How many people do you know that are stronger than the fear of death? A person that has suffered from panic attacks, and that has overcome them, can consider himself a member of the most elitist club on earth, nevermind the special forces or the martial arts champions! The real warriors are the anxiety survivors!
Anyone who has had a panic attack will tell you it’s the hardest thing they’ve had to go through in life, and they have had to do it completely on their own. No one can help them, and their loved ones have no idea of what they are experiencing.
Panic Away details how instead of feeling like a normal person who has “fallen” to a mental weakness, you should be feeling like a hero who has conquered your (inner) world.
You will receive four important gifts from being an anxiety survivor:
- self-esteem,
- strength,
- empathy, and
- appreciation.
Self-esteem
Most anxiety sufferers have very low self-esteem. They feel like they are suffering from anxiety because they are mentally weak. Understanding that this is not true allows them to build up their self-esteem again, which is also an important part of the healing process.
Statistically speaking, anxiety sufferers are strong, creative and empathetic people. Panic attacks are caused by an untimely and unwarranted start of the “fight or flight mechanism” which has been in our DNA since the beginning of mankind. During this process, biochemical changes occur which are just as real as receiving an injection of adrenalin. Panic attacks are not a “mood”, they are a biochemical process.
If under torture someone were to inject you with a cocktail of hormones which make you go through living hell, and you were to be able to sit in the middle of the storm and not let it frighten you, wouldn’t you be really impressed with yourself? If your body short-circuits for some reason and injects those very hormones into your bloodstream when you least expect it, and you get through it like a hero, shouldn’t you feel good about yourself?
Strength
Don’t think of the attacks as entering into a place where you will meet suffering. Think of the attacks as a time when you are solicited into entering your “warrior state”. Your warrior state is when you will be giving the best of yourself. You will feel your strength. You will be totally focused on the present. You will fully accept that the time for battle has come.
Stand in the middle of the storm and get angry. Mentally shout out “Come on!! Is this all you can do!!? Bring it on!!”
You know you will find the strength to get through it.
And when you are healed you will be one of the strongest people you know, because few people alive have a chance to shake their foundations to the core and rebuild from there. Once you have learned how to conquer your biggest fear, conquering a new job or a new relationship will be easy.
Empathy
The healing process usually involves reaching out to people which are trapped in a place where no one can help them. Knowing how these people feel and guiding them “from the outside” without being able to intervene directly requires you to develop a sort of sixth-sense, and really feel what others are feeling.
By practicing empathy over time, it will grow and flourish. Also, it will allow you to understand where healthy and natural boundaries lie in the process of assisting someone. Support is one thing, but taking someone else’s struggle on your own shoulders is unhealthy for you, and not helpful to them.
When assisting people who you can only help “from the outside”, you will develop the write empathic attitude towards everyone. Empathy and Love are closely connected, and people who are loving are healthier, happier and more “tuned in” spiritually than others.
Appreciation
We hear people say that we should appreciate “the small things in life”, but these may seem like empty words for those who have not had a near death experience or have not healed from anxiety. People like us have received the amazing gift of being able to wake up in the morning and simply feel thankful for being able to experience life normally.
We also appreciate all those things which we couldn’t enjoy before, like spending quality time with the children without battling with trying to feel well in the background, or going to a party or concert without fearing the crowd. We can appreciate that we are able to breathe regularly and have a normal heart rate.
We can appreciate that life has given us a second chance. Healed anxiety sufferers are amongst the calmest, happiest people alive.
When freedom arrives
Freedom is when you are no longer limiting your life because of fear. If the attacks used to happen after drinking, and you can drink without fear, you are free. If you have been able to give up on psychoactive drugs, you are free, if you are able to take a plane or be in crowded places again, you are free.
When fear is no longer limiting your life in any way, you are free…and you can take your gifts of Self-Esteem, Strength, Empathy and Appreciation with you.