Panic Attacks – Anxiety Can Affect Your Physical and Mental Health and Disrupt Your Personal Life

Anxiety has a profound affect on our physical and mental heath. It can
color the way we look at every situation and every interaction. When
excessive worry is left unchecked, it can negatively impact your work
or school performance, your personal relationships and your family.

These consequences are seemingly unavoidable because your mind is so
full of panic that it cant see and interpret events correctly. Rather
than seeing peoples looks and words for what they truly are, every
negative connotation possible is attached to those actions.

As a result, panic stricken people avoid interactions and situations
where they believe they will experience stress. As time passes and the
mind continues to fuel excessive worry, the number of people and
situations that are avoided only increases.

The avoidance that anxiety sufferers practice is triggered by both
physical and mental responses to stimulus. The stimulus doesnt have
to be unpleasant like a room full of spiders or snakes; in fact the
stimulus is usually normal, everyday things.

Your boss calls to talk to you, you have a presentation to give to
some clients coming in, your spouse disagrees with you on something or
you have to pick something up at the supermarket. These normal
everyday occurrences trigger exaggerated mental and physical responses
that cause extreme suffering.

Anxiety causes intense physical reactions in some people that are
completely out of proportion to the stimulus involved. One might
expect their worry levels to spike when encountering a hungry bear or
when being followed in a dark alley. These are normal, rational
situations that can induce fear and your fear is perfectly
understandable and appropriate for the situation.

What about experiencing this same level of fear at the very thought of
attending your childs school play? Or picking up some vegetables to
go with dinner? These situations shouldnt spark intense reactions but
in some people they do and this disproportionate response can wreak
havoc on your life.

The physical manifestations associated with anxiety can be
overwhelming and physically painful as well as mentally and
emotionally disturbing. Some of the symptoms that can accompany
intense worry include:

a rapid heartbeat,

shortness of breath,

dizziness,

upset stomach,

sweating,

and loss of feeling in your hands and feet.

These physical sensations often lead sufferers to assume the worst,
that they are having a heart attack or some other kind of major
medical emergency. Fortunately, these dreadful sensations pass and
while the body returns to its previous state, mentally and emotionally
you are always worried about the next episode, what to do if you get
overwhelmed again but more importantly how to avoid it at all costs.

This is why panic sufferers find their lives are changed so radically
by their condition. The intense feelings lead to such strong
avoidance tactics that bad choices usually result.

Most people, who suffer with any kind of anxiety, find the physical
mental and emotional toll to be overwhelming. The stress involved with
constantly thinking about what to avoid, how to avoid it and making up
excuses to avoid things is exhausting.

Depression is usually a steady companion because the stress is just so
great. Understanding your problems is the first step in trying to
change the conditions you are coping with. Finding ways to relax the
mind and body is a good first step in coping with overwhelming
thoughts.

Download your free eBook Stop Panic Attacks and Deal with Your
Anxious Thoughts here: http://panicgoodbye.com/freereport.html

- From Bertil Hjert The author of the PanicGoodbye-program. Read
more about this brand new course at: http://PanicGoodbye.com

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Defeating negative self-talk is one of the most important aspects of overcoming anxiety. Although self-talk becomes automatic, it can become controlled. People who overcome anxiety are the ones who use self-talk to their advantage instead of letting it increase their anxiety.

Often, you don’t even notice self-talk because it is both automatic and subtle. With self-talk, one short word or image can contain much more in the form of thoughts, memories and associations. Although your self-talk is usually irrational, because it takes place quickly you often accept it as the truth. Self-talk can lead to avoidance. If you worry about what will happen during a job interview, you might not seek out new employment opportunities. Fortunately, negative self-talk is a bad habit and with a little time and effort, it can be broken.

The first thing you must do is slow down your self-talk. When it happens too quickly, you don’t have a chance to correct the negative self-talk. Once you slow down your self-talk, you’ll be able to unravel all its implications. When you think “oh no” or “this is terrible”–what thoughts are you actually thinking? Take the time to list the distinct thoughts that you may have from one phrase or image.

Next, you have to evaluate the truthfulness of your negative self-talk. Write down your negative self-talk. If you are a worrier, your self-talk might be “What if I say something stupid during the meeting?” A perfectionist might think, “I have to make a 100% on this test or I’m a disappointment.”

To evaluate your self-talk, you need to ask yourself some questions. What is the evidence for your negative belief? Is it always true and has it been true in the past? How likely is it to really happen? What is the worst that could happen, and what is so bad about that?

Once you evaluate your negative self-talk, it is time to write positive counterstatements that you can practice in its place. With positive counterstatements, use present tense, first person, avoid negatives, and make them believable. Instead of saying “I am not going to be anxious,” use “I am feeling calm.” If feeling calm isn’t believable to you, consider a counterstatement such as “I may be anxious, but I can still do this.”

Now it is time to make these positive counterstatements into a good habit. Start by reading your list a couple of times a day every day for a few weeks. The more you are exposed to them, the more truthful they will seem. Make copies and put them in places where you can see them throughout the day to help remind you. If you learn better by listening, consider making a recording of yourself reading your list. Listen to it while you are relaxed.

After a month, you will find that you are more aware of the previously automatic negative self-talk. You’ll be able to counter it with positive statements, and you will find your anxiety reduced.