Attention – Body Sensations
It is apparent that people’s perceptions capture their attention in ways which may or may not be accurate. Almost every single human being on the planet earth is selective about what they accept while learning. Most people develop ideas from two different angles of attention and that is sensory and cognitive.
Due to stress caused by environmental conditions, society, etc, our sensory overloads overwhelm our cognitive abilities to the point where we may feel anxious or even experience panic attacks.
Sometimes we have to learn to say, “I will accept the things I can change and let someone else deal with the things I cannot change”. These simple, positive words have helped millions of people conquer panic attacks.
When people feel anxious they often feel mild headaches, feelings of tightness in the chest, sweaty palms, etc. Part of the reason why people experience panic attacks is because they fail to let the body run its course. They fear body sensations. Instead of panicking try to allow those sensations to surface; each time you allow your body to express its feelings you will move closer to decreasing those urgencies. Practice these techniques as often as you need, to overcome anxiety attacks.
In order to change how you think you must master once concept before moving onto another. Often this is done by reading informative books, articles, etc on that subject. You can find sources online or use our guide to help you learn more about controlling your panic attacks.
When it is appropriate, you need to read the material slowly to digest the information and process it fully. Sometimes you have reread information.
Behavior Rehearsal Techniques
Once you learn through the use Cognitive Behavioral Techniques to understand why you experience panic attacks, perspectives, etc, you can then learn to identify the cause of your problems more effectively. That allows you to set long-term goals that you can reach in overcoming your anxiety and panic attacks.
We are now going to perform some Behavior Rehearsal techniques. Your goal is to assimilate new behavior patterns to help you eliminate panic attacks. Remember, panic attacks are simply brought on by sudden triggers that you can learn not to respond negatively to. Those panic attack triggers can either continue causing you harm or else you can take control of your thinking and behaviors to help put an end to panic attacks.
Some clients require the assistance of a professional counselor to help them change their behavior patterns and overcome panic attacks, while others can change their behaviors with our online program.
Take a moment to consider fear because fear is what causes your panic attacks. Fear arises from being afraid or dreading something. Fear causes apprehension and terror. Fear can either make you or break you, depending on your willingness to either overcome fear or to let it control you, perhaps to such an extent that it causes actual ill health. Many people develop unhealthy fears based on notions that were never verified to be true and in fact have no basis in reality. This is what causes panic attacks.
Now you are going to have a go at some role playing to help you with your anxiety and panic attacks. This is one of the most effective techniques, used in most counseling fields throughout the centuries.
In this exercise, you can either use a mirror or you can ask someone else to join you. If you are role playing with another person, it will be their responsibility to put him- or herself in your shoes so they can reflect back to you how you would normally behave, in a negative way which feeds your panic attacks.
Let’s say that you fear interviews. Ask someone to play you while you play the part of the employer. Visualize yourself interviewing your role play partner.
Write down some questions that you may ask of the interviewee. Once you complete the form, start asking the questions. Acknowledge how the person behaves. Be sure to ask the person to respond in the same way that you would respond at the interview so you get the full benefits of learning more about your behaviors.
When you notice that the interviewee is feeling panicky, take notes. Notice what you observe about the person and why they may feel panic. Think about the details of that event. How did you feel? Were you sad? Were you angry? If you experience these emotional stimuli during this process, allow your emotions to surface freely. Do not suppress your feelings. Part of your problem in experiencing panic attacks is caused by suppressing your feelings or emotions. Let them come out so you can process them, let them go and so diminish their impact upon you.
Think about the person in the chair next to you. The interviewee feels afraid. Ask yourself why he or she is afraid. Think of the interview. Most times people feel afraid because they have insecurities and that insecurity links to worries of superficial failures.
Before you go to an interview, you often apply for a position for which you have the ability, skills, education, etc. You know you could do the job or otherwise you wouldn’t have applied for the job. Is that not true of you? If you have the necessary skills and qualifications for the job, then why would you fear failure? Failure is a state of mind we develop throughout the years. Most times the problem develops from the negative things you will have been told about your abilities, through bad teaching or being around too many people that discouraged you from achieving your goals. Somewhere along the line, you started to believe them and you let them get you down. Now you have to turn that self-destructive thinking into a positive way of thinking that takes you down the road to success toward overcoming panic attacks.
If you would like to, it would be useful to videotape yourself in action when you experience a panic attack. Play back the tape so that you can see yourself live on video. Observe all your actions, expressions, etc while you watch yourself react in the video. Take notes and then work toward thinking positive thoughts to turn around those behaviors.
One of the best techniques you can use to overcome panic attacks is behavior-rehearsal. Think about your fears and start convincing yourself that you are a success and not a failure.
Take control of your panic attacks
We will now go through some steps to help you master your panic attacks. First, we will outline the negative behaviors you exhibit during a panic attack and which exacerbate your panic, and then we will look at what you want to change about those behaviors. Next, we will identify the situations which make you panic, to help determine which skills you need to use to change those behaviors. Negative habits are formed throughout our lifetimes as many people tend to draw us into negative thinking.
For example of a negative behavior which you may wish to change, perhaps you often subconsciously block things out in an attempt to escape an unpleasant reality. To change this behavior you would have to make reality your friend by challenging it head on.
You may start by building a hierarchy from the least intimidating situation to rehearse up to the most frightening. Starting with the least intimidating situation, begin to role-play the objective skills that you need to cope with this situation: provide some feedback for yourself by considering your strengths and weaknesses.
Examples of strengths and weaknesses:
- - Creative thinking is a strength
- - Depending on alcohol to cope is a weakness
- - Relying on friends for support is a strength
- - Blocking out memories that cause you pain is a weakness
Strengths and Weaknesses
You may start by building a hierarchy from the least intimidating to the most frightening situations to rehearse for the objective skills you need to cope with panic attacks. Starting with the least intimidating situation, start to role play your objective skills you need to cope with this situation: provide some feedback for yourself by considering your strengths and weaknesses… Write down those strengths and weaknesses.
Assess your strengths and weaknesses closely. Draw upon your strengths to help you overcome your weaknesses. Remember, it took you until today to develop these weaknesses so it will take some time to overcome them with your strengths.
To start, think of some skills that you can use to fight your panic by drawing from your strengths. Your goal is to assimilate your objective skills and work toward your hierarchy to master your panic attacks.
Make a log of your failures and progress and examine each closely when you are through. Weigh the good with the bad without letting the bad overwhelm you. Instead, focus on the good and see how you can use it to conquer your panic attacks.
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