How to Stop Anxiety & End Panic Attacks

OCD ran my life. Really, it controlled every aspect of the day. I would constantly check the door knob when leaving my house just to make sure the door was locked. Of course that was after already checking it 5 or 6 times.

It’s not the easiest disorder to describe to someone. OCD effects everyone differently. Utlimately though, I think it comes down to worry. You worry about whether or not your alarm clock is set. You worry about whether or not you left the stove on. You worry about the slightest germ or miniscule piece of dirt on anything you own.

Sooner or later all this worry builds up and leaves you feeling helpless and victimized by your own obsession with perfection.

OCD has innocent victims as well. Your co-workers, family and loved ones around you all suffer from your problem. They’re all affected by your quirks. It could be as simple as making them late for meetings, dinners, outings or special events with time consuming compulsions to quadruple check things around you.

You may avoid physical contact with those you love out of your own discomfort towards germs or uncleanliness. It’s possible you’re losing touch with friends and family around you due to your fear of driving. Perhaps your work is suffering due to your inability to stay focused on anything other than your own OCD tendencies.

These are just a few random scenarios that OCD can create. Whatever degree of OCD you suffer from, you NEED help and the fact is the only one who can save you is yourself.

The good news is… you’re not alone.

Did you know that Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) affects 2.2 million Americans or 1.0% of the U.S. population from ages 18 and older?

OCD is one of the anxiety disorders that is SO difficult to understand. To get a better idea of the definition of OCD…

OCD is characterized by unwanted, recurring, disturbing and uncontrollable thoughts called obsessions and/or repetitive and habitual behaviors called compulsions.

Among the most common obsessions are fear of being contaminated with germs, sexual or violent images, excessive orderliness and excessive attention to superstitions.

On the other hand, symptoms might be milder like repeatedly washing hands, obsessively worrying if doors are left unlocked, counting and silent repetition of words, etc.

If you have any of the above signs, it is necessary to take action now. You may think these innocent habits aren’t such a big deal but their longterm effect becomes degenerative. Once you think it’s ok to obey one particular superstition, your mind will create all sorts of new rules to follow. Make the responsible decision to nip this problem in the bud now.

The fact of the matter is that there is no cure for OCD. It’s not like you get a shot in the arm from some doctor and your obsessive habits cease to exist. A habit is both broken and created within 90 days. Some people will argue that you can create and break a habit every three weeks, but honestly – I’ve seen this theory in action.

In order to break your OCD habits, you’ve got to engage in “normal” behavior and responses for 90 days. That kind of habitual training conditions you for a permanent solution.

Effective treatment of OCD anxiety may or may not widely reduce the repetition of your obsessions and compulsions. You decide whether or not this works. There’s no one to blame but yourself. Let me give you a little example to illustrate my point.

My Totally Embarrassing Nail Biting Story…

When I was a younger I bit my nails terribly. Really it was quite gross. This was long before my OCD really became prevalent in my life. I was about 16 or 17. BTW – I don’t consider nail biting OCD. That is, unless of course you meticulously bite your nails in a compulsive or repetitive nature. However, for the sake of this story nail biting is just a bad habit.

Anyway, I was a young, shy guy in high school and a very significant time was right around the corner.

Prom was coming up and I really really wanted to look great for my date. She wasn’t a girlfriend or anything. I was just going to prom with a really nice girl that I liked for a while.

So, anyway…

Here I was about 3 months before prom and I had these disguisting bloody fingers from all the terrible biting. I REALLY wanted to make a great impression on Jill (my date), so I swore off the nail biting and proceeded to try every remedy under the sun to end the habit.

I tried using that nail polish that tastes terrible – I just bit them anyway and cringed everytime. It didn’t work.

I tried putting strings around my wrists to remind me that I was specifically trying not to bite them. This tactic failed quickly. I just ignored the rules whenever I felt stressed and started chomping away.

Then I put bandaids on all my fingers. I must have looked so silly. For weeks I showed up at school with ridiculous bandaids on my fingers. It was just as well. At the time I was a very shy kid and didn’t have many friends anyway.

This worked for the remaining 8 weeks (mainly because I never took the bandaids off long enough to go at it.) and when Prom came around, my hands looked great for Jill. I remember feeling so proud of myself.

Now the few days following were fairly good. Afterall, I was out of the habit. I didn’t need to bite my nails right?

Not quite. Can you guess what happened the week after prom?

I was so ravenous for nail biting that I chewed my fingers worse than ever! Eventually I learned to control the habit with a combination of the bandaid treatment for a couple more months and some SERIOUS conscious effort but this lesson isn’t so much about nail biting.

Any habit can be broken on the surface for a short period of time. However, you’ve got to really WANT to resolve a problem permanently to put forth the effort it takes to extinguish subconscious tendencies.

You can avoid OCD habits for any length of time but until you monitor yourself nonstop for an extended period of time (and I mean 90 days or more), you’ll never be able to train your brain away from these damaging compulsions.

If this doesn’t sound like it’s for you, that okay. There are more conventional ways to get relief.

Conventional OCD Therapy

Among the known procedures that help in OCD anxiety relief are behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy and pharmacotherapy.

Psychotherapy

The first line in OCD anxiety relief is behavioral therapy. With the assistance of your physician, you will undergo an exposure treatment and response prevention. The doctor will expose you to the source of your obsession and/or compulsion and you must prevent yourself from engaging the repetitive thoughts, ritual or habit you usually do under such circumstances. This method as an OCD anxiety relief has in fact found to be effective by 75% of patients who underwent this therapy. Cognitive therapy is also another way to relieve OCD anxiety. This approach will let you address the source of your compulsion and/or obsession and challenge them. When cognitive and behavioral therapies are combined, it is more effective as an OCD anxiety relief and is called cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Pharmacotherapy

Pharmacotherapy or the use of medication is another common method used as an OCD anxiety relief. Medication prescribed for patients with OCD anxiety helps in the reduction of obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. Among these medications are Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) such as include Celexa, Luvox, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft. Another group of medicines, which was declared by one university as more effective is called Clomipramine like Anafril.

Support

For you to have effective OCD anxiety relief, seeking support is a must. Your family is instrumental to the success of your treatment so it is best if you make them a part of your recovery. Families and relatives, in most cases, do not understand the plight of patients with OCD anxiety when they are forced to deal with the patient’s obsessions and compulsions and your family may be the same. To minimize this, it is best if they come with you during your consultation with your doctor so that the latter may explain to them your predicament. If you do not have a family or live far from them, you can engage in support or self-help groups, talk to a trusted friend or seek spiritual advice from your church minister or priest.

My favorite solution is the well known “Panic Away” program and has been getting a LOT of attention from Psychotherapists these days.

It’s by far the easiest way to engage in solving your OCD problem because it not only shows you step-by-step how to overcome numerous anxiety disorders, it also puts you in touch with a support staff that is there for you whenever you need extra help overcoming a particularly rough day of anxiety, panic and OCD.

Take the next step to ending your OCD today with the “Panic Away” program on the next page. It’s guaranteed to cure your OCD using natural techniques and CBT therapy. The step-by-step approach has been proven over and over again to work wonders on ALL types of anxiety including OCD. Check it out here.

The anxiety relaxation technique you’re about to learn has been helping panic sufferers for years. I can’t take credit for inventing it or anything. Actually, I’m not quite sure where this method originated from. All I know is that it works GREAT!

Think of your anxiety levels on a scale of 1 to 10. Imagine level 1 is your calmest state and level 10 is a full on panic attack.

Well, most people aren’t constantly in a level 10 degree of panic. Oftentimes, you may find yourself hovering around level 6 or even 8. The idea behind the following anxiety relaxation technique is to naturally wind yourself down from whatever level of stress you’re at.

You can download this anxiety relaxation technique, completely for free, by clicking the link to the right.

Here’s how it works…

When you click on the download button, you’ll be prompted to download the audio file.

The anxiety relaxation technique is an mP3 file that you can play either directly from your computer or you can copy it onto your iPod.

When you listen to the audio file, you should be laying down comfortably either on a couch or a bed. Personally, I find that doing this anxiety relaxation technique works better in a bed.

The voice on the audio recording will guide you through the anxiety relaxation technique and direct your thoughts and body to a calm, serene state.

Follow the soothing instruction to relax every part of your body, starting with your toes and moving up to the top of your head.

The instruction talks you through the clenching and unclenching of muscles in your body, then shaking them away to slowly unravel all your tension and lull you into a calm state of rest.

I implement this anxiety relaxation technique every night before bed to gently ease my mind and wind down from my anxious thoughts. You’ll love this audio. Feel free to make it a part of your daily panic fighting regimen.

Go One Step Further…

If you want to do more that calm down your panic with an anxiety relaxation technique, you’ll need to learn the ultimate step by step program that ends anxiety permanently.

Prior to implementing Panic Away, I wasn’t really living. I was living with anxiety and dealing with my fear on a day to day basis.

After learning their natural CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) techniques, I began taking steps to overcome panic completely.

Now I no longer run away from life. I embrace it.

Can you imagine that feeling?

Imagine waking up and knowing that it’s going to be a wonderful, carefree kind of day. It’s a great way to see the world.

You’re about to learn how to finally overcome your Hypochondria and free yourself from all the pointless worry of convincing yourself that you’re sick, ill or even dying.

I know the pain of this problem. I went through it myself for most of my life. Here I’ll be showing you how to naturally and effectively overcome your Hypochondria and put this terrible worry to rest. Let’s get to it!

Hypochondria tends to be somewhat of an afterthought when it comes to treating anxiety. Afterall, aren’t we supposed to worry about our health? Isn’t it good to stay on top of our bodies and be alert for any alarming “symptoms”?

If you suffer from Hypochondria, then you probably know otherwise. Personally, I used to TORTURE myself with thoughts of illness at even the slightest abnormality.

Every time my glands swelled up, I swore it was a tumor in my lymph nodes. Every time I had a sharp pain, I was convinced it was an early sign of stroke or aneurism. Each gas pain obviously signaled the start of a heart attack. Any kind of experience with night sweats convinced me that I somehow contracted HIV.

All of this worry over my health and this was happening at the age of 27 no less! 27 – when the body is at its absolute peak performance and I was inventing magical ways to convince myself I suddenly had HIV.

I remember, any kind of sexual experience (of course it was protected) I had during the height of my hypochondria was followed by days if not weeks of worry about how I must have contracted a sexually transmitted disease in some freakish, accidental way.

I would lose sleep over the worry until I finally cracked and visited a doctor about my concerns.

Really, I’m not being honest enough here. I had my doctor on speed dial.

Every dry patch of skin was suspect. Each time my eyes would become red or irritated, I swore my eyes must be deteriorating. Any new freckle was inspected for days under magnified mirrors. Heaven forbid I had a cold that lasted longer than a few days – it had to be pneumonia…duh!

Does any of this sound familiar?

Hypochondria can really impair your day to day living because it completely immerses your brain with worry. You have no real scientific data backing your medical concerns but suddenly YOU know more than any doctor out there.

You MUST be dying right? I mean, you just FEEL IT right? You just know and you can’t get rid of this feeling like SOMETHING has got to be wrong with you. Why can’t you shake this worry away once and for all? Ughhhh!!!

Stop Carrying Around Your Worry

The definition of hypochondria is “an excessive preoccupation with one’s health”. That definition always stikes me as a little humorous. Really, it just doesn’t depict the severity of this problem.

Having Hypochondria is like carrying around your worry everywhere you go. It weighs you down and steals your attention. You can’t focus because you’re so consumed with whatever life-threatening disease is around the corner.

Put Your Worry Down!

The fact is, you’re probably going to live for a VERY long time. More than likely you’ll live to an average age of 80 and life will be fortunate to you every step of the way. The world is filled with billions of people and if you find any comfort in statistical data, know that the chance of you catching some obscure disease or health problem is miniscule so long as you’re not putting youself in the position in the first place.

Actually, people with high levels of anxiety are the MOST meticulous about taking care of themselves, seeing a doctor once a year and taking steps towards improving their health. Just you reading this article alone is enough to tell me that you care about your own well-being.

Has your fear of public speaking ever let you down?

Does your fear of speaking in front of a crowd immediately speed up your heart beat?

Does the thought bring on clammy hands, nausea, shaking body, blushing cheeks and shortness of breath?

If your answer is yes to any or all of these questions, the bad news is, you have glossophobia – known as fear of public speaking.

The worse news is, if such fear of public speaking already negatively affects your personal, work and social life, then you have what’s known as public speaking anxiety, which is a social anxiety disorder.

So much for the bad news, the good news is, first, you are not alone as it is the most commonly reported social anxiety disorder and second, you can overcome it. 

Although cognitive-behavioral therapy can help you overcome public speaking anxiety, the best treatment to it is helping yourself with an applicable strategy.

Acceptance
Your first enemy if you have public speaking anxiety is yourself. In accepting that, challenge yourself that you can overcome your public speaking anxiety.

Preparation
The key to a successful speech is preparation. Know your material well. Your ability to communicate with your listeners depends on the quality of your research. You can never be confident in delivering a haphazardly prepared presentation. Know that ultimately, nothing can go wrong if you are ready and prepared for anything.

Practice
Practice makes it perfect. To overcome pubic speaking anxiety, rehearsal is a must. Time your speech and treat each rehearsal as if it is the big day. Begin this exercise by facing yourself in front of the mirror while delivering your speech. If you feel comfortable with that, invite a friend to hear your speech. Once you have become comfortable speaking in the presence someone else, invite some friends and members of your family to hear you talk in order to prepare you for a bigger crowd. Do this until you feel comfortable in public speaking to a number of people.

Bulleting
Memorizing what you have to say is the worst thing you can do as you may forget your words. It is more effective if you make bullets points in paper (not cards). Never read your speech because reading is not public speaking.

Be early to the venue
If you are given the chance to visit the venue before the big day, better grab that opportunity and practice delivering your presentation on the very same podium where you will engage in public speaking. On the big day, overcome your public speaking anxiety by being at least an hour early at the venue so that you can make yourself comfortable with the environment. Approach the podium and stay there for a while until your public speaking anxiety is reduced. Don’t rush. Just breathe.

Relax
Always tell yourself that it is normal to feel nervous. Even seasoned speakers still feel jittery right before a public speaking engagement. Think of positive thoughts and reduce your public speaking anxiety by taking deep breaths. Talk socially to people before the program begins as it will help you reduce stammering.

Engage your audience
While waiting for the program to start, introduce yourself to your audience so that you will feel comfortable talking to them. Maintain eye contact with your audience, especially those whom you know, as it creates a connection.

Remedy when you lose track
If you lose track of the sequence of your speech and you don’t know what to say next to , do not panic. One technique to get away with this is to throw a question to your audience. The time they take in answering will give you ample to time to reorganize your thoughts and get back on track. Such interactive method will not only help you overcome your public speaking anxiety but can also enliven your presentation.

The good thing about giving your first speech and overcoming your public speaking anxiety will help you gain experience and confidence, thus, making the second and the subsequent speaking engagements easier to deal with. Face your public speaking anxiety now and do not let it control your life.

Keep the above tips in mind so that you’ll never miss a wedding, decline a promotion, flee, faint or make a fool out of yourself again.

As always, you can always find more great tips and tricks on overcoming your anxiety throughout the site. In the meantime, check out the “Panic Away” program here and learn how you can end ALL anxiety permanently.

The techniques below demonstrate how to use acupressure and reflexology for anxiety. The biggest benefit to these exercises is that you can implement them anywhere.

Whether you’re at home, stuck in traffic or stressing at the office, acupressure and reflexology for anxiety will provide relief instantly.

The benefits of each of these exercises may differ a little, but by applying the pressure points below, you’ll effectively reduce anxiety, stress, panic and overall tension.

The techniques originate from chinese holistic medicine and have been used for centuries. By applying pressure at the specific reflexology points below, you can conquer motion sickness, insomnia, restlessness and of course intense moments of anxiety.

The methods work by interupting your cirulation at certain points of the body to create these calming changes. Let’s get started!

Point 1: Wrists

  
Starting from the wrist, measure down with three fingers as shown in the picture on the left. Where your third finger touches the middle of your wrist, you’ll find this first pressure point.

Take the thumb of your opposite hand and apply pressure to this point until you feel mild discomfort. Don’t hurt yourself, but make sure you apply enough pressure to feel an interuption of normal bloodflow.

Hold this pressure point, gently kneading your thumb in a tight circular motion for 2-3 minutes. Do this to both wrists and you’ll feel relief from your anxiety immediately.

You may already be familiar with this pressure point if you’ve ever been on a cruise ship. On a lot of cruise ships they sell wristbands that have small plastic beads in them. When you wear the wrist bands, the beads push on the wrist to apply acupressure for anxiety relief.

They have these wristbands because along with anxiety and stress relief, this acupressure point also relieves motion sickness and general nausea.

Point 2: Wrists 

This acupressure point for anxiety is also on the wrist. You may want to flex your fingers in and out several times to locate the main tendons.

Apply pressure with your thumb at the point where your wrist first forms a crease with your hand. You want to place your thumb right in the inside corner between the crease of your hand and the ouside of your wrist’s main tendons.

Hold the acupressure point for about 2 minutes, applying a generous amount of pressure.

This pressure point is especially good for relieving tension. I like to use it when I’m stuck at the office and need a quick “acupressure for anxiety” stress break.

Point 3: Feet

This is one of my favorite acupressure for anxiety techniques. I usually do this one when I get home at the end of a long day at work.

Sit on the edge of your bed or in a nice comfy couch. Cross one leg up over onto your opposite leg and rest your foot on your knee. With your hand, gently turn your ankle up so you’re looking down at the bottom of your foot.

Mentally divide the base of your foot into thirds from the toes down. So, from your toes to just under the ball of your foot would be the first one-third.

with the tip of your thumb, push firmly on the center of your foot just between the ball of your foot and the outer area of padding. The picture to the right shows you exactly where.

Hold this pressure point for at least two minutes and apply the same acupressure point to the other foot. This is REALLY relaxing at the end of the day. You can conveniently apply this acupressure for anxiety right after you get out of a shower too. Sometimes that’s how I include it into my morning routine.

Point 4: Scalp

 I absolutely love giving myself a scalp massage. Getting a scalp massage from a partner is obviously a better scenario. However, this acupressure method relieves stress so effectively, you can just massage your own scalp and feel the benefits instantly.

I won’t be teaching you any specific acupressure points here. You just need to understand that the scalp is a major reflexology point where different areas correspond to different organs and functions of the body.

Let your fingers wander over your scalp and gently massage in a circular motion. Feel free to move your hands down to your temples and even over your eyebrows.

Breath deeply anytime you practice reflexology or acupressure for anxiety. Feel your body letting go of all tension and stress. Enjoy the moment and empty your mind of all worries.

Take the time once a day to give yourself a 1 or 2 minute scalp massage for anxiety and know that this technique WORKS.

Point 5: Ears

This acupressure for anxiety technique is best performed in a relaxing chair while your back is straight. Get comfortable and make sure your surroundings are calm and quiet.

Gently massage your ears with your thumb and forefinger. There’s no exact pressure spot. Simply give yourself a relaxing ear massage. Let your fingers pull down gently on the lobes and rub the inner surface of the ears.

Do this exercise for about 2-3 minutes to feel the full effect.

The ears contain reflexology points just like the feet, head and wrists. Different areas of the ears correspond to nerve endings in your body. When you relax and massage your ears, you’ll feel soothed all over.

I like to implement this acupressure for anxiety right before bed. It always makes me just a little sleepy.

How to Stop Anxiety Permanently

 
If you want to stop anxiety, adding acupressure into your daily routine will certainly help. However, in order to permanently stop anxiety and end panic, you need a step-by-step solution.

“Panic Away” is a program that’s been resolving people’s anxiety disorders for years. I’ve had many readers come back to me who are no longer dependent on their medication thanks to the program.

What’s nice is, “Panic Away” tailors to fit your needs. Whether you suffer from mild to moderate anxiety or have a severe panic disorder, their tactics work long-term.

You can check out the step-by-step program here.

Are you hiding from life? Do you find excuses to avoid gatherings, special occasions, parties or even dating?

Do you find yourself panicking the moment the slightest bit of attention is placed upon you? Does the Idea of being in the limelight terrify you? Are you constantly worried that you’ll embarrass yourself infront of other people? If you’ve answered yes to some or all of these questions, chances are you suffer from some degree of social anxiety disorder.

I’m not trying to label you here. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you for having social anxiety. But if you do have it, you should be open and honest with yourself about it. There’s nothing worse than someone who blatantly has social anxiety disorder and does absolutely nothing about it. They simply carry on living their lives in complete terror of social interaction.

See, I used to be that person. For years, I’d go through my day dreading talking to ANYONE. I always felt judged, on the spot and generally awkward. I thought I was just doomed to suffer a life under the hot lights, never able to relax in the presence of others.

When I would interact people, the situation usually ended with me profusely sweating, tripping over my words and with a pounding heart that felt like it was going to pop out of my chest.

Really, I wasn’t even looking for a solution at that point. I just kind of accepted my anxiety and figured I’d have to deal with it for the rest of my life. I’d just grit my teeth and get through every social occasion, uncomfortable the whole time. Things were hopeless and I began to retract myself more and more from life.

Eventually, the problem got bad enough to where I finally broke down and started researching how to make it right. There just HAD to be a way to get this horrible anxiety out of my system. After LOTS of reading and much trial and error, I’ve found some really effective techniques to overcome social anxiety.

Fortunately for you, there won’t be any trial and error. These techniques work for anyone right off the bat. The best part? They don’t involve medication or therapy. They’re totally natural. I’ll be revealing this powerful plan to overcome social anxiety in just a moment. First, let’s get a better understanding of what social anxiety disorder is all about.

Understanding Your Social Anxiety

Social anxiety is characterized by the intense fear of embarrassing yourself. The fear is so extreme that you’ll avoid nearly any situation where you’d need to interact with one or several people at a time.

You may feel watched or like you’re being closely evaluated by those around you. In reality it’s all just in your head, but that can be a hard concept to grasp for most social anxiety sufferers. You’re probably constantly worried about what other people think of you and want to know how you stack up against someone else’s standards.

This fear of making a good impression is strongest with people you’re unfamiliar with.

Fear of embarrassing yourself in public is a constant worry and can sometimes lead to agoraphobia, the fear of venturing outside your own home.

Common triggers of social anxiety disorder include:

• Being teased by friends or people you know
• Speaking in public
• Being the center of attention (like at birthday parties)
• Having confrontational conversations
• Taking exams
• Dating
• Making conversation at work or at parties
• Facing rejection
• Speaking with authority figures
• Speaking up at meetings
• Making important phone calls
• Being called on in class or during a meeting
• Eating or Drinking in public
• Showing off your physique (at a pool or sauna)

There’s more but that covers a large portion of your high anxiety situations.

Your symptoms during these intense moments of social anxiety may resemble that of a panic attack. Sweating, shaking, pounding hearbeat and rushes of adrenaline are all common.

Personally, I had bouts of extreme blushing. My face would light up with red until I looked like a cherry tomato…not a good look.

The problem stems from low self-esteem and can totally be overcome with the right practices. I hope you’re excited because you’re about to learn these EXACT practices. Here’s where you start your road to recovery.

Tips to Overcome Social Anxiety

Avoid Caffeine Do yourself a favor and just stay away from it. You may think that coffee makes you more sociable with its temporary caffeine rush but you’ll really just be setting yourself up for a hard crash. Once that happens, your social anxiety will take hold and you’ll feel less confident than ever. In short, cut out the coffee until you’ve got your worry under control.

Avoid Alcohol This is pretty much the same rule that applies to caffeine. You may think that drinking makes you more confident while you’re buzzing, however, once morning hits, your social anxiety will just fill you with regret. I remember an office Christmas party where I had just one or two too many. Although I didn’t act like a drunk fool, my social anxiety made me feel otherwise the next day. I was filled with embarrassment and guilt over nothing at all. Don’t forget that alcohol is a depressant.

Get Enough Sleep Fatigue will bring on the effects of social anxiety and depression faster than anything else. It is crucial that you’re getting at least 7 or more hours of sleep a night. Lack of energy is sure to keep you down and quiet throughout the day. In short, get some rest and wake up feeling like a million bucks.

Change your focus In order to overcome social anxiety, you’ve got to learn to change your focus from your interior monologue to your outside surroundings. Pay attention to people around you. I call this technique “people watching”. It’s amazing what you observe when you just take a moment to get out of your own head. This distraction will take you away from your own personal criticisms. Remember while doing this to think in a positive if not comical light. Sometimes it takes a little extra effort to see the beauty and humor in life. When you step back and observe like this, you’ll realize how much we are all the same. Reading can be another great way to change your focus. By reading, you are actively following a script, storyline or dialogue. You won’t possibly be able to get trapped in your own negative thoughts if you’re entranced in a book. Unfortunately, this tactic doesn’t work as well with movies or tv because there are too many distractions and you don’t actively have to focus on the task at hand.

Questions are the Answer When you’re in a one on one conversation with someone or in a group conversation for that matter, the secret to relaxing is controlling the flow of dialogue. How do you do that? You ask questions to those in the conversation and you listen intently. See, most people (those without social anxiety at least) LOVE talking about themselves. They just can’t wait to tell you what they do, how their day was, what their pet peeves are etc. When you ask the right questions in a conversation you signal them to do what they really want to do…talk about themselves. Not only will this allow you to sit back and relax, the person talking to you will think you’re having a TERRIFIC conversation (mainly because they’re enjoying all their own talking). They’ll also think you’re a great person because you’ve listened so politely. Control the flow of conversation with questions. You’ll shift attention off yourself and shift the responsibility onto the person you’re speaking with. It’s a proven tactic to overcome social anxiety.

Employ Compliments When you’re in a social situation, find something unique, impressive or respectable about the person you’re speaking with. Almost everyone has a strong point. Look for the strong point in your conversation counterpart. Once you identify it, give them a subtle compliment. Here’s an example…If you’re talking to someone who has two small children try something like this: “Wow Jan! It’s pretty impressive you still have so much energy raising two kids. You look great. I would imagine it can get exhausting raising young kids, but you look like you’re doing it like a pro.” Here’s what you just accomplished in that little example. You gave them a subtle compliment, raising their own self-esteem AND you opened up a whole new line of conversation in which they can talk about themselves. You just became a WONDERFUL conversationalist. Nice job. Now that particular example is just one of an infinite number of possibilities. Get creative. Remember, you don’t have to sound like you’re sucking up to the person you’re talking to. Just be polite and humble. It will show with your intent listening. Listening is the key.

Find Your Passion Do you have a hobby or interest that you love? Are you an exceptional artist, athlete, computer guru, chef, video game player, writer, anything? When you emerse yourself in something you love, it builds self-esteem. Why? Because you’re improving yourself in some way – no matter how small.Having an interest you’re passionate about will give you something to talk about when it is your turn to speak. It’s so important to have some kind of creative outlet. Being good at anything will renew your zest for life and get your excited about tomorrow. If you don’t have a particular hobby or interest, it’s never too late to start. It can be anything. Sewing, fishing, woodworking, painting, exercising, watching movies, checking out new restaurants – ANYTHING. Just find your “something” and love doing it. This may sound simple, but you’d be surprised how many people have lost their enthusiasm for everday things. Having passion is what keeps us loving each new day. Find yours and follow it to your hearts desire.

The REAL Secret…

The secret is confidence. Gaining confidence corrects your self-esteem issues, reprograms your brain for success and gives you an optimistic, positive perspective.

The best way to start gaining confidence is by following tried and true methods that you can practice at once.

One of my favorite programs that teaches this is called “Unstoppable Confidence“. Unstoppable confidence is an ebook that systematically unlocks the doors holding you back from your most successful self.

It shows you MAJOR lifestyle changes you can start making right now to achieve your goals. The program identifies what’s holding you back from everything you want in life. Additionally it will teach you to give yourself the strength to change your life.

See, a lot of books that say they’ll increase your confidence just give you what I like to call a little “pep talk”. Sure they’ll make you feel good and motivate you for a day or so, but what then?

“Unstoppable Confidence” is different. It shows you how to apply EXACT written AND psychological exercises that let you see tangible improvement in your income, appearance and you’ll feel improvement in all your everyday interactions.

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Most often a Panic Attack will hit you at the most inconvenient moment possible.

It’s just the nature of the beast.

Maybe the Panic Attack will creep up on you slowly through a stessful day or maybe it will come out of nowhere and hit you like a ton of bricks.

No matter what the scenario, it’s rarely going to happen when you’re in a calm and soothing environment.

In my experience with Panic Attacks, I’d usually be in the middle of some arbitrary, moderately stessful activity.

Phone calls became huge anxiety triggers for me.

There were times when I would have the attacks in the middle of work while I was on hold with a vendor or a client and I would just immediately have to hang up.

Sometimes I would be sound asleep and wake in the night with a pounding chest and numbness of the extremities. That’s called a nocturnal Panic Attack.

On other occasions I would venture out of my apartment and in those few hours an attack would strike in the middle of a grocery store or while I was crossing the street.

Also, as you probably already know, the embarrassment from having the Panic Attack in front of others can heighten the symptoms of the attack.

Panic Attacks, especially for those who are new to them, are EXTREMELY frightening. To put it simply, it can feel like you’re going to die. Of course that’s not what’s really happening to your body, but many first time Panic Attack sufferers will describe the event saying:

“It felt like I was dying…”

You literally feel that you don’t have control over your body. Your extremities go numb, your adrenaline is racing, your head spins — Really there’s a whole host of symptoms that you begin to experience.

Let’s just quickly list some of them below. What I’m about to teach you will make a whole lot more sense when you see the symptoms laid out.

Panic Attack Symptoms

• Hyperventilation
• Dizziness
• An uncontrollable, rising sense of panic (terror, fear, anxiety)
• Light Headiness
• Heart Palpitations
• Chest Pains
• Dry Mouth
• Clammy Hands
• Numbness of the extremities
• Difficulty Swallowing
• Tremors
• Sweating
• Weakness
• Fatigue
• Urgent need to go to the bathroom

 

So up until now I’ve just told you about the chaos of an attack. It’ll happen when you don’t expect it at an inconvenient moment. You won’t understand immediately what’s happening to your body. It’s extremely frightening and there’s a whole bunch of other uncomfortable stuff you’ll be experiencing after the panic sets it. Sound like fun so far?

Yeah, I’m not too satisfied with that scenario either…So let’s fight back with techniques that WORK!

For all the reasons listed above, you’ll need to know the Panic Attack self defense techniques I’m about to show you. They’re easy to apply during an attack and they work like a charm in ANY Panic Attack situation.

Trust me, I speak from personal experience.

Step 1 : Recognizing the Attack

The first trick is the hardest for some. You must recognize the attack. Sounds easy enough, but when your anxiety was as bad as mine was, I was telling myself:

“Oh no, not this one. This one is for real. My heart is finally going to pop from all these attacks. My body can’t take anymore. I feel myself dying. I love you mom. I love you dad…” and so on.

It was devastating. And it’s that negative thought process and depressive attitude that feeds and escalates the attack.

So step 1 is recognize the attack. Know that it IS a panic attack and people don’t die from panic attacks. It’s that simple. Believe it. The utmost belief of this fact is where the power lies.

It may take you a minute or two to convince yourself. However, if it’s not your first Panic Attack, then you should be confident in identifying what’s happening to your body and mind.

Step 2 : Breath and Count

Next your going to start counting. Ignore everything around you. Nothing else matters. Get through this. That’s ALL that matters.

After you’ve recognized the attack, begin to count in your head. Count 1,2,3,4 — 1,2,3,4 — 1,2,3,4 pausing on the dashes and so on. Now you might be thinking:

“Hey, that’s easier said than done. When I’m having an attack I can’t even think.”

That’s why you’re not going to say or even think the numbers. You’re going to breath the numbers.

Take a deep breath in through your nose for the 1 and 2. Then take a deep breath out through your mouth for the 3 and 4. Practice this routine for a few minutes a day until it becomes an automated exercise for you.

Practicing really helps a lot. If you practice in a controlled environment, when a Panic Attack hits, this self-defense mechanism will seem routine.

Important:
If you are truly hyperventilating out of control when the Panic Attack hits, breathing into a paper bag will help you get to the point where you can begin this exercise. Once you have regained some control of your breathing, remove the paper bag and begin the Counting Technique.

When you go into these breathing exercises you immediately shift your brain’s focus from fear to action. You take control of your body and all the symptoms with this one important step.

Here’s why this Step is so important…

Remember above when I said it was important to list out the Panic Attack symptoms?

Well by now I’m sure you’re familiar with many of the symptoms. That’s not why I laid them out above.

I listed the symptoms above to illustrate a very important point. Panic Attack symptoms occur as a chain reaction to the offset of breathing that happens in the body.

When a Panic Attack hits, shortness of breath or hyperventilation kicks in. The change in oxygen intake is what causes the dizziness and light headiness.

When those symptoms kick in, your fear escalates. Your body goes into “emergency mode” and begins conserving blood flow and the circulation of oxygen. This leads to the numbness in your extremities.

All this time, further panic has been setting in and your heart beats have become stronger as your brain reaches a higher sense of urgency.

The symptoms go on and on but my main point here is that it all starts with controlled breathing.

Do NOT overlook your breathing in the fight against Panic Attacks. It is an absolutely essential tool.

Step 3 : Finding the Root Cause

This step is perhaps just as important as Step 2. Panic Attacks are traumatic. Soon after an attack, your mind catches up to what has just happened and a real emotional rollercoaster sets in.

You begin to question your stability and how capable you are of handling the world around you.

If you’ve had an attack, it’s important to contact a therapist or doctor shortly after.

Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not telling you to commit yourself to years of therapy for one panic attack.

However, let’s be honest with eachother.

Panic Attacks don’t happen without reason. Something triggered the attack. It could be stress at work. It could be stress in a relationship. It could be a General Anxiety Disorder. Whatever the cause is…don’t ignore it.

Find a therapist or doctor you are comfortable with and begin exploring why your attack occured. Don’t be afraid of the answers you might find.

Life is far too precious to spend worrying and panicking. Take the time and make the effort to resolve your Panic Attacks. Don’t put it off. Do it today.

The Panic Away Step-by-Step Program on the next page goes FAR beyond the strategies discussed here. Their proven system has helped thousands of individuals, just like yourself, end their Panic Attacks PERMANENTLY and diminish their anxiety to manageable levels.

As you can tell by now, I’m a tremendous advocate of their system — Primarily because it’s freed me from the bounds of my own anxiety and panic. I am a Panic Away success story.

I know you’ll find the same success with their program. You can start right now. Today can be the last day that your crippling anxiety and panic keeps its grips on you.