Dear B12, my questions, based on this ( and a previous lock in that went exactly the same way), are several in number and are as follows. How do I fight the attacks once they happen? How do I distinguish the effects, like faintness and such, from what is being caused by the panic attack and what is my heart acting up in response to the attack?When in doubt, consult a doctor.
How do I socially maneuver into smaller groups to help prevent these instances?When the group becomes too big, jus' tell them that you'd like to leave. Or try to pretend that you're not actually in the group. That's what I do when there's too many people around. Go for a short walk. You know, spend some time being introvertive (is that actually a word?).
My personal way of dealing with panic attacks is to get away from people and isolate myself as much as possible.
Just avoid large groups of people whenever possible.These are both terrible, terrible advice. The only thing doing this will accomplish is reinforcing the condition, and will also put you in the risk-zone of developing social phobia and the like. Obviously, avoiding a problem does not deal with it.
Going to these "lock ins" (what is that, by the way?) seem like good idea, especially since you appear to have fun at them the rest of the time.
Vector, the way I see it, going to these lock ins might be more similar to your shower therapy than having your mother pressing your face into a bowl of water (What the hell gave her the idea that would be helping anyway? It's just outright cruel). He said he had no trouble spending time with small groups of people and friends, so trying to expand the "safe" zone to slightly bigger social happenings would be the next logical step. As long as he have friends around him, and have fun (except for or despite the attacks), of course. If these "exercises" increases anxiety rather than the opposite, of course he should step down a notch and try something less taxing. All I wrote in the above post was under the assumption that he was in fact ready to face these kind of situations. Maybe I should have been a bit more clear on that.Exactly. Baby steps. And, as I said, step out if you get too uncomfortable.
@Vector: I am already going to a therapist, and was considering bringing this up at my next appointment, but will definitely do so now. I didn't really realize panic attacks could be reinforced into behavior, but now I do and am taking steps. I'm not going to go all 'herp derp testosterone mangrit' on the issue, but I will keep at it, and a change in tactics probably is necessary.Telling your therapist is a good idea, yeah. I'm a bit surprised that you hadn't already, if you've already got one.
Well, my meetings with her are spaced out pretty far, and when I saw her last I had only had one instance, which we discussed a little but ultimately dismissed. When I see her next I'm updating her on the other ones and telling her the seriousness of it.Anti-anxiety medications are controlled substances, and with the way ADHD and anti-anxiety medication is often abused and sold, people are hesitant to prescribe it. They get more hesitant the younger you are. I would not recommend Xanax, or other high-dose fast acting anti-anxiety medications. I'd instead recommend low-dose ones such as Librium so that you don't develop a dependency, gain a high tolerance, and don't get a high and a low point from taking it. It's also safer to prescribe, since it's much harder to abuse.
Well, my meetings with her are spaced out pretty far, and when I saw her last I had only had one instance, which we discussed a little but ultimately dismissed. When I see her next I'm updating her on the other ones and telling her the seriousness of it.
Vector, the way I see it, going to these lock ins might be more similar to your shower therapy than having your mother pressing your face into a bowl of water (What the hell gave her the idea that would be helping anyway? It's just outright cruel). He said he had no trouble spending time with small groups of people and friends, so trying to expand the "safe" zone to slightly bigger social happenings would be the next logical step. As long as he have friends around him, and have fun (except for or despite the attacks), of course. If these "exercises" increases anxiety rather than the opposite, of course he should step down a notch and try something less taxing. All I wrote in the above post was under the assumption that he was in fact ready to face these kind of situations. Maybe I should have been a bit more clear on that.
ADD are not treated with antidepressants, but with amphetamines (or alternatively, with atomoxetine, which has the added benefit of not being dependence-inducing). As for xanax and librium, both are short-term benzodiacepines, and AFAIK they're be pretty much interchangeable (in class we were recommended alprazolam in this context, but this is likely because it's more widely prescribed overall rather than it being inherently better or worse). They're only suitable for the beggining of the symptoms, though. For long term treatment, selective inhibitors of serotonin recaptation were recommended.I didn't know anti-depressants were being abused like amphetamines were, but I'm sure they are. In high school it seemed like there was always someone trying to sell their ADD meds and high test painkillers.
Ah-ha, I was mostly thinking that there had to be an interim step between "small groups of people and friends" (which, to me, means about 5-8 people, tops) and "400 people in a locked area that you can't get away from and are probably making a lot of noise."I agree with that. It's always hard to give advice with the vast Internetian Void separating us, though. So perhaps caution would be for the best.
I'm not even socially anxious, but I am pretty shy (internally)--and the latter of those two would be very difficult for me to deal with. If this is the interim step, then yeah, he should probably focus more on slowly introducing himself to that particular situation. I figure it'd probably work better to focus on calming down whatever makes him uncomfortable, though, before he moves on to whatever terrifies him.
@Vector: I can handle maybe 50 people at a time, so long as I know names and it isn't the whole judgmental first meeting. Of these 400 in the lock in, I know maybe 170-200, but the whole of us only assembled for listening to speakers and stuff, which I was handling ok. It was when we broke down into our designated discussion groups, of about 15 (of which I knew 6 well enough), that I just started freaking the fuck out.