Anything can trigger a panic attack because of the way the mind works. It may seem like when you do something or think something that it is one choice but actually it is the most appropriate choice of all the choices in memory. Just that it happens so fast and below the surface that you think there is only one choice. How it does this is by looking at everything relevant to the situation. Very fast remember, even faster than this computer, and this is a very good computer. Every thought has related thoughts and some are going to be negative. With a panic disorder a person has a tendency to use negative thoughts if there are any attached to the thought you are processing. Remember I said "the most appropriate thought", not the best. So if you are edgy you can look at happy moments and still bring up sad or scary ones if there is any memory that is related to that or a similar situation. Mood and attitude have a lot to do with whether you will or not which is how Mood stabilizers work. (last resort) But you can do a similar thing with CBT techniques. CBT is changing thought patterns so you won't access negative thought even though it is still there. Or if you do, you will reject it as not appropriate. Thereby modifying the choices for next time, in essence changing attitude also and improving mood. This over time allows you to access only positive thought now because positive thoughts are now at the top of the memory pile. So now you know why you do things like consistently hit the wrong key. Or other things. You did it before so now you can do it again. See so you are not going crazy, you have for some usually unknown reason slipped into an unwanted pattern you need to change. Which you can do. Which I have done and which others are doing very successfully. You didn't get this way overnight and you won't get better overnight but you will get better.
This is the best CBT program that I know of. Give it a try. It works.
Davit
I can explain this in more detail but only if you are serious about working towards getting better. There are no short cuts or magic bullets even if they are for sale on the internet.
hmm all the things u guys said are very true and they really helps bt the thing is it happens at a regular basis and sometimes in places like classes or while eating and that time its very hard to keep calm....and also panic attacks do happen sometimes when im trying to recall a good memory frm the past like wat i used to do when i was a kid in the evenings like that....so any suggestions ?
hmm all the things u guys said are very true and they really helps bt the thing is it happens at a regular basis and sometimes in places like classes or while eating and that time its very hard to keep calm....and also panic attacks do happen sometimes when im trying to recall a good memory frm the past like wat i used to do when i was a kid in the evenings like that....so any suggestions ?
I know how you feel. I get that sometimes but then I remember that irrational thoughts are part of the panic system and so I know that those thoughts are not me but the panic. You are not and will not go crazy. It's not easy to remember in the middle of an attack but if you continue to write things down it helps...
That's generally when I panic the most too. When we're doing something productive, it's easy to acknowledge the thoughts and panic are there and then keep going with what we're doing. When we get a break is when those thoughts are more noticeable and there's nothing to take our mind off it. It's also harder to distance ourselves from the panic once it feels like its out of control, but it's not impossible. When I'm really panicking, the only thing I can do is wait until it passes.
You most certainly are not going crazy. Remember that. :)
I've been here four years, a long time and I've probably seen it all and experienced a lot of it so believe me when I say you are in good company. But you probably already know that and you probably know what you have is common. You just don't want it and I don't blame you having felt the same way for years. You can get rid of it, but first you have to know where it comes from and why. I'm going to suggest some things and you can tell me when I'm wrong. This forgetting things is more likely you blocking thoughts or a trigger you don't want because though it seems to come for no reason, I think there is always a reason, often hidden. Quite often a trauma you don't want to replay again. It doesn't even have to be a big one. It doesn't even have to be yours if it affects your thinking. Maybe it is related is all.
The mind is never still, I wish it was. So when it is not busy doing something it has to it wanders (this is the easiest way to describe a more complicated process it does). In the case of us with a panic disorder it wanders where we don't want to and normally don't go. If you never panic when you are busy then distractions will work well for a coping skill. You need coping skills and relaxation techniques before CBT can do much and CBT as this program is based on does work.
sometimes when im sitting idle or travelling and got stuck in traffic i feel like i start to forget everything and lose control and go mad....then a panic attack starts it stays for a while and then i have to think that everything is ok and i calm down a bit....but its getting hard for me to live this way...can anybidy help please
