Don, that is one of the best posts I have read in a long time! Intelligent, passionate, informative, and captivating. I agree that panic is entirely mental, but oh what power it has! Your third paragraph really hits home because I've experienced the same thing. It is the helplessness, the anger, the fear, the heart and blood pounding irrationally in the ears, and the exploding head that set things off. Thanks for sharing, Don. Embrace the night and all that it brings, Calm my soul as the night bird sings. Sent from my iPad
Begin forwarded message: > Resent-From: quad-list@eskimo.com > From: Danny Hearn <ddh...@sbcglobal.net> > Date: September 29, 2015 at 7:09:15 PM EDT > To: Don Price <donpric...@yahoo.com>, Larry Willis <lwillis82...@gmail.com>, > "quad-list@eskimo.com" <quad-list@eskimo.com> > Subject: Re: Fwd: [QUAD-L] Getting Old, Panic > Reply-To: Danny Hearn <ddh...@sbcglobal.net> > > Well said Don, I think you are right , I used to get panic attacks and many > times it can be related to the fear of dying or loss of control, like you > said try to find a way to control as much as possible then try to learn ways > to calm the mind....like you said Tv or etc., Myself I think praying helps > me plus trying to stay positive as much as one can. Dan H** > > > > On Tuesday, September 29, 2015 3:34 PM, Don Price <donpric...@yahoo.com> > wrote: > > > > 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 > >
