Surviving John

Tom suffers from panic symptoms frequently. He finds daily tasks such as grocery shopping and going to work difficult to carry out. He starts to experience feelings of anxiety and apprehension everyday. He often feels dread for no real reason and finds it hard to let go of worrying thoughts.

Leaving work he has to go to the supermarket to pick up some groceries. As he enters the supermarket a slight jolt of fear passes through him. He fears of having another panic attack in public. He tries to stay calm and avoids eye contact with anyone that comes his way. He sees that there aren’t any empty checkouts. His throat tightens and he feels his heart jumps.

Memories of a previous panic attack flood back to him and the panic symptoms really start. At the line he feels that everyone is looking at him. He feels terrified and afraid of making an embarrassment of himself. Blood runs to his face and he starts to tremble. The anxiety and panic symptoms increase and become intolerable.

At this point all he wants to do is escape and get out of there. He thinks that he’s really going crazy. He manages to get served and he hurriedly leaves without turning back. Visibly shaken and still breathing rapidly he replays the incident over and over in his head. Walking back home the anxiety and panic sensations remain.

If you suffer from an anxiety disorder this story might be familiar to you. Your panic attacks may be worse however. Usually panic attacks last for minutes but panic symptoms can go on for hours. What’s more panic attacks entail other scary symptoms. Depersonalization and derealization are two symptoms that can arise during attacks.

Symptoms like these create disturbing and seemingly unreal experiences. They can be extremely terrifying, confusing and disorientating for a sufferer. What’s more is that these symptoms can trigger at any time, even when asleep. The unpredictability of panic attacks makes daily life hard to bear.

A sufferer might frequently think about the next attack. Usually a sufferer will avoid similar situations where they have previously had an attack. Most of the time a sufferer will go about his or her day experiencing anxiety and worry throughout.

They may try to avoid confrontation and standing out especially in social situations. Common traits include low self-confidence and shyness. These characteristics only support their belief that they’ have no control over panic symptoms. Thankfully, even the most severe cases of anxiety can be cured. Find out how at the Panic Symptoms Blog.