Do You Know This Feeling? (Boredom -> Panic)

Hello,

Do you know this feeling when you are very bored and then your brain starts to get panicky and can't sleep?

I had this last night. What do you do against acute panic?

hoper

 

i dealt with this the last 7 years of my life.

 

what do you do when you get the panic attack?

 

Hi, @hoper

I am sorry that you experienced a panic attack, this has happened to me and it can be scary. I find that breathing techniques work for me.

If you’re breathing quickly during a panic attack, doing a breathing exercise can ease your other symptoms. Try this:
Breathe in as slowly, deeply and gently as you can, through your nose.
Breathe out slowly, deeply and gently through your mouth.
Some people find it helpful to count steadily from one to five on each in-breath and each out-breath.
Close your eyes and focus on your breathing.
You should start to feel better in a few minutes.

I tell myself that while it feels like I can't handle the attack, it will for sure pass and I will be okay.

My panic attacks occurred in the early weeks of getting tinnitus. I researched quite a bit about how to handle them and the breathing techniques came up each and every time. I can honestly say that this worked for me. It didn't take the attack away, but it helped me to at least have some control until it passed.

 

@hoper,
Get a warm drink and listen to soft relaxing music and try sleep again.
love glynis

 

I suggest that if you can’t fall off into sleep after some time trying, don’t try “too hard” to sleep: instead what works for me is to get out of my bed and do whatever else that’s calming, like reading or listening to music as per Glynis’ suggestion.

Important for me is to physically leave the bed for a bit if I’m really struggling to doze off... If I stay in bed for too long sleepless, it seems to train my brain to be used to not sleeping while in bed. The opposite happens if I have a few good sleeps in a row - my brain gets used to actually sleeping in bed and then it becomes easier for me.

 

take some alcohol free Passion flower drops
hop on Reddit for a few laughs
Watch a Disney film to fall asleep to.

If none of that works and if you are still spiraling out of control, then call a warm line and talk to someone for 15 minutes or so.

 

Simple solution for me: reading in bed. It is never boring, always interesting, super easy to fall asleep to, and that mental exercise is pretty great. That Jane austen can really write a book <3

 

I find I need to really focus on something else and let the body ride through it. Honestly love my Nintendo Switch for that and all I really need to do is play a few games of Tetris if nothing else, it's very absorbing and gets intense later. And after that I'm good.