The 20 Second Countdown

The 20 Second Countdown

Why everywhere you look are top psychologists and doctors still teaching outdated methods for treating general anxiety and panic attacks?

It seems every time I do a search online there is yet another anxiety “expert” rehashing the same old ideas. Brown Paper bags, think happy thoughts, do your breathing etc. I am sure you have come across them a million times before already.

How are people supposed to solve their anxiety issue if they are continuously exposed to these techniques and methods that only teach people to cope with anxiety. Just coping is not good enough. Real solutions are needed.

I want to share with you something that does work. It is a very simple way to help end the fear of a PANIC ATTACK. (In later emails I will address feelings of general anxiety)

This is a very good exercise for people who want something practical to focus their attention on when they feel the pressure of a panic attack building.

Its very simple and easy to remember. Here goes…

The 20 Second Countdown

When you feel the sensations of a panic attack building do the following.

Tell the panic that it has 20 seconds to initiate the full panic attack. 20 seconds and no more. After the 20 seconds are complete it must stop making empty threats.

You are allowing 20 seconds for it to fully manifest but not a second more.

Whatever the bodily sensation is that you fear, it must happen within that 20 second time frame.

-If you heart is going to explode then it has 20 seconds to do so.

-If you are going to lose control, then your mind has 20 seconds to do so.

-If you are going to faint – 20 seconds! But absolutely no more time than that.

You get the picture.

By setting a specific time frame you establish boundaries of control. You turn it into a game where you call fear’s bluff. If it were a poker game, you are asking anxiety to show its hand.

This works because it establishes a sense of control within your mind and body.

You think to yourself “I am not prepared to spend my time worrying about this. I’ve had enough. I am going to be generous and give it 20 seconds but after 20 seconds and nothing has happened then the opportunity has officially passed and I am going to go back to what I was doing.”

Then start counting -but nice and slowly, don’t rattle it off as fast as you can. Really tease it out like you did when you were a child and you never wanted to reach zero. Teasing it out is the key because it allows you to feel generous and that you are giving anxiety every chance possible.

Deep down you know there is really nothing to fear.

To really help tease it out, break the last few numbers into fractions.

5…………………………..
4…………………………..
3……………………………
2…and three quarters…
2…and half………………
2…………………………..
1…and three quarters… (last chance anxiety)
1…and half……………… (I really cant wait any longer)
1…………………………..
0.
Sorry too late we’ve reached the end.

By not rushing through the countdown you will feel your confidence soar because you are demonstrating real control and authority over your anxious thoughts and bodily sensations. You are saying “look, I am really trying to give you all the time I can to unleash X,Y, and Z, I am being very generous here with this countdown.

Count your way to freedom. Count your way to confidence.

If you find this type of exercise useful then click here to learn more,

Keep an eye out for the next email… If it does not arrive check the spam folder -they tend to hide there sometimes times.

Barry Joe McDonagh

www.panicaway.com

P.S. If you want to get started on the Panic Away course right now click here and you can download the course in the next 5 minutes. Join with me and let’s end the vicious cycle of anxiety and panic attacks today.

Do you fear a panic attack could strike at any moment?

Do you fear a panic attack could strike at any moment?

Sometimes people have the impression that their experience of anxiety is like being hooked up to an electroshock machine and that it just takes a flick of the anxiety switch to cause a flood leading to a full blown panic attack.

People in this situation often feel that are lucky to make it through the day without that switch been flicked but in the back of their mind they fear that it could happen at any moment day or night. They remain on high alert anticipating it. Anticipating the big one!

In fact most people who experience panic attacks fear it in this manner. It is natural for people to think this way as often the panic attacks come forcefully out of the blue.

The truth of the situation is however different. A panic attack does not lurk in the background waiting to pounce, it can feel that way in your mind if you are anxious but that is not how it really works.

Panic attacks are actually something we decide to initiate when we feel out of control. It begins possibly with a skipped heart beat or tightness around the chest, it is then that your mind fires off a thought warning that these sensations are very unusual and signal a dangerous event that needs urgent medical attention or else…

The thought that triggers almost all panic attacks is :

“This is too much , I cannot handle this,” Then the adrenaline starts to really pump.

“Ah I was right look my body is going into a fit…

“I am terrified by what is about to happen…HELP,- PANIC… !”

The severity of the panic attack is directly related to how you are feeling at that time.

If you are exhausted physically, mentally or emotionally then you are more vulnerable to feeling anxious.

After the panic attack has run its course, it is followed by a prolonged period of general anxiety. During this time the person fears that the panic switch might go off again at any moment sending them into another tailspin of high anxiety.

When you feel this way it is very difficult to force a relaxed state of mind through will power (as some other methods would have you do).


So what can you do to stop the mind overreacting to these situations and not initiate the panic attack? Well most of this is about your mind reacting to false signals, so the trick is to train yourself to recognize these false signals for what they and thus shatter the illusion that there is a danger.

There is something very powerful in human psychology and that is the power of giving yourself totally to something. By that I mean, when we make a resolute decision to go for something results are immediate.

In this case you are going for the goal of an anxiety free life. You reach a point where you are completely fed up with this condition and that mindset can produce a real breakthrough. Remember anxiety holds us prisoner because we give it authority. We give it control because it threatens us with terror/death if we do not obey.

Turn this situation on its head. Really chase after the anxiety. It is the anticipation of having a panic attack that keeps you in a general state of anxiety, -so end the anticipation.

There is an element of throwing all caution to the wind to make this fully effective. You abandon yourself to the fear of a panic attack. Sometimes the best way is to get really mad at the terror and say:

“OK come on do your worst- and it better be very strong because I will not have this ruining the rest of my life”

“My life and the people in it are more important than this false fear could ever be, so do your worst because I have had enough.”

The minute you really throw yourself at a panic attack it disappears. It disappears because what was keeping it alive was your fear of having one.

Now you are not afraid in fact you are actually demanding to have a really Big Bad One NOW

DO that right now!

To make this really work you have to throw yourself at the anxiety 100%

-No coming back

Don’t worry about having an off the scale ‘gigantic’ panic attack. I bet you have already had the very worst panic attack you will ever experience again. That is because the worst panic attacks are generally always the first few as you have no idea at all what is happening to you.

Ignorance in those moments is not bliss.

What I am trying to say is that there is no ‘ultimate’ panic attack waiting in the background that will finally push you over the edge.

Trust and believe that you will always be able to handle the anxious sensations each and every time. You will.

What you get by following my advice is confidence that you can in fact easily handle the anxious sensations.

Confidence is so crucial to tackling this problem. Anxiety can be likened to a fog that we must travel through in order to move beyond the fear of what may be on the other side. When we fail to move through it, the fear will linger and limit us from achieving all the things we would like to accomplish with our lives.

Barry Joe McDonagh

P.S. Additional bonus- I am currently offering an opportunity to people who purchase the program this month, to have free one to one sessions with me so that I can ensure you get the results you need. All I ask is that should you feel the course has been of tremendous benefit to you that I add you to a database I am currently updating of success stories.

Click here to learn more about Panic Away