There are many different anxiety disorders a person could develop. These disorders are usually characterized by intense anxiety leading to panic attacks. Under the umbrella of anxiety disorders fall the category of phobias, which as intense and irrational fears that lead to panic. Agoraphobia is one such fear a person could have, and it is the most commonly treated phobia in the mental health world. It may not be the most common, but its symptoms are severe enough that treatment is almost always necessary. Agoraphobia is the fear of leaving one’s home or safe area and venturing into the outside world. It is also found in combination with other phobias or obsessive-compulsive disorder. People suffering from agoraphobia usually have panic attacks when they feel unsafe, and these unsafe feelings include when the person is trapped, out of control, or too far from a personal comfort zone. Many people suffering from agoraphobia are confined to their homes or even to a specific room in their home. There are many misconceptions surrounding people with agoraphobia. First of all, agoraphobia is not a fear of open spaces, nor is it a fear of crowded spaces. While these conditions may exist within a person as well, agoraphobia is specifically a fear of being too far from a normal area, regardless of the crowd. Many people welcome visitors into their home, even if they themselves do not leave. Agoraphobics usually simply need to be in complete control of a situation. Agoraphobia can affect any person, regardless of gender, age, religion, race, ethnicity, or economic status. The disorder is about twice as common among women than among men, however. The conditions usually begins with generalized panic attacks or slight phobias, and develops into a more and more serious condition. Thankfully, treatment is available. A gradual process of exposure is usually recommended, along with anti-anxiety medication including benzodiazepines like alprazolam. Anti-depressants can also be used. Some therapists will make house calls to help patients with agoraphobia, and alternative treatments like hypnosis are becoming more and more popular in the medical world as a treatment for agoraphobia and other anxiety conditions. A number of famous people have suffered from agoraphobia in the past, including celebrity chef Paula Dean, actress Kim Basinger, director Woody Allen, and Nobel laureate for literature Elfriede Jelinek. The key here, however, is to realize that there is hope. If you suffer from agoraphobia, ask for help and you can begin the healing process.
People who have never experienced a panic attack often judge the anxious person harshly.
The outsider has no real comprehension of what is happening to the person experiencing a panic attack and wonders why they fear to do the simplest things.
I know myself that I could not understand how overnight I went from being a confident young man to someone who became anxious of common everyday situations.
Going places took on a whole new dimension as I constantly evaluated if being there might trigger a panic attack.
I had to force myself to do very simple things like go to the cinema or drive in traffic. As a man that type of anxiety really erodes self confidence, as so much of male self esteem comes from being perceived as strong and brave.
…but here I was afraid to queue at the bank!
Today I know better. Through my own journey and all those I have worked with, I know now that anxiety disorders have nothing to do with a persons level of bravery.
I know this to be true because I have worked with many people from the ‘bravest’ professions around. Firemen, policemen, soldiers. All of them admired by others for their bravery.
Some of these individuals would actually prefer to run into a burning building than stay awake at night with a panic attack.
That sounds strange but it isn’t really. In a burning building they knew what to do and how to handle the situation. During a panic attack they felt powerless and out of control.
What you have to remember is that panic attacks and general anxiety have no relationship to the level of courage an individual has. In fact it has nothing to do with the world out there, -it is a problem born out of an internal crisis.
It is easy to feel brave and fearless in the world when your internal world feels safe but when you feel those internal walls have been breached by fear, then your confidence is rocked. The danger you fear becomes internal. Your psychic foundations feel vulnerable.
That is where the crisis originates. The doubting of your ability to handle the sensations shakes your inner confidence and that is what the fear feeds off.
It is a crisis of confidence in your body and mind’s ability to handle the stress. This crisis however does not stop the bravery.
People with anxiety actually do the bravest of things.
They get up each day and get on with life. Picking themselves up after each and every setback. It does not make headline news but it counts because it is real bravery, true courage.
To the untrained eye it does not seem like such a big deal to simply drive out of state, attend church, or go shopping. However for the person with anxiety, that experience can be a massive accomplishment, especially if they have tried and failed many times before.
The good news is:
This bravery does not go unrewarded.
Once the person has triumphed over their anxiety problem, they develop an inner strength that the average person never gets to develop.
You see, no matter how many brave things you do in the world, if you have not been challenged on an inner level, then you miss out on the opportunity to develop real inner strength.
That is the hidden opportunity anxiety presents to you. To become a bigger person than you already are. That is what you take from the challenge of anxiety.
It does not matter if you have not reached that point yet. The journey is unique to everyone so do not judge your progress against others.
The only thing that matters is that you persist.
Persistence will ensure your success.
To learn more visit:http://angst-nomore.com/panic away
Kind Regards
Barry Joe McDonagh: http://angst-nomore.com/panic away
Do you fear the arrival of another panic attack?
People who have experienced panic attacks often go around with a grave sense of unease that at any moment, they will experience a major panic attack.
It’s a fear of the ultimate panic attack that would finally push them over the edge.
This leads people to make changes to their behavior in order not to do anything that might trigger a panic episode.
When people feel this way, simple daily tasks can become big challenges. Some people start to fear driving their car in traffic. Others fear leaving their safe zone or simply any situation where they have responsibilities to perform.
This state of apprehension keeps a person’s anxiety level high, leading to feelings of general anxiety.
If you are such a person I hope to put your mind at rest. Panic attacks as well as general anxiety (even when not accompanied by panic disorder) can be eliminated in simple steps regardless of how long the anxiety has been a problem.
I am speaking not just from my own personal experience but from having worked with thousands of people right around the world.
Here is an important observation:
The key difference between someone who is cured of panic attacks and those who are not is really very simple. The one who is cured is not afraid of panic attacks. I’ll try to show you how to one of these people as well.
What if I told you the trick to ending panic attacks is to want to have one!
That sounds strange but let me explain.
A simple trick to ending panic attacks is wanting to have one because the wanting causes an immediate diffusion of the anticipatory fear.
Can you have a panic attack in this very second?
No !
You know the saying “what you resist persists.” Well that saying applies perfectly to fear. If you resist a situation out of fear, the fear around that issue will persist.
How do you stop resisting?
You move directly into the path of the anxiety; by doing so it cannot persist because you process the fear out through your emotions.
Try in this very moment to have a panic attack and I will bet you cannot… Yes, I know the idea of calling on a panic attack is scary at first but play with the concept and watch what happens.
You may not realize it but you have always decided to panic. You make the choice by thinking
“This is beyond my control.”
“These scary sensations are beyond my bodies control.”
It may help if you imagine that having a panic attack is like standing on a cliff edge.
The anxiety, it seems, is pushing you closer to falling over the edge. Each time you fight back using poor coping strategies the more desperate you feel.
To be rid of the fear you must metaphorically jump. You must jump off the cliff edge and into the anxiety and fear and all the things that you fear most. How do you jump?
You jump by wanting to have a panic attack. You go about your day asking for a panic attack to appear. Your real safety is the fact that a panic attack will never harm you. That is medical fact.
You are safe, -Yes, the sensations are wild and uncomfortable, but no harm will come to you.
Your body is in a heightened state but no harm will come to you.
The jump becomes nothing more than a two inch drop! You are safe.
You always were.
Think of all the panic attacks you have had to date and come out the other end. Was there any lasting physical damage to you, other than the mounting feeling of panic?
Now you are going to approach this problem differently. You actively seek out the attack like an adventure seeker. Take the opposite approach.
YOU bring it on!!!
To Learn more about Panic Away visit: www.PanicAway.com
Here are some of the things you will learn from Panic Away…
-Learn how to be empowered and gain confidence by engaging a simple technique to defuse any panic attack.
-The four most powerful approaches to creating an enduring anxiety buffer zone (particularly useful for those who experience GAD).
-Learn to avoid making the one mistake almost everyone makes during a panic attack episode.
Here is a small sample of how the course has helped others:
…learned more from reading your program than I did from all the psychologists and other practitioners I had seen in the 25 years
I must tell you that out of all the items you can purchase regarding anxiety related products on the internet, I learned more from reading your program than I did from all the psychologists and other practitioners I had seen in the 25 years that I’ve had this condition.
I had been on Xanax and Klonopin for about 10 years, but this December, I decided to withdraw from it thinking I didn’t need the pills anymore according to some of the programs I ordered claiming “miracle cures”. That’s when all my symptoms started again. I felt as if I had wasted the past 20 years trying to get better.That’s when I started searching the web for home based “cures”. I ordered so many programs I started to get confused from too much conflicting advice. Also, I was promised support but I am still waiting replies from some of the more expensive programs!
You are a true gentleman, and I am going to post a very positive feedback on a website you might be familiar about called: Tapir?
Talk to ya, Andy
