This is the second of an 8 week series reviewing panic and anxiety from a group therapy point of view. It is based on the group therapy services available through Langley Memorial Hospital. Feel free to follow along and answer the questions posted in each section.

Session 2: Don’t Fight Panic

Did You Know:

• Resisting or fighting initial panic symptoms is likely to make them worse.

Tags: 4-step deep breathing, anxiety, carbon dioxide, carotid body massage, chest constriction, deep breathing, dizziness, fear, first fear, heart palpitations, heart rate, humor, nervous system, oxygen, panic, panic attacks, relaxation, second fear, sweaty palms

I decided to track my moods intensely and also experiment on myself quite a bit with certain herbs and diets. I have written a couple of times before how a gluten-free vegan diet, and how reducing my refined sugar intake have drastically aided in helping me stabilize my mood rollercoaster. Another thing that greatly helped me was tracking my moods over time in a journal. I was able to take a few months and track my mania, depression, mixed states of every variety, as well as social, environmental, hormonal, and physical triggers for said mood shifts. I found that many of my mood changes are triggered by certain things (sexual assault triggers, social conflicts, hormonal shifts, dietary changes, etc) and behind those triggers is a larger more independent cycle of ups and downs lasting a couple of months at a time. In tracking the triggered ups and downs existing along the larger up and down shift of my mood over time, I can now identify when a mood state is changing and can identify where I am at.

Tags: alcoholism, anger, anxiety, bipolar disorder, camomile, depression, diets, drug interactions, environmental triggers, gluten-free, herbal medication, herbs, hormonal triggers, journalling, Kava, lavender, Lemonbalm, loneliness, mania, marketing, medication, mixed episodes, mood swings, moods, neurodiversity, oatstraw, passionflower, physical triggers, recreational drugs, relaxation, Rescue Remedy, research, sedation, skullcap, sleep, social conflict, social triggers, St. Johns Wort, stigma, stress, suicidal thoughts, triggers, Valerian root, vegan