I had a girlfriend who would get a panic attack every time she walked into a courtroom.
“You don’t have to,” I told her one evening. “You don’t have to get panic attacks any more. You can learn to free your neck and to let go of your tendency to push down, to push your panic into your stomach and to tighten your neck and compress your whole body into a ball of screaming.”
Boy, that didn’t go over too well. She got right back at me and tore into my failings.
People don’t want to take responsibility for their lives. They don’t want to examine if it is something they are doing that might be causing their problems.
I’ve only had surgery twice but both times it profoundly changed me.
In May of 1998, I hurt my wrist playing football. I went to a doctor. He said a bone in my wrist had several cracks in it. I would need surgery.
So I walked about three miles to the hospital. I went under anesthesia.
When I came out, I was being wheeled around the hospital. I felt so vulnerable. I hadn’t told anybody where I was. Nobody was waiting to take me home. I couldn’t believe how little control I had over my life. I just felt so vulnerable.
The nurse gave me coffee and shortly after I drank it, I threw up.
They decided to keep me in the hospital over night. That was one long night.
I went back into surgery three weeks ago, the day after Thanksgiving. During my pre-op consultation with the anesthesiologist, she asked me if I had any adverse effects from anesthesia. I told her about my previous panic attack, the only one of my life, I think.
She said that young men are the most likely to have panic attacks coming out of anesthesia. We have a hard time with that loss of control.
I did not have any panic attacks on this second surgery. A friend came and gave me a ride home. But it has been three weeks now, and I am different. I feel more keenly my vulnerabilities. I have less chutzpah these days. I am more sensitive to the vulnerabilities of others. It is like I have sobered up. I am not living in grandiosity as much. I’ve come down to earth.
My therapist says he has never connected as deeply with me as now.
Is Any Of This Experience Familiar To You?
* Maybe you found yourself in the hospital’s ER because you thought you were having a heart attack only to be told later it was anxiety?
* Do you ever fear you might stop breathing because your chest feels tight and your breathing erratic?
* When you drive do you fear the idea of getting stuck in traffic, on a bridge or at red lights?
* Do you ever feel nervous and afraid you might lose control or go insane?
* Have you struggled with anxious thoughts that will not stop?
* Do you ever feel uncomfortable in enclosed spaces such as supermarkets, cinemas, public transport or even sitting at the hair dressers?
* Are you nervous and on edge in normal situations that never bothered you before?
Do You Feel Any Of The Following Bodily Sensations?
* Dizzy spells leading to panic
* Tightness in throat and chest- shortness of breath
* Racing heart with tingle sensations
* Hot flushes followed by waves of anxiety
* Obsessive worries and unwanted thoughts
* Not feeling connected to what is going on around you
* Overwhelming fear that the anxiety will push you over the edge?
These and other similar uncomfortable sensations are all too common but the truth is you do not have to ever suffer from another panic attack or anxiety attack again. Click Here!
