Mark
Active Member
Since my panic attacks a few years ago I have avoided long journeys by myself where possible although this has not always been easy. I have not really told anyone I was consciously avoiding long journeys and just last week I was picking up my daughter which involved a 60 mile journey to the airport by myself. As if the situation could not have been worse, it was darkness and it entailed going through a large city to get to the airport on the outskirts.
What happened next?
As I was driving the car I felt cool, calm and collected and in total control then suddenly it hit me, I was in a very tricky situation which would have caused significant panic in years gone by. The more I thought of my previous panic attacks the more concerned I became about the journey ahead. As it involved a significant stretch of driving on the motorway and the main roads I was conscious of the hard shoulder often disappearing. Gradually my concern and my panic began to rise, especially when there was nowhere to pull over, and it hit home. I was potentially thinking myself into a panic attack!
Controlling your situation
Looking back to years gone by when I suffered from panic attacks I remembered my calming techniques, my breathing exercises and making the immediate environment as "user-friendly" as possible. So, I turned down the temperature on the car’s thermostat, I wound down the window, I knocked off the radio and began to breathe slowly but deeply. These were situations where my headaches re-emerged, those I had suffered when taking previous panic attacks, and I knew I was potentially on the verge of another attack. Where would I go? What will I do? How would I get home? These were all questions going through my head.
Battling through
I concentrated on the fact it was a straight road to the airport, there were turnoffs, there were misleading signposts but if I headed straight ahead I would get there. Then, disaster struck!
There were roadworks on one side of the motorway which led to a detour taking me through a smaller but still very highly populated town. It was darkness, there was nobody about and the diversion signposts were frankly useless. I began to think what I could do, would the SatNav on my phone work, would there be signposts to the airport but very quickly it became apparent I was on my own. I then decided to pull into a petrol station and ask the assistant the best way to the airport at which point a fellow motorist pulled up asking me exactly the same question. Hey presto, someone to share the journey with!
Help was at hand
We decided that I would take the lead and we would take the directions given by the assistant at the petrol station. Everything was working to plan and then we stopped at traffic lights at which point my fellow motorist jumped out of his car and came to see me. He had a SatNav on his iPhone and told me there was a turnoff just down the road which we needed to take. This seemed straightforward, very sensible and immediately reduced my panic. However, I took the wrong turn, my fellow motorist went another way and I was back on my own!
After asking two more people the way to the airport I then pulled into a service station and asked somebody else. Thankfully, the turnoff was just around the corner and from thereon it was a relatively straight road to the airport. I was late by about 15 min, my daughter and her friend were becoming concerned but I was there and the journey back, with company in the car, was easy.
Be proud of yourself
No matter how long ago you suffered from phobias or panic attacks they can sometimes emerge to test you again. While normally you would not necessarily have to face these head-on and make a difficult situation worse, sometimes there is no option. Personally, I felt my panic attacks emerge in my head, my physical reaction was nowhere near what I expected and I knew I could control this and avoid a full blown attack. The diversion, the lack of direction to the airport and concerns that I may be going the wrong way pushed me to the edge although I was able to control my thoughts and my actions and am proud to say I avoided a panic attack. You can do the same…………
What happened next?
As I was driving the car I felt cool, calm and collected and in total control then suddenly it hit me, I was in a very tricky situation which would have caused significant panic in years gone by. The more I thought of my previous panic attacks the more concerned I became about the journey ahead. As it involved a significant stretch of driving on the motorway and the main roads I was conscious of the hard shoulder often disappearing. Gradually my concern and my panic began to rise, especially when there was nowhere to pull over, and it hit home. I was potentially thinking myself into a panic attack!
Controlling your situation
Looking back to years gone by when I suffered from panic attacks I remembered my calming techniques, my breathing exercises and making the immediate environment as "user-friendly" as possible. So, I turned down the temperature on the car’s thermostat, I wound down the window, I knocked off the radio and began to breathe slowly but deeply. These were situations where my headaches re-emerged, those I had suffered when taking previous panic attacks, and I knew I was potentially on the verge of another attack. Where would I go? What will I do? How would I get home? These were all questions going through my head.
Battling through
I concentrated on the fact it was a straight road to the airport, there were turnoffs, there were misleading signposts but if I headed straight ahead I would get there. Then, disaster struck!
There were roadworks on one side of the motorway which led to a detour taking me through a smaller but still very highly populated town. It was darkness, there was nobody about and the diversion signposts were frankly useless. I began to think what I could do, would the SatNav on my phone work, would there be signposts to the airport but very quickly it became apparent I was on my own. I then decided to pull into a petrol station and ask the assistant the best way to the airport at which point a fellow motorist pulled up asking me exactly the same question. Hey presto, someone to share the journey with!
Help was at hand
We decided that I would take the lead and we would take the directions given by the assistant at the petrol station. Everything was working to plan and then we stopped at traffic lights at which point my fellow motorist jumped out of his car and came to see me. He had a SatNav on his iPhone and told me there was a turnoff just down the road which we needed to take. This seemed straightforward, very sensible and immediately reduced my panic. However, I took the wrong turn, my fellow motorist went another way and I was back on my own!
After asking two more people the way to the airport I then pulled into a service station and asked somebody else. Thankfully, the turnoff was just around the corner and from thereon it was a relatively straight road to the airport. I was late by about 15 min, my daughter and her friend were becoming concerned but I was there and the journey back, with company in the car, was easy.
Be proud of yourself
No matter how long ago you suffered from phobias or panic attacks they can sometimes emerge to test you again. While normally you would not necessarily have to face these head-on and make a difficult situation worse, sometimes there is no option. Personally, I felt my panic attacks emerge in my head, my physical reaction was nowhere near what I expected and I knew I could control this and avoid a full blown attack. The diversion, the lack of direction to the airport and concerns that I may be going the wrong way pushed me to the edge although I was able to control my thoughts and my actions and am proud to say I avoided a panic attack. You can do the same…………
