You're not overreacting

You're not overreacting. A younger part is trying to protect you.

Panic attacks can be scary. When we experience one, we desperately want it to end, and to never experience it again. But what if your panic is a part of you that is trying to tell you something?
 
We all have an intrinsic ability to self-heal. Under the right conditions, we can find a way out of our mental distress. So what conditions am I referring to?
 
When you experience a panic attack, instead of thinking of pathologizing it, or thinking of it as something that needs to be eradicated by medication, try to look on that panic part with compassion. Become curious, and calmly ask yourself what is it trying to tell you? Could you learn something from it?
 
In therapy, sometimes I offer my clients an exercise where we write things down about this panic part. I get my clients to write about their bodily sensations, their emotions, and their thoughts as they notice this panic part. I encourage them to become curious about how this part might be helping them, and what might potentially calm this part.
 
By writing it down, we can get some kind of distance. Only with this distance can some things become clear about this panic part, and with this new learning, we can develop new neural pathways. That way, we can look on the panic part from the adult self rather than experiencing it from the overwhelmed child part.
 
Get in contact today. Alternatively, you can book online for a call from me.

Chris Warren-Dickins
Psychotherapist in Ridgewood, New Jersey
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