Contrary to some of the information found on some blogs on the internet, panic disorder and anxiety attacks will not kill you.

I have been running across a lot of articles lately talking about anxiety and panic disorder. Like most information found on the internet, you have to really do your research in order to find credible sources from experts in the field. While I’m not an expert, what made me decide to add to the list of writers about these subjects was some disturbing  blog posts that anxiety or panic disorder are life threatening and can lead to death.

I have been living with panic disorder for approximately 9 years. Like most people, I was diagnosed with the disorder after ending up in the hospital due to what I thought was a heart attack. Over the years, there are times when I need to be on medication and in therapy; however, for the majority of time I am able to handle the panic through multiple techniques. My number one technique has been based on the fact that my therapist asserted that no one has ever died or passed out from panic disorder.  I have repeated these words over and over during every attack and it has worked marvelously well.  No matter how hard the attack is hitting, I at least know that I will be okay once the episode is over.

If the opposite had happened and my therapist had told me that my worst fear during a panic attack could possibly come true and I could die from it, I do not know  how I could have mentally made it through those really, really hard times. My recovery would have suffered a serious setback.

After reading those frightening blogs, I decided to do some research to figure out if they were right or if my therapist had been right.  Here is what I found.

In an article on the Anxiety Network titled What You Fear the Most Cannot Happen, psychologist Thomas A. Richards, Ph.D., explains how panic disorder does not lead to passing out, dying or some of the other thoughts that run through your head when in the moment of an attack.

… Because of these feelings of panic, it’s very common to “invent” or attribute danger to the accompanying bodily symptoms. Remember, though, that NO ONE has ever had these things happen to them as a result of a panic attack:

“I’M GOING CRAZY“: No one with panic attacks and anxiety has ever gone “crazy”. In fact, because you realize that you have panic attacks, this is just another indication that you are not going crazy. People that “go crazy” lose contact with reality. Anxiety people are too much in contact with reality. Thus, people with panic and anxiety problems NEVER “go crazy”. It simply cannot happen.

“I’M GOING TO PASS OUT”: Temporary dizziness leads people with panic to feel that they may pass out. This is not possible because, during panic, your heart beats faster, and your blood pressure rises. As the blood pressure rises, it becomes impossible for you to “pass out”. When people faint or “pass out”, it’s because of a sudden DROP or lowering in blood pressure.

“I’M HAVING A HEART ATTACK”: when the heart begins to beat quickly and people experience “palpitations”, they sometimes feel a heart attack is occurring. In the first place, the heart can beat quickly and continuously for a long period of time without causing any damage. Although heart palpitations seem to occur in the left side of the chest, there are many DIFFERENCES between panic attack and a real heart attack. During a real heart attack, the primary symptom is a crushing sensation inside the chest and a pain that is continuous. During a panic attack, the attention is focused on the quick and rapid beating of the heart itself. (“I can hear my heart beating even in my ears!”) People having panic attacks are NOT experiencing heart problems. A real heart attacks produces crushing internal pain that doubles people up and drops them to the floor. They DO NOT hear their heart beating nor do they care. The intense, crushing pain is the only thing they can pay attention to.

“I WILL STOP BREATHING AND SUFFOCATE”: Sometimes panic sufferers feel that because they can’t catch their breath (and are hyperventilating), they will suffocate. This is impossible because you cannot pass out and suffocate.  It feels like you can because the mixture of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your bloodstream is out of proportion. That is why people feel weak, dizzy, lightheaded, and faint. Suffocation is not a possibility during a panic attack.  In a few moments, as the body gradually calms down, breathing returns to normal, and the other symptoms gradually go away.

“I’M LOSING CONTROL”: Experiencing many anxiety symptoms all at once can cause a person to feel that they are “losing control” of themselves. Sometimes the fear is of acting nervous and foolish in public where others will be able to notice. Sometimes the fear is of being rushed to the hospital in an emergency vehicle. For other people, it is the fear that losing all control proves they are crazy and may have to be institutionalized. Actually, the fact that you think you could “lose control” guarantees that this is not really possible. The only people who really “lose control” are people who are not aware of this and are not ever concerned or bothered by “losing control”.

Read Full Article

Just a few more…

Before It Happens Know that a panic attack will not harm you
“In therapy, we teach patients that although panic attacks are uncomfortable, there’s nothing physically dangerous about them,” says Kimberly Wilson, Ph.D., a cognitive-behavioral therapist in the San Francisco Bay area and a psychiatry instructor at Stanford University.

Article from Women’s Health Magazine

Coping with Panic/Anxiety Disorder

When you feel the symptoms of panic/anxiety disorder (PAD), tell yourself –continually—that what you are experiencing is anxiety and not a heart attack and that anxiety cannot kill you. Dr Stanley Goldstein –Author and Psychologist

Read Original Document

Some tips that worked for me personally:

1.   Get a physical. A thorough check-up will allow you to have peace of mind and you can then rule out that there is nothing physically wrong with you.

2.   Get a prescription. There are times when your panic might be more than you can handle and medication will be needed. Be okay with that and realize that if you take the correct steps to control your disorder, the need for medication will not be forever.

3.  Get a therapist. Discussing the circumstances that led up to the attack with a professional will enable you to put events into perspective and determine what could have led to the attack.  You will also learn how to talk yourself through the situation so that you can emerge from it quickly.

4.  Meditate. Taking a moment for yourself to be calm and mentally prepared in situations that have the potential to trigger attacks can help you stave off feelings of fear.  It doesn’t have to be for long and you can meditate anywhere.  Check out our article the 1 minute meditation for ideas on how to do this.

5.   Inform those who need to know about your condition. Teach your friends, family members and relevant co-workers what to do in case you are experiencing a panic or anxiety attack . Tell them what to say and what not to say.  Usually, someone just talking to me about really mundane stuff would help me get out of my head long enough for the feeling to subside.

6.   Talk to yourself. My personal mantra was, “I’m OK, no one has passed or died from this.” I also made sure to walk and move slowly so that I would not raise my heart rate more than it already was.

7.   Talk to others who are going through the same thing. Join groups or blogs for people with panic disorder. It really helped me to know that I was not alone. This is happening to lots of people and all of them were very willing to share their experiences and the tools that help them cope when panic hits.