Lucinda Bassett’s anxiety and depression program from the Midwest Center for Stress and Anxiety has ironically used the word “attacking” in describing the quest to beat your anxiety problems. I say ironically because that is the last thing you want to do. In fact, the Midwest Center program does not suggest you attack your anxiety. It’s actually the opposite – you let it come and let it go. (not a very good catch phrase)
The real trick to beating your anxiety is to reduce it’s threat in your mind. In other words, don’t think of an anxiety cloud or a panic attack as a big deal. Looking at an anxiety cloud or a panic attack as a big bad enemy that needs to be attacked is a sure fire way of talking yourself into another anxiety attack.
Don’t get me wrong – Lucinda Bassett from the Midwest Center for Stress and Anxiety has a great program, and it’s actually the first stress reduction program I ever tried. Back then the program was on cassette tapes and included some basic literature on how to calm yourself down and change your life drug free. The program taught me allot, but if it wasn’t for the medication I started taking, I never would have got my stress under control.
Whenever I have been without medication, and extreme anxiety has come over me (leading to panic attacks), I remember trying to “attack” the anxiety cloud that was building. I attacked it with everything I had and it never worked.
The truth is that you can’t hide from an anxiety cloud that is building. You can’t run, hide, or attack it. You need to take action to overcome an ongoing anxiety disorder or multiple panic attacks a day, but if you don’t have any medication, you’ll have to ride out the panic attack. Riding it out sounds like it’s easy. Like a ride in the country. But as all anxiety sufferers know, it can be pure hell.
There are several things you can do to deal with a full blown anxiety attack, and none of them may give you an instant relief. Medication might, and depending on what kind of medication it is, it might give you some instant temporary relief. When the panic attack is over then the sufferer can be left with a crippling fear of the next attack. This is where I think the opportunity lies if you want to stop your panic attacks without the use of medication.
I believe that the point of exit from a panic attack is where the secret to beating anxiety and panic attacks once and for all. It’s at this time you need to practice what I call the point of exit methodology (or POEM system).
When I first heard of the BAI (Beck Anxiety Inventory) I was interested for sure, considering the topic of Sane Advice, so I did some research into how his scoring and questioning process was created. After a detailed review of the Beck Scoring System, I have made my own conclusions.