It appears there is something amiss with my other post as I cannot see it when I open the thread. So I will try to duplicate it here in hopes that it will show up.
I thought it was about time I posted something in the success area.
I have been panic free for near a month now but although I dont suffer the panic attacks I still have "anxiety episodes" from time to time. These are usually mild in nature but can be annoying. The way I have been dealing with them is to use stern self talk and thought re-direction. This rids me of the ANTS (automatic negative thoughts) for a time but they usually return and must be dealt with again.
Today my wife took the kids shopping and I found myself alone in the house (for an extended period) for the first time in several weeks. Usually I would take a nap, watch a movie or listen to some music with this precious time. But today I decided to use it to "tune up" my coping skills. I took a lesson right from the PANIC PROGRAM offered by this site. I decided that I would challenge the ants rather than simply shooing them away.
I laid on the bed and put on some meditation music in my headphones. When the first ANT came I invited it in. I pondered it for a few moments and then I began challenging it like the program suggests. I kept repeating the process until the ANT didnt come back. Then I let the next one in. The entire process took me around 5 hours to complete but I feel it will have a longer lasting effect than just blocking the thoughts.
I had success with this method and felt pretty darn good when it was over.
So now I have the blocking methods for the quick fix and the challenging method for longer term results. I can use them both to my advantage. The blocking will come in handy for emergency situations and then I can deal with it properly using the challenge when I have a little more time to put into it. I believe the challenge method will become quicker as I practice it and now that the foundation is in place.
The part that made feel the best today was that I was responsible enough to use the "alone time" to work on myself rather than wasting it on something that wouldnt help my well being at all.
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