Top 10 Ways to Panic Proof Your Life, Part 2 of 3

In the last article, I shared five of the ten most helpful things I did to "panic-proof" my life. In this article, I will share four more of the ten strategies that helped me get free from panic and agoraphohbia the most.

5) I talked myself into a new reality

You could say I learned to lie to myself. But why not? I was sad, sick, and weak. I didn't want to keep telling myself that, even though it was the truth. After much practice with self-talk, I finally became the narrator of the life I wanted. I told myself I was happy, healthy and strong until I eventually believed it in the face of all opposing evidence.

You would have laughed at me. I made a banner with a computer program that read "I am Happy, Healthy, and Strong!" and posted it over the doorframe of my bedroom. I posted 3x5 cards all over the house - on the bathroom mirror, at my place at the dining table, etc.. I just bombarded myself with this lie until.....one day the lie became the truth.

Once I believed that I was truly happy, healthy, and strong, I felt different and acted different. I approached challenges with less anxiety and expected to succeed. My successes reinforced my new positive beliefs and soon a positive momentum was set in motion toward recovery.

It sounds crazy, I know, but I pretty much brainwashed myself.

4) I learned to be right here, right now

Keeping my mind on present activity is one of the main secrets I discovered for living free of anxiety. With agoraphobia, I was wasting a lot of time and energy worrying about things in the future I couldn’t do anything about. When my mind focused on things I was doing in the present, anxiety tended to fade into activity. I learned a number of methods to keep my mind fixed in the present in order to recover.

One of the ways I kept my mind focused in the present was by making a daily appointment with my self for worrying. I set aside a time each day during which I would try to worry about everything I could. The rest of the day, I kept a notepad with me and jotted down anything that came up that I was worried about. I disciplined myself to wait to worry about it until my next "worry appointment."

This simple strategy helped me put off worry and keep my mind on what I was doing in the moment.

 The next few things I did to get free of panic are admittedly controversial because they are "spiritual" in nature. Make no mistake, I am not pushing "religion" onto you. But I want you to know about everything I did to recover from panic and agoraphobia.

3) I put my trust in a Creator

This has nothing to do with the Creation vs. Evolution debate or religion vs. science. I was far too desperate to get into intellectual stuff like that. I HAD to believe I was created to save my life from fear......so don't tell me if you think I am wrong.

For me, one of the biggest problems that came with agoraphobia was the inability to trust my body. I was always afraid that I might stop breathing or that my heart might stop beating, especially during panic attacks. Other times, I constantly scanned my body for strange symptoms and got scared at the slightest unexplainable twinge. I had an insatiable need for assurance that my physical body was healthy and okay.

Thinking of my conception and birth as a biological coincidence or random event made me feel really insecure about whether or not the vital organs of my body would continue to function.

Nearly all faith traditions across history share a similar creation story and putting trust in a creator gave me comfort that the One who created my body would maintain its functioning.

2) I traded relationships based on fear for relationships based on unconditional love.

At the time of my first panic attack I lived with the fear that my parents would not approve of me if I was not perfect in everything that I did. I lived in fear that my peers might also reject me if I did not live up to their expectations. In short, my significant relationships were based on fear.
Maybe you have people in your life who put unrealistic or perfectionistic expectations on you, too.

In the end, I replaced fear-based relationships with relationships based on unconditional love. In some cases, as with my parents, I had to changed the nature of existing relationships. In other cases, I had to replace old friendships with new ones. Without letting myself feel smothered by the unrealistic expectations I perceived others had of me, I was literally able to breathe easier.

There are many "toxic" people in the world who will put unrealistic expectations on you which can lead to anxiety. You do well to surround yourself with people who offer unconditional acceptance.

I was a total people pleaser like most of us with anxiety disorders. I discovered that the more I was around critical people I had to constantly live up to high standards to please and get approval from - the more anxious I became.

The more I surrounded myself with unconditional acceptance, the more I experienced peace of mind.

In the next article, I will tell you the #1 factor in my recovery from agoraphobia.

Article Source: http://www.agoraphobia.net

Stephen Price is a recovered agoraphobic with an informational website on agoraphobia. Learn all of the strategies he used to personally recover from agoraphobia in his new e-book, available online at: www.agoraphobia.ws/goodbyeanxiety.htm

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