This week’s topic: PANIC ATTACKS
I bet you read it screaming, right? Anyway, don’t freak out (or better yet, don’t PANIC).
I decided to focus on a topic that most people feel uncomfortable talking about or sharing their experiences with because I think it’s important to make sure everyone knows these things don’t make you crazy. Panic attacks or panic disorder affects one in ten people.
Here are some signs that you may suffer from panic disorder (note: this is not a bad thing, this just means that you can use the following information to help you better understand and get control of your feelings and emotions) :
- shortness of breath
- chest pain or discomfort
- shaking
- feeling detached from the world around you
- feeling dizzy or faint
- fear of dying or going insane
- feeling like you have no control over yourself
There are treatments and medications, but I’m here to provide you with a couple of websites and that actually do a fantastic job at calming my panic attacks (free of charge!). Even if you don’t have panic attacks (which 9/10 of you don’t) these are AWESOME stress relievers.
- The Quiet Place Project: 90 Second Relaxation Exercise
- This is the best for me. It puts things in perspective each and every time I do it.
- This Is Sand
- Literally just sand streams out of the mouse. Create a masterpiece while you calm down.
- The Flowy Game
- I have yet to try this game, but I just downloaded it! It’s caption is quite direct: “designed to combat panic attacks” so I’m thinking this could be pretty awesome. I’ll give a review next week.
Sometimes, you can have exercise induced anxiety, which can lead to a panic attack.
This is because a lot is happening in the body when you’re exercising: heartbeat rapidly increases, blood flow increases, and you need a lot of oxygen. Forgetting to eat and stay hydrated are big causes in possible anxiety attacks post working out.
Hope this wasn’t too serious for you guys this week, it’s just a topic very close to my heart and was on my mind! Hey, even Olivia from the Bachelor gets panic attacks sometimes, and who doesn’t love her??
Take it easy this week and love yourself guys.
GIVE ME IDEAS FOR NEXT WEEK, anything you want to hear about relating to Physical & Mental Health?
More detailed help involving panic disorder:
Panic Disorder Symptoms, Causes, Signs, Diagnosis and Treatments
Anxiety disorders are getting a lot of attention in psychology lately…might be an interesting one!
I love that you covered every aspect, from statistics to signs and symptoms to measures to get things under control. It’s obvious you’ve got a lot of knowledge on the topic, and your inclusion of more detailed help comes off as very professional. (And, as always, love the gifs. Olivia.)
Very important to have ways like this to deal with stress. Even though I don’t get technical panic attacks, I think we can all feel stressed and panicked by life at times. It is important to have healthy, massaging ways to calm our minds down in a rapid fire world.
Love this post!!! So relevant to college students especially who are stressed out every single day! I just tried the sand thing and it was pretty awesome and started to relieve some of my stress. I think it was really informative how you explained the symptoms of panic attacks and provided many solutions to them!
I have never heard of the Flowy Game so I’m excited to see what you think!! I would really like to hear about maybe techniques to starting new healthy habits. I’ve been thinking about New Years resolutions and how to truly keep up with them throughout the year. I enjoyed reading your blog and I can’t wait for next weeks!
Angelica,
I just did the Sand thing for like ten minutes and it’s super addicting and relaxing but also so simple! I remember going to the Art Museum in Boston and you could actually make these sand things just like the website. It was so relaxing and one of my favorite things.. ever. Awesome post!
I love this post because even though I do not suffer from panic attacks, I do feel stressed. This post offered some good relaxing techniques/hyperlinks for staying calm during college. I have three exams and five quizzes this week so I think I will be using some of these methods. I also need to remember that I need to stay hydrated and eat after exercising because I usually forget to drink a significant amount of liquid every day.
I really like how you have a problem, solution format in this post. With adding the GIFs you sort of make light of panic attacks, which I think is a good thing because many people would see this and feel okay with admitting they relate. You gave cool examples and resources as to how to deal with panic attacks. Great post!
Your gifs are amazing and I love how you included Olivia from The Bachelor :’). Also, your idea to tackle the topic of panic disorders is really interesting, and I like how you incorporated ways to reduce and avoid panic attacks rather than just talking about their definition and symptoms. I feel stressed and panicked at times and will definitely try out the sites that you mentioned!
I love all the websites that you gave as stress relievers because as all the exams are approaching, who does not need stress relief? This is another very relatable post! I also liked how you explained that you yourself experience panic disorders as well because it enhanced the blog even more.