I totally understand, Anon. But maybe understanding a little more about what's happening will help you feel not quite so scared.
If you were out taking a walk and a loose dog started barking at you and chasing you, scaring you, and you ran all the way home, once you got inside your heart would be pounding, right? Right. That's because you ran, but it's also because of the flight-or-fight response, something we've had since the cave days. Our hormonal levels of adrenalin and cortisol actually soar to give us the ability to run fast and make decisions quickly to keep ourselves out of the way of that sabertooth tiger.
When we have anxiety disorders, something in our flight-or-fight disorders gets out of balance. It triggers itself too often and at non-threatening things. But the hormones still flow, and we still respond to them AS IF we were in danger, even though we are not.
Please tell your psychologist that your panic attacks have escalated to this level, and are causing this response in you. There may be some exercises she or he can give you that will help you consciously calm your system down when this is going on.
When you are having the palpitations, are you also fearful or anxious at the same time about something else? Or do they just seem to come out of the blue? Are there very stressful things going on in your life right now?
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I totally understand, Anon. But maybe understanding a little more about what's happening will help you feel not quite so scared.
If you were out taking a walk and a loose dog started barking at you and chasing you, scaring you, and you ran all the way home, once you got inside your heart would be pounding, right? Right. That's because you ran, but it's also because of the flight-or-fight response, something we've had since the cave days. Our hormonal levels of adrenalin and cortisol actually soar to give us the ability to run fast and make decisions quickly to keep ourselves out of the way of that sabertooth tiger.
When we have anxiety disorders, something in our flight-or-fight disorders gets out of balance. It triggers itself too often and at non-threatening things. But the hormones still flow, and we still respond to them AS IF we were in danger, even though we are not.
Please tell your psychologist that your panic attacks have escalated to this level, and are causing this response in you. There may be some exercises she or he can give you that will help you consciously calm your system down when this is going on.
When you are having the palpitations, are you also fearful or anxious at the same time about something else? Or do they just seem to come out of the blue? Are there very stressful things going on in your life right now?
March 30, 2010 - 9:28amThis Comment
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