I get Anxiety attacks.
I am a very calm, collected and level-headed person. Everything I do must have a reason. I get nervous when things don’t go to plan. I follow orders and tick off checklists. When I was 15, my parents and I had my life planned out until I finished my education (however long that might be) and every decision had its reason. When things don't go according to plan or when I don't have a plan, hell breaks loose for me.
My first attack was when I was in Uni. My group mates and I had a presentation due and we needed to print out a few things to support our presentation. The problem was our university only had one printing shop because other groups were printing their presentations as well. There was a long que. By the time it got to our turn, it was 15 minutes to our presentation time and we were no where near getting our stuff done for at least another hour. If we didn’t present, we would fail. Not being about to control the situation, I started getting hot flushes, had difficulty in breathing and panicking BIG TIME. There were so many things buzzing in and out from my head trying to comprehend my situation. My group mates had no clue was what was happening and they could only offer me water and told me to breathe.
Cut the long story short, we failed the unit and I discovered something about myself. I get anxiety attacks.
To date that was my worst anxiety attack.
Here is a short explanation from me what anxiety attacks are, an anxiety attack often comes in a reaction to a stressor or a feeling (usually worry) that intensified over a period of time. It can be anything from being in a dark room alone, going on a rollercoaster ride, etc. An anxiety attack is short-lived and usually when the stressor goes away, so does the attack.
I started getting mild anxiety attacks when Don and I started dating. Mostly due to the future of our relationship. We have many obstacles to overcome - Visas, family and finances to name a few. We had to discuss our options and our discussions would take days to weeks before we came up with a solution.
Throughout the whole time, we are discussing our future, I would stay up late until 3-4am thinking about all the possible solutions to get us together. I get really restless, have trouble breathing to the point where I can’t lie down (no sleep and really lethargic) and found it really hard to concentrate on things (this showed at my job, I was doing sloppy work).
At first, I didn’t pick up the symptoms, i thought they were just from me getting no sleep and tired from work. Then one day, I had a full blown anxiety attack. I went to see my sister to ask her opinion on my plans and the accumulated stress from over the weeks of deciding/planning lead me to shortness of breathing, racing heart and felt this overwhelming feeling of worry and stress. I started crying.
It took me a while to calm down and when I felt much better, I took a long shower and went to bed. When I woke up, I tried to rationale all our options and came to terms that there are some things I can’t control and some things I needed to risk. I've learned to take one day at a time, slowly weight out my options and not freak out! Basically, I learned to take a chill pill.
If you are going through what you think it is an anxiety attack, here are some of my ways on how I overcome my anxiety attacks.
1. Exercise
Exercise helps me A LOT. It distracts me from my thoughts as well as keeps me healthy and fit. It also keeps my body and mind strong.
2. Learn to recognise the cause of your attacks
This is pretty important, if you are constantly getting an anxiety attack, you will see a repeating pattern. You have to find out what is the cause of your attacks and address them. Also, learn to recognise signs within your body before an attack. For me, it starts with me getting hot flashes and difficulty in breathing. That's when I know, I need to calm down or go for a walk or take a nap.
3. Eat well
When you are going through a rough time, it's so important to eat. People tend to forget to eat when they are so overwhelmed with personal issues.
4. Rest
Rest. Take a power nap. Sleep early. Close your eyes. Do whatever you need to do, rest for a while.
Disclaimer: I am no expert in how to deal with anxiety attacks, these are just from my own experience and how I learn to overcome them.
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| Said by Theodore Roosevelt |
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