Your heart is beating out of your chest. The air is gone from your lungs. Your body is rigid and you’re sweating through your clothes. The first of your racing thoughts: you’re having a heart attack. But that’s not it. It’s a panic attack, and when it’s over, there is relief in the fact that you’re okay, that you’ll live, but that relief is quickly replaced with more dread. Because… now what? What’s wrong with me? What if it happens again? Is there anything I can do to prevent it? In this special episode, Renee shares her personal experience with panic attacks and, together with Ed, discusses the science of these very real, very painful events that affect millions. Topics include:
- The danger of stockpiling emotion
- Lifting cars, and other uses for hormones
- Why resistance is the real enemy
- The 5 points in the vicious “Panic Cycle”
- Fear Center vs. Threat Center
- Role play: talking someone through a panic attack
- Putting yourself in a place of power
RESOURCES:
Check out the WAVE for Panic program for children, or Panic: Bring it On! for adults.
Explain the panic cycle to kids using this illustration.