Copyright (c) 2009 Riley West

For six years in the Eighties I had elevated anxiety and Panic Attacks and I spent that time seeking any method of managing Panic Attacks.

Who wouldn’t?

The attacks were laying waste to my business life because the one thing that set off my attacks with the most certainty were business meetings. I had one meeting a week, at least, with some weeks having up to three.

This was back in the 80’s before there were things like Panic Away or others that use a very swift and clever “perception modification” that basically stops Panic Attacks cold right away.

At the start of this article I said I was seeking ways to manage my attacks and I think I tried everything!

I sat in saunas and hot tubs. I lifted weights. I took up jogging. I meditated as best I could.

I also read every book I could get my hands on that had to do with the “relaxation response.” Remember that?

These efforts had a very positive effect on my anxieties, but my attacks marched on unabated.

The only difference was that I was more relaxed in between the attacks! Still, the attacks were relentless and my business meetings were a shambles.

As the sixth year was coming to an end I started to form an idea the seemed to have merit.

It went like this.

I could see that I had suffered through hundreds of these fearful attacks, and they were very disturbing. But I came to understand that they did me no harm! At least not physically.

I had suspicious thoughts about my mental state, but who wouldn’t after hundreds of times when it felt like they were “going crazy.”

When I combined the feeling that the attacks couldn’t hurt me with the anger I had growing over my six years of ruined meetings and lost productivity, something happened.

My attitude toward Panic Attacks shifted to knowing they couldn’t hurt me along with real anger over their effects on me and my business for the last six years. Not fear…just anger.

That new found attitude toward the attacks enabled me to get rid of my fear of those attacks. And, as soon as I didn’t fear them they went away. For good!

On my own, in my own way, I discovered that managing panic attacks was a waste of time, a flawed concept.

You can’t “manage” them.

You CAN “cure” them and then forget about them. They’ll be gone. And for good!

And the “key” to curing panic attacks is for the sufferer to get rid of their fear of the panic attacks or their return. Once the fear is gone the attacks are gone.

That’s how it went for me. I think, that I did it the hardest way possible.

You don’t have to do it the hard way. There are some great programs that have shown many tens of thousands the way out.

The “key” to curing panic attacks is the act of getting rid of your fear of the attacks.

You can get your life back!