As we age more and more of what we have done day in and day out become habit. That is, we will find ourselves approaching the same task the same movement even the same responses exactly the same way. Everyday we repeat actions and responses in almost the same way :
- Crossing our legs when we sit,
- Brushing hair or teeth in the same pattern
- The same number of chews and swallows per bite
- Dressings… is it right leg first or left leg
- Your stride is the same and so on
Things we do are extremely repetitive and so is the way we think!
Every minute of every day we repeat actions and responses in almost the same way the same timing…. Plain and simple. responses become automatic.
THAT CAN BE A PROBLEM !
If your mindset is that of always seeing the negative, always responding to inuendoes by falling into panic and anxiety. See where I am going…
We need to think for ourselves and let our brains take charge NOT just memory recall. We need to overcome ,override bad habits, negative habits that interfere with the purpose of your life. If you a victim of the beast Panic Attack or even PTSD when those fearful thoughts and symptom hit, they it hard. Your rational mind may understand that you are going to be ok, but the responses to those initial thoughts and symptoms set up a real fear because the symptoms exaggerate with anxiety and so a cycle starts and goes round and round.
“Panic disorder and anxiety disorder have the ability to hold us hostage by the formation of thinking patterns that have been established by continually experiencing fear and despair.” Brian Ludwig Panic Attacks Calming The Storm – page 54
Fear has been allowed to create patterns of thinking that always find the same destination—the fear of death or the fear of a lack of control.
This is why we say to change the way we behave we need to change the way we think. That in turn controls our behavior. This behavior includes racing thoughts, speculation, fear, panic and anxiety!
First step is just to realize there is NO real imminent danger. After that you want to get to the point to decrease the length and severity of “ attacks” and then finally to overcome them. Your mindset as we have explained has developed dee ruts and they need to be filled in with something else to lift yourself up.
Your mindset must be changed for this to happen.
For example, a person stubs their toe. “Ouch, that hurts!” they may exclaim and for a person without a runaway thought pattern, the story would end there, but not for a person who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. Their thought pattern would most likely be: “I’m going to lose that nail. That toe might get infected. I could lose that toe, or I could get blood poisoning and lose my foot. It could be so bad that I lose my leg. I saw on the news where a person got a blood clot from an injury and it flowed to the brain. They had a stroke and eventually died.”
(From Panic Attacks Calming the Storm)
This sounds so absurd, but people actually think this way. Their mindset responds habitually and brings the conclusion to the worst-case scenario!
People I know fall usually into 2 categories those that keep reliving the past and therefore are stuck and those that put the past behind them and overcome that which troubled them.
Those that relive the past just can not help but to bring up their pasts their trials as if that will make them disappear.
Sometimes it is alright to review the past to discover what may have caused the initial fear.
Example: I once counseled a girl who could not try on clothes if it had short sleeves that she felt were squeezing he arms. It came out that as a child her mom’s boyfriend used to gab here by the upper arms while she lay in her crib shaking her until she would stop crying! Once she understood that she began to realize that she was no longer in danger therefore the fear was unwarranted! It took a little while because of the habit, the old mindset had to be taken over by new thought patterns, but she did!
BUT it is particularly important to realize that with a panic attack, things may be a little different. They are totally irrational or logically illogical! You may never know why triggered it.
Your mindset can affect your relationships
Therefore, if your mindset is negative within a short time of greeting a new person or even in a conversation with an existing acquaintance the negativity of your mindset may make the other person more standoffish. To wait and wait for resolution of an old wound or an undesirable activity is like removing the scab of a healing wound.
It is like you find yourself standing in quicksand. Your choice to grab for the hand that will help pull you out and them walk away far away from the quicksand pit leaving it behind. OR letting fear prevent you from even attempting to move. Possibly hyperventilating or thrashing so much no one can get close enough to help. The fear and panic associated with being stuck in quicksand is a good analogy to explain how you feel to others.
In your mind you just know you are going to be sucked down and die. As has been depicted on TV. However, the myth busters busted that one here is what they discovered. Doubters can find more from the Encyclopedia Britannica.
There have been several posts about mindset and relationships it may be a good time to look at the WEEKLY POST INDEX to find other topics that may help you.
FOR ME:
I choose to leave behind that which I do not want in my life in fact I will shove it down a well and then fill the well with rocks and sand to bury it forever.
That is why we take a positive approach to panic and anxiety.
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Remember author Brian Ludwig will answer questions if you message him on this FB page – Positive approach to panic and anxiety Some answers he posts others he just answers 1 on 1.
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