(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Welcome to the Anxiety Road podcast. This is the involuntary journey finding treatment options and resources for people that have an anxiety condition or disorder. This podcast is treatment agnostic. My name is Gena Haskett. This is an episode about panic attacks, life changes that I'm about to experience, and a few resources to help you understand what a panic attack is and a panic disorder. So, I am having some challenges.
This life business is rough. When panic hits home is not metaphorical to me. A few days ago, I got some bad news. And it's one of those life changes that cannot be ignored. You have to deal with it. And it's going to cost a chunk of money. Now, I could kick the can down the road, but it's still going to cost me a lot of money. And for the first two or three days, I had this heaviness that caused me to curl myself into myself. And then the thousand and one thoughts of, well, what can I do?
How can I do this? Maybe I could try this. I could try that. I was in panic mode. And then I started having panic attacks. So, questioning what can I do. There's no hope. I'm screwed. There's got to be a way to fix this. I don't know what to do. And kept going in that orbit. And then my body started to lock up. And my heart and guts are saying, hey, we need a little attention here. And they were right. One of the hardest things to remember is to slow down and take a breath. A slow one.
And remember in that moment that you are actually okay. You take another breath, and you realize no matter what, you can handle it. Kind of, sort of, because you don't really have a choice. But you can handle it if you take it in small bits. And then taking another breath, thinking about the people I trust that I can ask for advice or help. And ultimately, you get to the point where in this moment, I can deal with this. Now, this is not an easy thing to do. But it's a necessary thing to do.
Because most of us just want to push ahead, push ahead, do this, get it over with. No. Sometimes you have to take a pause in the middle of turbulence and have the ability to focus on, okay, I have this problem. And I need to gently bring myself to how can we, my heart, my body, my mind, my spirit, how can this collective committee get back on track and deal with it. So my message for you in this day is to take a moment to take a breath. In that moment, find your safe place.
Have a grounding practice so that you can center yourself from going too far off the rail. If you're able, crank up your favorite music or watch your favorite program or most definitely pick up a book that you love and enjoy that brings you happiness or joy. I actually played some music I hadn't heard in a long time. And that was very helpful to soothe my soul and my spirit. Now, this knowledge comes from long-time experience and learning to deal with problems without destabilizing myself.
So I do have some resources for you. NAMI is the National Association of Mental Health. And there is a narrative story from Yasmina Rabbani-Lee that does a really good job of explaining her process of working through it. The Mayo Clinic has a page on panic attacks and disorders. And it's a fairly clear, close to plain English version of what you need to know in order to understand what you're experiencing and some of the things that you can do about it.
There is a four-page brochure from the World Health Organization. It's a little more dry, but it provides you with a lot of information that you might need. From the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, there is a 2022 brochure called Panic Disorder When Fear Overwhelms. It does not seem to be recently edited. It contains some of the same information. It's a little bit more readable. It's in plain English. That should be helpful to you.
And all of these contain the same information, but they present the information in different ways. And so you can go through them and find the version that works for you. In the meantime, I am going to try to figure out what the heck I'm going to do. And that may involve a reduction of the number of episodes, and I'm already doing two a month. But I need to get this resolved, and I don't know how long it's going to take. So trust the process. Do the best you can.
And I will catch you, most assuredly, sometime on the Anxiety Road. You can visit anxietyroadpodcast.com for links and other information resources. You can listen, download, or follow the podcast via a number of iOS apps and Android podcasting applications. You can find the show on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Gaana, Pandora, or on the web at listennotes.com. Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements.
Always seek the advice of a qualified health care provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder. This podcast is intended for information and education purposes only, and nothing in the program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric, or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.