Hey there! I used to have awful panic attacks (not withdrawal related) and it took me a few years to get them under control. I was getting them daily, and they made me completely unable to function. They were so bad, I was convinced I was dying or “going crazy” and ended up in the hospital for a few times.
The biggest thing that has helped for me is to stop being anxious about the anxiety- sounds weird, but the more you hyper focus and worry when you get a panic attack, the worse it’s going to get. The best thing to do is accept that it’s and do what you can do distract yourself.
The way I best understand is that panic and anxiety can be extremely distressing for our brain. Remember that intense anxiety is basically a “fight, flight, freeze” response - your brain thinks you’re in danger and is heading into survival mode to protect you. The panic attacks are a extreme response to some sort of trigger that your brain interpreted as a life threatening situation (think of a veterans response ton fireworks - brain interprets that as a danger due to past traumatic experience in war and reacts as such). . The most important thing you can do is let the brain know that your safe and that it doesnt need this extreme response. So when you distract yourself and continue on with your daily tasks, you’re essentially signaling to your brain that you’re not in need of protection- that you’re safe!
Understanding the function of anxiety and panic helped me incredibly. Now when I feel the symptoms of intense anxiety or an attack, I simply recognize that my brain got triggered by something and I will let it do it’s thing while I continue with my day. Essentially telling you anxiety “hey, I know why you’re here, but I don’t need you right now. I’m going to continue what I was doing, let me know when you’re done”.
Anyway, I hope this helps! Panic attacks can be absolutely terrifying, so I feel your pain!
