Thank you all for your kind responses..it makes me feel better knowing that there are others out there who I can reach out to with just a click! How amazing is technology...
I had no idea that caffeine makes the situation worse. I love my coffee, but I never thought it'd make it worse. I'll have to take Pats idea and journal to see what exactly is the problem who knows maybe as Davit said there may be more than one...time will tell.
I'll try my best to come on here and let you all know how things are going.
You are right but it may take quite a while to find the trigger and there may be more than one. What is more important right now is learning how to relax and how to lessen the effects of the panic so you can live a normal life. When you start to do exposure work and later when you simulate panic you will have to know what the trigger is. Listen to Luciana, do the program. Listen to Princess Pat when she says journal. Write down every thing you can think of about every anxious situation. A pattern will show up. And use Me or Texan as examples of what the program can do for you. One more thing stress like caffiene does not cause panic it only makes an existing situation worse. Which is why they should be avoided.
I would suggest working through the program. One of the first few sections is called Understanding Panic. It will give you information on what panic is, and also provide you with homework you can do for recording your anxious thoughts and a form for recording the details of a panic attack.
This is a great place to start. I would also suggest reading the section on Relaxation as this may help you deal with stress in your life.
Hope this helps, let us know how you are doing.
Members, please feel free to share what worked for you, what helped you understand what was causing your panic and anxiety.
Well, for me it was easy...I get anxiety and panic when in crowds, where I feel like I can't escape. I can even tell you when it started, as a child when I was scared in a large crowd. My best advice is to after it happens write down everything that you can think of all the details that can help you make connections. There's a diary you can use with this webiste...so you can use that to keep track.
I belive that the key to getting over my panic and anxiety is to understand it. It's hard for me to see what causes it in the first place. I don't think it happens in specific situations. Last time I felt panic was while out for dinner with some friends, it came out of nowhere, and the one before that was at home during the morning routine. The only connector I can find is stress. I was having some stressful financial times then in my life.
How did others goa bout pinpointing what causes their panic and anxiety?
