To Everyone who cannot drive or ride in a vehicle without extreme panic attacks: I used to suffer terribly from this, to the point, that a 10 minute drive seemed impossible. I, literally, wanted to leap out into traffic to escape stop lights. I started this program and learned what my triggers were. Once you know, you can manage it. I had a list of positive true statements, I wrote down, to counteract each negative thought about being in a vehicle. For example, "This is just a temporary feeling. The longer I continue to be in a vehicle, the less the panic will become over time and I will be free of it. I can do this, I'm not going to die.", etc. By the time I went down the list, the traffic light was green and I talked myself out of panic. You have to
believe what you tell yourself or it is all futile; just words. Start slow. Sit in the vehicle for a few minutes. When you feel comfortable, start the vehicle and sit in it, then drive down the driveway and back it up the driveway. Go around the block. Basically, baby steps, so you're not overwhelmed. The more you do this, the less fear you will have. I can now ride and drive in a car on an almost 1,000 mile trip to Florida and back with no panic at all. I can have high anxiety at times, but manage it with the coping skills and relaxation techniques, but it never turns into panic. It hasn't for going on 3 years now. Our minds can talk us into things and out of things. When you get that fight or flight, adrenaline, anxiety/panic feeling. If you tell yourself nothing bad is going to happen and believe it, even if you need to repeat it over time for it to work, eventually, your body will respond to what your mind/brain is telling you. It's, literally, retraining your brain to replace negative thoughts with positive ones, and believe them. One of my triggers was physical sensations, so when my heart would race, my mind thought, "Oh no, my heart is racing, there must be something wrong, so let me panic now." So, when it happened again, I told myself, "Hmm...my heart is racing, it must be a false alarm, because there is no danger, there is nothing wrong. So, I can box breathe and relax and not tense up (which is a sign to your brain that something is wrong) and look around at my surroundings and everything will be okay. My heart will slow down as soon as I relax and everything will be okay." And, it was okay. You have to do this every time, even if it's a million times and you're tired of it and fed up with it. You have to be more persistent than the negative thoughts. The world teaches us, through the news, to focus on the negative. So, it takes time, patience and hard work to constantly battle this in our thoughts. But, one day you will automatically default to positive thoughts and anxiety and panic will be a distant memory. Another coping skill I learned it that when you get that "feeling", tell yourself, "I'm just excited." Your body reacts first and then your mind determines is this a good "excited" feeling or is this a bad "panic" feeling. It really worked for me and I calm down right away. BUT, it is in addition to completing this program, doing all of the homework, working hard, not giving up and thinking I've learned enough, but actually finishing. Posting for help with the support group and health educator's. You can beat this. I don't panic anymore. I do have anxiety from time to time, but manage well with what I've learned here. We can never be 100% stress free, because we live in an imperfect world, but you can learn how to handle it, so it's not running your life and you can enjoy it again. I was agoraphobic as well. The big thing to prevent it from coming back, is to get out every day, even for a short trip to the store or to get a cup of coffee. The more you stay in the house, the more it has a hold on you and can come back if you don't do things to prevent it from happening again. We can tend to fall back into our comfortable modes, but it's worth the work to be free of panic. It was for me. I know you can all do this, because I have. Post as often as you need to, there is always someone here that can help.
Shari
