Anxiety Attacks

                                         -taught by Solace

intense_female : Solace you about ready?

solace© : yuppers

intense_female : without further adoooooooooooooooo

intense_female : solace

solace© : first of all... is there anyone here who doesn't know what anxiety or an anxiety attack is????

intense_female : I've heard of them but not exactly solace

Laurelovely01 : panic attack is the same thing right?

solace© : basically

Ťhę_ß_Μλْ : very well aware of them

Ťhę_ß_Μλْ Taking anxiety meds

solace© : anxiety is broadly defined as a state of apprehension or uncertainty and fear resulting from anticipated or imagined threat, often resulting in impaired physical and pshychological functioning

solace© : anxiety attacks and panic attacks are keyly the same

solace© : where as there may not be any 'trauma' to the physical body to create any reaction to stimuli, the body indeed does react

solace© : although anxiety is chiefly comprised of small bits of daily life, ie: facing peers, dealing with stress et cetera, it also contains an subconscious component that is made up of past unpleasant experiences or fears

solace© : questions so far?

intense_female : what does it do? do they feel like heart attacks?

solace© : anxiety/ panic attacks can indeed feel like heart attacks,

wwanderingspirit : I'm studying pharmacology and drugs to treat

wwanderingspirit : anxiety

wwanderingspirit : like most drug therapies they are a bandaid

solace© : but the feelings are created from mental stimuli as opposed to real cardiac problems  .. that is why no one has yet died of an anxiety attack

wwanderingspirit : and don't treat underlying source do you agree?

solace© : i do agree

solace© : and most of hte people i know who are on meds for anxiety feel the same way

intense_female : thats what she's gonna teach us to do tonight wander

solace© : ok....

solace© : most of us are familiar with what is roughly refered to as our reptilian or 'instinctive' brain

solace© : our instinctive brain tells  our heart to beat, our lungs to breathe,  and what the various bits of the body should do at each moment

solace© : when we run, it tells our heart to speed up to keep us supplied with enough oxygen to pump our legs....

solace© : it also instructs the body how to react in every situation we encounter based on the amount of data it recieves...

solace© : like 'gut instinct'

solace© : when it comes to fear and anxiety, this part of our brain is in charge of telling our body how to 'feel' about our thoughts and emotions

solace© : in part this is an anticipated response, a learned response based on past experiences

solace© : put the most simply

solace© : when faced with any event or moment in our lives we have only a few choices,  we can freeze, we can run away, or we can fight..... or face.. the moment

solace© : if you love your mom and you go to her house and hug her, right there you have chosen to face the moment, and have done so gladly

solace© : if you walk in to an alley and from the shadows appears a dark scraggly figure , you might run away with your heart pounding ,  which is running away (and quite rightly so)

solace© : our primitive responses to stimuli, and in this particular case frightening or intimidating or stressful stimuli, is fight, flight or fear/freeze

solace© : questions?

intense_female : nope

solace© : ok

wwanderingspirit : which nervous system dictates this response?

wwanderingspirit : is it parasympathetic?

wwanderingspirit : or it may not matter

Alleged_Mule : what you've just described are normal reactions that everyone has  what is different in anxiety attacks

intense_female : In the maternity ward the nurses laughed as they told me about fight or flight... women in labor do it

solace© : lol

intense_female : will either get up during hard labor and say forget it i'm not having a baby

Alleged_Mule : never been there lol

intense_female : or they will bear down and just fight like hell

solace© : ok- i'm pretty sure the area of the brain in charge is the mendulla oblongotta

solace© : i've seen that intense

Ťhę_ß_Μλْ : flight is a big part of anxiety attacks. in that it gets triggered when there is a perceived danger though not necessarily logically valid.

solace© : right

wwanderingspirit : so the pharmacological answer is to give a sedative

intense_female : okay sistah we're with ya

wwanderingspirit : which has other undesirable side effects

solace© : mule... you know how people watching  a scary moie will jump and gasp when the monster jumps out?

solace© : an anxiety response is just like that... with out the monster

solace© : the subconscious mind sees the monster 'logically valid' or not, and responds as if there was a physical stimuli

Alleged_Mule : ok  i do scvary movies even less than i do maternity wards but i think i understand lol

intense_female : lol

wwanderingspirit : which can slow the cardiac system tachycardia

wwanderingspirit : hypotension

wwanderingspirit : unsteadiness

solace© : causing a higher respiratory rate...  increased heart rate.. feelings of doom.. shortness of breath.. dyspnea....

 intense_female : so solace it could be driving that makes it happen? or having the lights go out?

solace© : anything

solace© : sitting on the couch could make it happen

intense_female : so its a specific trigger then?

intense_female : or is it totally without trigger?

wwanderingspirit : so what is the solution?

solace© : that is sometimes the worst symptom for the anxiety sufferer... it can happen anytime

solace© : lol- ok trigger first

Alleged_Mule : is the trigger consistant for each person   or triggers if more thasn one

Ťhę_ß_Μλْ : totally not consistant unfortunately.

solace© : generally there is a trigger that is easy to recognize

solace© : for example, a fear of airplanes, which could lead to a fear of things that make the same noise as recycled airplane air...

solace© : like the fan in a shower or an elevator... etcetera

intense_female : ahh

solace© : things that relate to the fear or remind us of a fear

intense_female : a smell?

solace© : that is how the trigger becomes inconstant as well, as the brain builds up new links to the original fear

Laurelovely01 : we dont always know what the fear is tho right?

solace© : sure

solace© : that's true

Laurelovely01 : so it can be difficult to recognize the trigger

solace© : sometimes we think we know, and we do, sometimes we think it's one thing and it's something altogether different

solace© : and some people have no idea why the y suffer anxiety attacks

solace© : very difficult sometimes

solace© : and since we are dealing with complex emotions, and obviously somewhat intimidating emotions, they can be hard to find out

intense_female : okay so what do you do about it solace?

solace© : to identify triggers .. .there are a number of things you can do...

solace© : usually a combination will unlock your mind.. and there is no problems with obtaining counselling... of your own style preference

solace© : (that includes diaries and friends)

solace© : one of the first things is to keep a journal

solace© : this journal should be of two specific things...

solace© : firstly of when you have an anxiety attack, what you were doing when it appeared, what you did during the attack, how long it lasted.. if anything relieved it.. and all the other details you can think of that seem to relate

solace© : then, at the end of the day (or what ever time you seem to feel the most stress/fear) , write about the things you fear regardless of logic,

Rûthlëss_Víllåiñ : may i ask one quick question?

solace© : and on a weekly basis, examine your journal, you may even want to write then about how you percieve your anxiety, if it lessens or worsens, odd thoughts...

solace© : sure

Rûthlëss_Víllåiñ : what exactly is an anxiety attack?

Rûthlëss_Víllåiñ : like what are characteristics of one?

solace© : an anxiety attack is when a person is overwhelmed by feelings of anxiety panic or fear, and has a physical response, like a pounding heart or difficulty breathing

Rûthlëss_Víllåiñ : aight ty

solace© : it can happen randomly or consistently at a 'trigger' (dogs/water) or both

solace© : ok.. in your jourrnal, you may want to write things liek " i feel anxious when...."

Alleged_Mule : do apperent random attacks still have triggers that could be identified if worked thru

solace© : over and over and keep filling in the blank until you feel like you have covered al lthe bases...

solace© : yes

solace© : and when you are writing about your attacks

solace© : look for key phrases, themes, that appear

solace© : like, "i saw her again and i got queasy and i thought "i can't handle this"...."

solace© : look for the negative pictures that crop up in your brain, such as "i can't"

solace© : or "i never handle this well"

solace© : "i can't stand it if i screw up"

solace© : "i'm too tired there is no way"

Whispering_Moon® : here we go again

Whispering_Moon® : is another one

solace© : yes

solace© : sometimes they don't sound negative

solace© : but they are the thoughts that move us into a preconcieved notion of the events about to transpire

solace© : one of the other things we need to do to try and find our triggers is to examine our anxiety causers

ŤhÄ™_ß_Μλْ : Solace, I think this is awesome! unfortunately I have to go, so I hope I can read this afterword..    take care all

 

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