believing in a real imminent physical or psychological threat. So the first key in understanding is that there is no panic if there is no perceived threat.
Do you realize there is a big similarity between a panic attack and a roller coaster ride? Both are exhilarating experiences that excite our nervous system and increase our bodily awareness. The roller coaster, however, does not send the same level of panic through us, as we are fully aware that it is not lifethreatening and will shortly come to a safe stop. This is the same attitude we need to adopt towards panic attacks. It is only our interpretation that differs. We are looking to change our interpretation.
What does that mean in practical terms? It means if you embrace the fear and let the emotions and sensations run freely through you, rather than close down in the face of an imminent panic attack, your fear immediately subsides. The sensations that usually terrify you become exactly that, sensations, and nothing more, such as sweating palms, dizziness, palpitations, shortness of breath, etc. Uncomfortable sensations you could do without but the key difference with this approach is that the sensations do not lead to a panic attack.
It is not that you will never feel anxious at times; a certain level of anxiety is part of everyday living. What is different is that your occasional anxiety is not developing into a higher anxiety experience. The occasional feeling of anxiety is fine and is experienced by everyone. Your new response is putting you in synch with all those people who never get panic attacks because their feelings do not develop into an exaggerated sense of irrational fear.
So where do we begin? Because there is no danger, there is no real threat. This simple but true understanding combined with the“ One Move” technique outlined below will be the tool with which you will learn to defuse panic attacks in seconds!
So let’ s look at the first step in defusing a panic attack.
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