Panic Attacks Info Tip #2: When Fear Comes, Wait


In our last post we looked at an important Panic Attacks Info Tip: to Expect, Allow, and Accept – not fight, resist or deny- when your anxiety does come.

Today we will expand a little more on our 10 Rules for Coping with Panic Attacks, specifically Rules #5: Wait for the Fear to Pass, and #6: Notice When it Fades.

Today’s Panic Attacks Info Tip is: When Fear Comes, Wait.

Let it be.

When you experience fear and anxiety or an impending panic attack, your natural impulse is to flee and run rather than to stay and feel the fear. But this is the exact opposite of what you need to do in order to get better. Continue reading →

Posted in Agoraphobia, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Panic Attacks, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Vogue Magazine Features an Anxiety Success Story

Vogue April 2012I was reading the April 2012 issue of Vogue last weekend. Imagine my surprise when I read an article about one of the contributing fashion editors using the Linden Method- one of the programs I have used myself and recommend for overcoming panic attacks.

Plum Skyes, a well known English fashionista and socialite, struggled for 3 years with chronic anxiety and panic attacks. Continue reading →

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Panic Attacks Info Tip #1: Expect, Allow, and Accept Your Fear


Searching for panic attacks info can sometimes be anything but easy. You may Google your symptoms, read a good article, or be lead to an anxiety forum where you hear conflicting advice. And sometimes the stuff we read on the internet can be downright scary. As if we’re already not scared enough!

One of the goals of writing PanicFreeMe.com is to help demystify some of the confusing information floating around out there. Someone asked me recently how I know so much about panic attacks and anxiety. The answer is just this- I’ve lived it.

In our last post we looked at an outline of 10 Rules for Coping with Panic Attacks. We used positive coping statements throughout. The positive self talk statements were simple, concise and to the point. Today we will delve a little deeper into some basic, but important panic attacks info. Continue reading →

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Coping With Panic Attacks: 10 Rules


Using positive coping statements helps in coping with panic attacks. It is widely used in cognitive therapy to correct the distorted way an anxious person looks at things.

Before we look at the 10 rules for coping with panic attacks, know that talking to yourself in a calming way will make you feel more in control. Here are some examples of positive self talk:

  • I can do it
  • I can handle it
  • I can cope
  • Easy does it

Notice that the statements are simple, brief and positive. Easy to say and easy to remember in a pinch. And we will use positive self talk statements in this exercise. Continue reading →

Posted in Agoraphobia, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Attacks, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder | Tagged | 2 Comments

Spring Break Stress, Shopping Malls & A 7 Lane Highway


The kids are on spring break here and yesterday I did my motherly duty and drove my teen and her friend to an amusement theme park (6 Flags Great Adventure) which is over 100 miles away. It was a day of fun and roller coasters for them with school freinds and a day completely alone for me.

I let the girls off at the front gate where they met up with more freinds and then I had 8 hours to kill all by myself. Continue reading →

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Klonopin and Anxiety- Then and Now


In my long history of dealing with panic attacks, I freely admit I was completely dependent on Klonopin to help me manage my anxiety for 2 decades. For me, Klonopin and anxiety went hand in hand – when the anxiety went up, so did the Klonopin.

It wasn’t a great time. Here is a journal entry from 9 years ago:

I was filled with such anxiety tonight- earlier today I did the whole day without medication: basketball practice with Samantha (the 1st practice), and dinner this evening with my in-laws. Then Bob drove me home at around 8pm and I started feeling really anxious.

I took 2mg of Klonopin around 9pm and thankfully it kicked in.

I was just crying because I feel so anxious lately- my pill bottle is less than half full. That means yet another trip to the doctor to get more. So sick of this.

I am so full fledged into panic and social anxiety symptoms lately- I haven’t been to church in 3 months. I hate that. Part of me justifies it because I work- but the truth is, I have been avoiding it and it has become a monster in my mind.pills

And I have a splitting headache right now too. I hate this. Please Lord get me out of this anxiety.

/// End of journal entry.///

I was so riddled with stress and anxiety and panic attacks back then. It was day in and day out constant. And the only thing I knew to do to help myself was take another Klonopin. That and pray desperately for relief.

Weaning off Klonopin was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. The withdrawal was brutal, but it was definitely worth it. So thankful I don’t have to pop 2 o 3 or 4mg anymore just to calm down on any given day.

Sometimes I need to see reminders from my past (like the journal entry here) to remind me how far I’ve come.

Today if I am stressed, I can go to the gym, or I can journal about it, or email a friend. I can choose to sip my wonderful Holy Basil Tea before facing an anxiety trigger. Or if I like, I can take a dropper-ful of PureCalm to support my adrenal glands.

So thankful to have healthy choices today to manage and overcome anxiety. It’s no longer the Klonopin and anxiety dance for me.

I really have calmed down a heck of a lot. I still have my moments, but I don’t feel like a caged animal all the time. It is a blessed relief. And thank you for being a part of my journey.

I wish you peace,

Jill G.


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Fitting In At Work


Fitting in at work is a “work in progress” at my job. I’ve not been there a year yet, and I’m not trying to rush the process, but I had a little glimmer of happiness in this area the other day and couldn’t wait to share it with you.

Since my anxiety has always made fitting in with people a struggle, this is something I will be working on as I continue to get better. Continue reading →

Posted in Panic Attacks, Social Anxiety Disorder | Tagged | 7 Comments

Feeling Better One Day, Then Defeated The Next

We look to our doctors for answers or scour the internet searching for something to help us understand why, when we feel so great one day that a setback can come and absolutely devastate us.

It’s as if zero progress has been made. Suddenly we get a resurgence of anxiety symptoms so forcefully and acutely after weeks or months of absence. Old symptoms or even frightening new ones appear one after the other, panic attacks return out of nowhere, and we are exhausted, demoralized, defeated, and angry… Continue reading →

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