“To escape fear, you have to go through it, not around.” ― Richie Norton, Résumés Are Dead and What to Do About It
You’re gasping for air, begging for a single breath. You open your eyes, but you can only see a blurred vision of reality. Your legs are paralyzed and there is a deafening noise in your ears. You are debilitated, trapped in your own body. Suddenly, everything is pitch black and finally there is calm. This is a minute description of what my belonephobia panic attacks feel like. Since I was a child, I have been experiencing panic attacks, specifically from my extreme fear of needles and veins. For those who have never endured these fits of terror, the physical sensation is comparable to that of a heart attack or the mental anguish of being buried alive, trapped. Although this anxiety has affected my life negatively, it has taught me to face my fears. While it has only been recently that I identified my symptoms as panic attacks, this disorder has severely impacted my life for multiple years. Unlike most people, a simple visit to the physician’s office causes me extreme anxiety; hyperventilating, loss of leg function and sky-rocketing heart rate are all caused by this situation. Albeit, the physical symptoms are terrifying, the mental ones can be as well. When I …show more content…
I spent many years going around my fears, avoiding them at all costs. I sacrificed my health and well-being to the cruel demon of fright. My story is uncommon, many suffers of panic attacks take years to recover and some don’t recover at all. Every physician’s visit and blood test is still a battle in my mind to maintain calm, but with the tools I’ve gained from counselling, I can manage it. My advice to anyone who is paralyzed by fear would be the following, you have two simple choices - let the fear control you or you can choose to try and control
You’re gasping for air, begging for a single breath. You open your eyes, but you can only see a blurred vision of reality. Your legs are paralyzed and there is a deafening noise in your ears. You are debilitated, trapped in your own body. Suddenly, everything is pitch black and finally there is calm. This is a minute description of what my belonephobia panic attacks feel like. Since I was a child, I have been experiencing panic attacks, specifically from my extreme fear of needles and veins. For those who have never endured these fits of terror, the physical sensation is comparable to that of a heart attack or the mental anguish of being buried alive, trapped. Although this anxiety has affected my life negatively, it has taught me to face my fears. While it has only been recently that I identified my symptoms as panic attacks, this disorder has severely impacted my life for multiple years. Unlike most people, a simple visit to the physician’s office causes me extreme anxiety; hyperventilating, loss of leg function and sky-rocketing heart rate are all caused by this situation. Albeit, the physical symptoms are terrifying, the mental ones can be as well. When I …show more content…
I spent many years going around my fears, avoiding them at all costs. I sacrificed my health and well-being to the cruel demon of fright. My story is uncommon, many suffers of panic attacks take years to recover and some don’t recover at all. Every physician’s visit and blood test is still a battle in my mind to maintain calm, but with the tools I’ve gained from counselling, I can manage it. My advice to anyone who is paralyzed by fear would be the following, you have two simple choices - let the fear control you or you can choose to try and control