We suggest that you ask them to talk to you calmly, to ask you if you feel you can go on just a little longer, and if you cant, then they accept that the goal will stop there.

Aim to breathe in and out about eight times a minute - you might find this difficult at first, but persevere. Refer to specific behaviours rather than making sweeping statements. Being in an enclosed space such as a lift or tunnel. With self-fulfilling prophecies you can set goals that include risking them coming true, because youll also include the risk that they wont come true at all. The weekly visit from the person who kindly did your shopping may have been a highlight in a life with no social contact, but now you do your own shopping and you dont need them any more. But I started to feel that my emotions were numbed. Just let the attack happen naturally, and in most, if not all, cases, their bodies will help them come out of the 'hot' zone all on it's own. Those people who are very sensitive to caffeine would be best to give it up permanently. And yet other Anxiety sufferers have never experienced a panic attack, and never will. Look down the checklist in Chapter 37 and choose three types of negative thinking that you are ready to work on. Mental distractions Counting - choose something to count - red cars, lampposts, people with hats on - to take your mind off the anxious feelings. Similarly, you may find yourself facing great difficulties in a relationship. Give your Anxiety a score out of 10, and note whether monitoring your thoughts made any difference. Your goal must be Specific. A person with, say, social phobia, has to find a way to stay in social situations - they have to do something they dont want to do. A person with Anxiety is not going mad, and neither Anxiety nor panic will make anyones heart stop beating. Like all Anxiety sufferers, your first steps in exposure work will be mainly a test, to see if it is really true that these awful feelings are caused by Anxiety and that Anxiety can go down. I just want to be my old self again - this is not Achievable, because every experience changes you, and so you will always be a different person from the one who fell into the black hole of Anxiety. You may need to go round more than once, but you can keep coming back, and each time it will get easier. Take note of any other problems youve had, and how you overcame them.