. I went to a doctor for a second opinion, and then went for another opinion to co-sign the first opinion I had in the first place!

All signs pointed to simply being stressed and that the panic attack was caused by my stress. I indeed did notice that I was shaking a little more than usual, and that I was nervous about little aches and pains. I of course knew I wasn't going crazy, but that it was simply time to take a break. I even decided to use the experience as a life application in one of my sermons.

The question stands, how do you avoid such a situation, and how do you rebound from such a physiological and psychological event!

First, I had to realize I was not "Superman." I knew I couldn't do it all, and that I was not created or built to do it all!! In fact, doing it ALL is not my job, but that God has provided me a purpose, and a calling to specific jobs to do, and that I don't have to try covering every single job there is! So, I knew I could breathe for a minute and chill!!

Second, know that there is nothing wrong with living!! Go exercise, and do go hang out with friends and family. Do not constantly close yourself into your own world…and do not make "WORK" your "FUN ACTIVITY." Know when you need to stop. If your wrists hurt from working on the computer, take a break, and if your eyes are bugging out from staring at a monitor or a piece of document for so long, go on and take that break!! If your food is talking to you, go on ahead and put that sandwich or salad out of its misery and eat it!!

Third, if you have been experiencing very hectic or trying times all within a short period of time, find time to talk about it with others and also relax away from your usual day to day activities as much as possible. Try doing things differently, whether your at home or anywhere else. Remember, you don't have to do EVERYTHING in your life all at once…take everything one day at a time.

Now, after experiencing a panic attack, some might actually rebound immediately, while it takes others time to get it back together again.

Some ways to relax yourself after experiencing a panic attack is basically to clear your day or days of scheduled activities with nothing at all planned. If you want to exercise, go for it. If you want to go out of town, go out of town! Of course, do make sure to plan around the obligations you have if need be.

It takes time to relax and to get back into the swing of things, and to finally just relax and not worry so much.

ALSO, it helps greatly if you're a "church - goer", both regularly and or occasionally. Those individuals who carry a relationship with God and are focused spiritually, mentally, and physically tend to pick up quickly as far as recovery from ailments such as panic attacks and stress related problems are concerned.