Monday, November 30, 2015
10 GOLDEN RULES FOR COPING WITH PANIC
1. Remember that although your feelings and symptoms are frightening, they are neither dangerous nor harmful.
2. Understand that what you are experiencing is merely an exaggeration of your normal reactions to stress.
3. Do not fight your feelings or try to wish them away. The more willing you are to face them, the less intense they will become.
4. Don't add to your panic by thinking about what "might happen." If you find yourself asking, "What if?" tell yourself "So what!"
5. Stay in the present. Be aware of what is happening to you rather than concern yourself with how much worse it might get.
6. Label your fear level from zero to 10 and watch it go up and down. Notice that it doesn't stay at a very high level for more than a few seconds.
7. When you find yourself thinking about fear, change your "what if" thinking. Focus on and perform some simple, manageable task.
8. Notice that when you stop thinking frightening thoughts your anxiety fades.
9. When fear comes, accept it, don't fight it. Wait and give it time to pass. Don't try to escape from it.
10. Be proud of the progress you've made. Think about how good you will feel when the anxiety has passed and you are in total control and at peace.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Friday, November 20, 2015
Hypervigilance for Misatrributed Bodily Sensations (somatic of cognitive)
Person who had a heart attack will be always on the lookout for the heart attack symptoms, which are normal most of the time (ex. increased heart rate). As soon as his heart rate increases, he misattributes it and labels it as catastrophic. "OMG. I am having a heartattack again". Need to re-evaluate misattributed sensation.
When we have a flu, we feel crappy. When flu goes away, we feel good. The same thing is with anxiety and depression symptoms. They are just labeled as catastrophic. For example, bad sleep for couple of days does not necessarily mean that I am falling into depression. Most of the time it's just a lot of things in my mind.
Catastrophic misattributions of bodily sensations reinforce
perceptions of threat, which intensifies anxiety, leading to more
anxiety-related bodily symptoms and yet more catastrophic misinterpretations in
a vicious cycle that can quickly spiral into a full-fledged panic attack and "fear of fear" (next day is going to be the same as today, i will never get better, i must not feel that way etc)
Modify catastrophic misinterpretations of bodily sensations, achieve re-evaluation of misattributed bodily sensation (somatic or cognitive)
Hypervigilance (self-checking)
and misattributing normal bodily sensations (somatic and cognitive) as
pathological and catastrophic. These sensations are just being human
(tired, angry, annoyed, sleeping less), even if they are spanning for days
(like a flu).
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