Help yourself
Help yourself - this is the motto of everyone who wants to solve their problem on their own, overcome a streak of failures or change their life.
Remember how Baron Munchausen pulled himself out of the swamp? So in self-therapy, a person pulls himself out of the swamp of problems, using effective self-therapy tools. (c) Psychologist of Happiness
You start by searching for your own resources to get out of the problem, and attract the help of friends. Then you seek the support of a psychologist.
If you find a psychologist like the author of this blog , then sooner or later you resort to self-therapy (this is my favorite method in the format of homework between sessions) and learn to live with self-reliance.
Self-therapy is part of the Self-Development System of the Psychologist of Happiness, which I recently described in one of the articles at one of the vertices of the Self-Development Triangle.
3 pillars of the happiness psychologist’s self-development system
Today we will consider most of the self-therapy tools of My Self-Development System in more detail.
Symptoms of a panic attack
In most cases, a panic attack is a symptom of an underlying disease:
- mental disorder (anxiety-phobic neurosis, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive neurosis, hypochondria, depression);
- somatic disease (chronic adnexitis, peptic ulcer, neurocirculatory dystonia, ischemic heart disease).
As we have already said, a panic attack is characterized by a sudden onset, an avalanche-like increase in symptoms, its rapid subsidence and the presence of a post-attack period. During the attack, a person feels a combination of several unpleasant symptoms:
- fear of death or madness;
- cardiopalmus;
- muscle tension;
- pain in the heart area;
- labored breathing;
- the appearance of cold sweat (hyperhidrosis);
- attack of suffocation;
- hot flash;
- chills;
- tingling on the skin;
- blurred vision;
- dizziness;
- nausea and vomiting.
In essence, panic attacks are causeless attacks of fear due to imaginary danger, fear of dying or going crazy, which are complemented by unpleasant physical symptoms. At the same time, patients are not able to explain the cause of the onset of panic, cannot predict or prevent the onset of panic, and are not able to influence the severity of the attack.
After the attack subsides, the person complains of weakness, devastation and weakness. He may have a feeling of unreality of objects, he may feel “as if he is in an aquarium”, feel the instability of surrounding objects and muffled sounds.
Typically, when faced with a panic attack just once, a person begins to delve into himself, trying to understand the cause of fear, which is why he focuses his attention on his own well-being. This behavior contributes to the emergence of new attacks.
Let's also say that the frequency of panic attacks varies from person to person. Some experience them almost daily, while others experience attacks once a month. Interestingly, sometimes panic attacks occur even during sleep. In this case, a person jumps up in the middle of the night in a state of horror, covered in cold sweat, and does not understand what is happening to him.
Self-therapy as a lifeline
Self-therapy, as an integral element of the Self-Development System, manifests itself on 4 levels: body, soul, thoughts and society.
4 levels of self-therapy
How can I help myself solve the problem?
How to help yourself get out of depression.
How to help yourself get rid of panic.
How to help yourself get out of prolonged stress.
How to help yourself change jobs.
How to help yourself become happy.
I often come across such questions on the Internet, let's look at self-therapy tools for each level of self-development.
How to give yourself psychological help
You are out of work... The situation of being unemployed is unusual for most people. It is also unusual for you.
So that you can better understand the essence of your condition, give yourself an answer to the following questions:
- Do thoughts about missed opportunities come to your mind?
- Are you trying to understand who is to blame for what happened?
- Do you think that you are worse than others?
- Do you feel unsure of your abilities?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, if you would like to change your life for the better, if you want to gain peace of mind and self-confidence, then the time has come to take your destiny into your own hands!
Our tips will help you with this:
Watch yourself. Be attentive to yourself. Watch your thoughts. Remember that your life is largely what we think it is. Avoid the inner trap when your ideas about life are more painful than life itself. It is the negative assessment of what is happening, and not the actual state of affairs, that is the main cause of our anxiety. Don't let negative feelings take over you. Focus on the positive.
Live today. Your past is memories, your future is just speculation. The present is the only reality worth taking into account. What is now is your life. React only to what exists in reality, at the moment.
Fill the void. Keep yourself busy. You should not have time to worry and worry. Better give yourself over to your passion. Continue activities that bring you satisfaction. Establish and maintain a daily routine. Save time. Maintain your usual lifestyle. Try to turn your hobby or ability into a source of income.
Be healthy. A healthy person has a much better chance of coping with their problems and finding a job. If you haven't done physical exercise yet, start now. Learn to breathe, move, and relax correctly. At the same time, avoid overexertion and fatigue. Rest before you get tired. Get out into nature more often. Gymnastics, proper sleep and walks are absolutely necessary conditions for health. By strengthening it, you increase your performance, and the likelihood of your employment increases.
Learn. Take this opportunity to expand your professional experience. The more you know and be able to do, the wider your professional capabilities, the higher the likelihood of getting a good job. Improve your skills, retrain.
Communicate. Show interest in other people. Do something nice for someone every day. You are needed not only for yourself. Share your problems and concerns with friends and loved ones. Consult with those who have been in a similar situation and come out of it. Expand your social circle, renew old connections, make new ones. Try to make sure that as many people as possible know what kind of work you need.
Keep a diary. Keep paper and pencil handy at all times. Write down the information you need from books, reference books, tutorials, addresses, phone numbers. Write down your thoughts and feelings about current events, people around you, and yourself. If you are faced with a problem, analyze it and be sure to write down the results of your thoughts and the feelings that arise. Determine your life goals, make plans, adjust their implementation. All this should be in your diary.
Before making these rules a part of your life, analyze the current situation. The questions formulated below will help you with this.
So, you are out of work. It is clear that this is a sharp turn in life, a serious test. However, it is rare that someone manages to live their life without experiencing sharp turns of fate. Is your current situation a disaster? You can evaluate this for yourself if you honestly answer the following questions:
- Has the worst thing that could happen really happened?
- Are you really ready to trade your current position for anything?
- Are you really ready to take on any job?
The questions suggested below will help you accurately determine your desires and create a plan for your future actions.
Answer them thoughtfully, without haste, and let your answers be absolutely sincere. You may want to write down the results of your reflections in a diary. Do this by using your answers as the basis for your own analysis of the situation. A few questions about your background. Rate it in more detail:
- Were you completely satisfied with your previous job?
- Have you ever had a desire to change it?
- Is returning to your old job the best option?
- Were you completely satisfied with your specialty, working conditions, salary?
- Have you ever dreamed of a different application of your strengths and abilities?
And now a few questions that will help you consciously design your future:
- Have you tried to find positive meaning in the current circumstances?
- Have you tried to assess your interests, inclinations and abilities in order to choose a new direction of professional activity?
- Do you know about your hidden abilities?
- Have you defined for yourself a new goal of activity or, perhaps, a goal of life?
- Have you ever had to analyze ways to achieve it and draw up specific plans?
- Have you tried to bring these plans to life?
- Were you persistent enough?
The employment service can provide you with significant assistance, including psychological assistance.
- Did you know that all services provided to the unemployed by the employment service are free?
- Have you fully used its capabilities?
- Have you received professional advice that will help you choose the field of activity that is most suitable for you?
- Have you turned to a professional psychologist for support?
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Psychotherapeutic treatment of panic attacks
No matter how effective medications are in combating this disorder, a person with panic attacks cannot do without the help of a psychotherapist. Moreover, psychotherapy helps to cope with attacks much faster and better than any medication!
Having studied the problems, the specialist will choose one of the psychotherapeutic approaches to eliminating this problem. Here are the three most common:
1. Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy. The goal of such treatment is to change the patient’s thinking and then the patient’s attitude towards emerging attacks. In this case, the specialist explains the mechanism of the attack and gives recommendations to help reduce the severity of the symptoms.
2. Neurolinguistic programming. A new approach to the treatment of panic attacks, which involves a special conversation between the doctor and the patient, during which the patient finds and experiences critical situations in order to eliminate the fear of them.
3. Gestalt therapy is another modern method of treating episodic paroxysmal anxiety. In this case, the doctor and the patient analyze the existing fear in detail in order to find its root and develop a way to get rid of this fear.
