Panic
Attack Self Help - The Damaging Effects of Negative Suggestion
If you've been looking, unsuccessfully, for some great panic
attack self help ideas, then perhaps you should consider the
power of negative suggestions.
Throughout our lives, we're constantly faced with negative
suggestions - "Beware" signs, "Don't Hit Your Head" signs,
"Don't Run With Scissors." You get the idea. But here's the
problem with all these negative suggestions: the more we try to
avoid doing something, the more likely we are to actually go
ahead and do it.
In its simplest form, this is often simply a rebellious desire
to do something that society, or our own brain, is telling us
not to do. But in its more complex form, it's a very dangerous
and subconscious power that our minds have over us.
Think for a moment about the words your mind speaks to you on a
daily basis regarding your panic attacks. In a busy area, when
you feel flustered, you may tell yourself over and over again,
"Don't have a panic attack, don't have a panic attack." If you
experience a physical symptom that's caused by your anxiety,
such as palpitations, for example, you may repeat in your head
again and again, "I'm not having a heart attack, I'm not having
a heart attack."
On a basic level, you're doing a good thing - you're reassuring
yourself.
But on a deeper level, and on a level that's still very real to
your subconscious, your mind is yelling at you the thoughts
you're trying hardest not to have. So, "Don't have a panic
attack, don't have a panic attack" becomes "Have a panic attack!
Have a panic attack!" And "I'm not having a heart attack, I'm
not having a heart attack" becomes "Having a heart attack!
Having a heart attack!"
If you want proof that negative suggestions do, in fact, affect
all of us in this way, then try this little test.
I want you to try as hard as you can not to think of an elephant.
My command to you was not to think of an elephant, but the
command "think of an elephant" is still embedded in there, and
your mind finds it impossible not to think of an elephant. The
moment I gave you a command not to think of an elephant, an
image of one appeared in your mind.
And the thoughts that are inspired by your panic and anxiety
disorders are no different.
Simply being aware of how negative suggestion has the power to
worsen your problems with panic and anxiety will allow you to
alter very slightly the way you think, and instantly create a
better frame of mind that's more beneficial in fighting off
panic attacks and the horrible things associated with them.
The key is to turn your negative suggestion thinking into
positive suggestion thinking. So instead of the thought "Don't
have a panic attack," which in your head becomes "Have a panic
attack," you can think something more along the lines of, "I'll
be okay," or "This will pass and I'll be fine again." Notice in
those last two thoughts that there are no concealed negative
suggestions hiding in there.
Now that you're aware of the destructive nature of negative
suggestions, you'll discover that you experience them on a very
frequent basis. But now that you know how to recognize them, you
will be able to nip them in the bud, and eventually be able to
cut them out of your thoughts completely.
This simple reorganizing of your thoughts is an incredibly
powerful strategy, and one of the most beneficial panic attack
self help concepts that you should make a part of your life from
this point on.
About the author:
Since overcoming a lifelong battle with anxiety and panic
disorder in 2007, Alex Taylor now devotes his time to helping
others recover. He achieves this via his highly-acclaimed online
course, "Beat Panic Today." You can experience the same results
that many others have experienced by accessing the course right
now, free of charge, by going to Alex's website: http://www.PreventYourPanic.com
