I think a large factor in panic attacks is related to loss of control (e.g.
inability to get up, turn, etc.) I've learned that if you can find ways of
controlling as many things in your environment -- especially while in bed -- it
greatly helps reduce panic/anxiety attacks. Examples: raising and lowering your
bed independently, ability to control room temperature or a fan, ability to
control tv/radio/lights and especially the ability to use the phone and
computer. All of these things are possible using today's technology. If you are
able to control things around you I believe you will feel less anxious.
However, I'm not a doctor and I don't even play one on TV.
I remember my first anxiety attack; it occurred one night while I was in the
acute care hospital after my diving accident. I was still in a halo-like device
and completely immobile. I began to feel the walls closing in on me and the
panic set in. Somehow, I managed to flip through the TV channels and,
mercifully, I found a movie that held my attention and calmed me down. To this
day that miracle film is still one of my all-time favorite movies -- it's not
that it's all that special cinematically, but it holds a special place in my
heart for calming my soul that dark night in 1982. The movie is: Jeremiah
Johnson.
The only other times I get these anxiety attacks is when I roll myself too far
at night and end up face-down in my bed, unable to roll back over. For one
thing it's hard to breathe, but secondly it puts me back in the memory of
floating face-down in the water when I had my diving accident. I was fully
conscious and floated face down, unable to move for what seemed like minutes,
although it may have been seconds. Very scary stuff, and I wouldn't wish that
kind of panic on anyone. Sometimes, when I hear news stories about an
earthquake where people are buried alive, I think about the people under that
rubble and how they must have that same feeling of horror being unable to move
and breathe. Nightmare inducing.
OK, now let's think of something more positive: if we still have trouble with
panic attacks, instead of relying on drugs we might want to check into hypnosis
or meditation techniques. I've thought about doing this many times, but
haven't. The power of the mind is amazing; if we can learn techniques to shut
off the negative thoughts we will be better able to avoid the worry, panic,
anxiety.
This morning I was driving to pick up a friend. As I pulled my Honda into her
parking lot the sun was just rising and I was driving east, looking straight
into the orange-yellow glow. My windshield was dusty so I hit the fluid button
and the wiper solvent sprayed onto my window. For a brief moment I witnessed a
tiny rainbow prism in the mist, against the morning sky, and then, as if by
magic, a hummingbird flew in view and hovered, for a second, right in front of
me. The beauty of that moment was so moving that I literally said thanks to
God. If I saw that scene in a movie I would say it was over-the-top hokey, but
it actually happened. The next time I'm panicking I'll try to recall that image
of the hummingbird in the rainbow in the morning sun. Of course, Jeremiah
Johnson might laugh at me, but Robert Redford would understand.
Don P.Tempe, AZ
