image from momitforward.com
Panic attacks are terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. The worst part is, once you have one you often have a constant fear of having another one, which only enhances the chances of that happening. You must not fear your own emotions. They cannot harm you. I will write more about that another day. This post is about snapping yourself out it before it starts and having a way to calm yourself down without medication or a 10 mile run.
Personally, I worry about things that I know are silly. My separation anxiety kicked in this morning when my boyfriend left for work. That terribly annoying voice in my head started freaking out saying, “He can’t go!” “What if I never see him again!” “I need him!” “I will be okay if he is here, but I won’t be okay if he’s not here”…the list goes on and on.
The thing is, I can easily rationalize this anxiety. I know I will see him after work. I know I will be fine without him. I know that only I can control my anxiety and therefore, having him around isn’t going to prevent such things. But why can’t that rational part of me be in charge? Why is it that the anxious voice in my head is so much louder?
Well, I can’t answer those questions, but I can make the change I want. I want the insecure, silly, immature voice in my head (the mind) to be shut up by the rational, mature, stable voice (the real me). There is a very clever trick for this and I have been trying it for the past week. It definitely helps prevent my anxiety from worsening in those moments of sudden panic and irrational anxiousness. The more you do this activity, the more you will strengthen the rational part of yourself and weaken the out of control mind.
Here’s what you do: With your non-dominant hand (left for most of us) write out your irrational anxious thoughts, fears, and questions. Then, writing with your dominant hand, rationalize and calm yourself down.
For Example: Left hand: “That girl just gave me a weird look on the subway. I must look fat. Something is wrong with me. Everyone can see something wrong with me that I can’t. Do I have food on my face? Can everyone see I’m an anxious wreck? Why did she look at me like that? Oh my god, I need to go home!”
Right hand: She could have looked at me for a million reasons. Maybe she thought I was someone else. Maybe she liked my lipstick color. Maybe she wasn’t even looking at me at all. I doubt a stranger on the subway really cares if I’m anxious or have food on my face. In a matter of 5 minutes she probably won’t even remember me. I wouldn’t remember a random girl I saw with food on her face. What is the point of worrying about the “look” I think she gave me? Oh right, there is no point. Don’t worry, it doesn’t matter.
This practice can be very helpful. The reason you write out your worried thoughts with your non-dominant hand is so that it looks like a child’s writing. This helps reassure you that your thoughts at that moment are very child-like and unnecessary. Then, the mature you, the real you, gets to come in with your regular hand writing and talk yourself out of the panic and anxiety. It’s really been helping me and it’s so simple.
Go buy a small notepad and keep a pen on you at all times. Whenever you have thoughts you know are silly, but can’t shake– just do this simple exercise.
For The Anxious Mind 