Keezy Young 🌼: does anybody happen to have on hand any kind of in depth writing about anxiety (specifically anxiety) panic attacks? in terms of like, personal experience, or maybe how to help someone (ideally vetted by people who have them)! not as interested in medical studies and that kind of thing atm

does anybody happen to have on hand any kind of in depth writing about anxiety (specifically anxiety) panic attacks? in terms of like, personal experience, or maybe how to help someone (ideally vetted by people who have them)! not as interested in medical studies and that kind of thing atm

this is currently for writing purposes btw, not real life haha

Something that might be worth mentioning because i think it could be interesting and I think? I'm something of an outlier? I can have panic attacks with only physical symptoms. Like I'll do something stressful and be like "why am I shaking... OH" and it will be the only reason I even notice it.

that is good to know!

Oooh I have that too! Like strong physical reactions but I don't even recognize it mentally? Like my brain is "all is good" but my body starts heating up, shaking or I downright start choking up and start crying but I can't pinpoint why.

this is the page i've had bookmarked since my big breakdown in 2014, for a couple of years i returned to it every time i had a panic attack. it's not super long but it is pretty good basic advice. www.anxietycoach.com/overcoming-p...

Overcoming Panic Attacks: A Five Step Responsewww.anxietycoach.com The key to overcoming panic attacks is to respond in accepting and calming ways. Here is a specific, simple, and powerful set of tips for panic.

ooh, thank you!!

Without downplaying that this will be helpful to some people, and just for more insight, this advice isn’t helpful to me because my panic attacks always come with an inability to breathe and I literally feel like I might die, so telling myself “it’s just fear” doesn’t work.

It’s like the PTSD treatments where they try to get you to train yourself to rationalize your thoughts: “just because you think x is going to happen doesn’t mean x will happen” Sure, but when x has already happened to me, sometimes more than once, that’s not actual rational

The only thing that has helped me decrease panic attacks is through working super hard to get ok at meditation. And pranayama/Vipassana doesn’t work because, you know, inability to breathe. I had to figure it out in other ways. Idk that there will be advice that will work for everyone.

Not sure if this will help with panic attacks but meditation and breathing are two of my techniques. My breathing is to inhale deeply through my nose and then breathe out slowly through pursed lips for a count of 7. Going to the meditation place in my mind is calming and soothing, weed helps too. 😇

Personal: I used to get them as a teen and then again in my mid-thirties. I knew what they were and wasn't wholly debilitated by them, but the rush of panic and adrenaline was terrible, regardless. In both instances, the cure was exploration-driving. 1/

By which I mean driving aimlessly in places I've never been before (usually very rural, old logging roads or [inadvertently] onto live army bombing ranges), with my turns and route borne entirely of the moment's whim. When I was younger, it was an antidote; older, it's a preventative. 2/

I think the reason for its efficacy is twofold: first, being able to turn and travel wherever I want as I want it, and the rurality meaning no other cars or traffic to consider,gives a degree of wholesale control over my immediate actions and situation unlikely to be found in other arenas. 3/

Since panic frequently comes (for me) as a result of things outside my control - worry over the safety of loved ones, existential world stuff, etc - this serves as a counter, and an effective one. I suspect model trains, other stuff like that probably serve a similar function. 4/

The other, and this is pure speculation, is that, just as the panic is the result of chemical responses in the brain, so too is the calm produced by mapping. Seeing and processing and remembering new environments you've not encountered before. I suspect this activity also releases a chemical... 5/

...or activates pathways or excites neurons or something to that effect that helps to counteract the panic chemical. Again, hardly science, just anecdotal in trying to quantify why this works so well for me. With maybe one or two small exceptions (world stuff) I haven't had an attack in years. 6/end

This is so specifically tailored for me, I'm now convinced the “discovery” page knows about my Goodreads account 😂 anyway, I think First, We Make the Beast Beautiful might be quite useful for your writing purposes (I'm less convinced about real life usefulness tbh) www.goodreads.com/book/show/34...

First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Story About A…www.goodreads.com This journey is what I do now. I bump along, in fits an…

I'd be super interested in that too, but for irl purposes

yeah i should probably clarify, i'm sure it would ALSO help for real life purposes!

There's *Unfuck Your Brain* which is quite good?

ooh nice, a whole book! i will check this out as soon as the library lets me borrow stuff again haha

Yeah, I'm a librarian & I have 2 unreturned books blocking my account at the moment!

oh, mine is actually because of a ransomware attack, so the entire digital side of things is down haha. i can't even log in 😭 (...but also i have definitely been in that situation lmao)

A fair bit of personal experience of them, and the CBT techniques to help with them, if that's any use to you

hmm, i'm mostly looking for help writing a character who's having them, who hasn't started using any specific tools to help yet. but if you have any advice on what other people have done to help you in that situation, i'd love to hear it though!

The biggest most helpful thing for me (and for other's I've helped) has always been having someone to help guide with breathing regulation. Calm voice, gentle constant reassurance. "It's ok, I'm with you, it's going to be ok, let's keep breathing." 5 seconds in, hold 5 seconds, exhale 5 seconds...

My first experience was a paramedic helping my mum through one with deep breaths into a paper bag. Shallow panic breathing can lead to insufficient CO2 in the blood, and cause lactic shock, paper bag can help to recirculate the stuff you breathe out that you need to keep and trick the brain to slow

www.calm.com/blog/5-4-3-2...

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 — a simple grounding exercise to calm anxiety — Calm Blogwww.calm.com Anxiety derailing your day? Get to know the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 grounding method — a simple exercise for calming the mind that can alleviate anxiety in minutes.

This is one I picked up in CBT that helps you get out of whatever panic percieved threat your cycling in, and ground yourself back into the moment where you're safe.

Long-time panic attack haver, also a writer. Would be happy to write up some bullet points about anything about the topic!

ooh, interesting! i'm mostly curious about stuff like triggers, how it feels to have one, and like the early days when you haven't really started treatment or sought help yet, and maybe haven't even recognized what it is that's happening

if you want i could dm you with specific questions! i'd also be super happy with any kind of bullet list of basics you come up with though haha

Questions in the DMs would also work!

This may not apply but I finally saw Inside Out 2 this week and was really impressed by how they portrayed and addressed a panic attack.

personally, I like to have some space but somebody near; if that makes sense?

it does, yeah!

Holding someone firmly helps stabilize the anxiety. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hug_mac....

Hug machine - Wikipediaen.m.wikipedia.org

interesting! i've heard varied takes on this, but it seems like it could definitely help some people (but also definitely a requirement to ask for permission before you touch somebody)!

Very good point! Honestly, I first learned about this from a Grey's Anatomy ep where one of the docs was having an anxiety attack and requested 2 interns hold her. Was awkward funny.

Steve Martin's memoir, Born Standing Up, has a major threadline about anxiety running through it. He's a wonderful writer who describes his experiences vividly.

does he by any chance talk about panic attacks specifically? i have a little lot of acquaintance with anxiety myself unfortunately haha, it's the attacks I'm researching atm!

-little, typo

yes! it's really interesting because he started getting them in the 70s, before anxiety disorders were well understood. He talks about how he thought he was having a heart attack and assumed he was dying.

oh that does seem interesting!! thanks for the rec!

bite on a lemon to bring you into the moment and out of your head sort of stuff?

this is for writing a character with them, so i'm more interested in finding out how it feels, or what other characters might do to help in the moment!

i get them from time to time. will try to remember to write up something for you when i get a chance!

ooh yeah i would love that! do you want me to dm you the questions i wrote up for other folks?

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