Feeling of panic and anxiety

[Fudgecake]

Hello,
The last few days I’ve been very panicky and anxious thinking the worst of every possible scenario. It’s so bad at the moment that I have a pain in my chest, trouble breathing and a constant dry mouth. It’s still early days since I left and I’ve been put on antidepressants this week by GP. Also I’m doing the freedom programme. I’d just like to know if these feelings are normal to go through afterwards. I just feel the world is out to get me at the moment.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

[EbonyRaven]

This seems quite normal from all the comments I’ve read from ladies who managed to escape. It’s a sort of hypervigilance to keep yourself safe because you’re no longer in the situation where you’d learned the responses and triggers.

It might be worth just doing some grounding exercises when it is at its worst. Count the flowers in a pattern on the wallpaper. Look around the space where you are when it happens and find every object that is blue, every object that is yellow, every object that is silver, green, red and so on. Close your eyes and slowly scan neutral sensations throughout your body. Feel your feet grounded on the floor, feel the support of your seat below and behind you, feel the texture of your clothing on your skin, the temperature of the air around your face, the weight of your tongue in your mouth, the very tip of your head and the crevices between your toes.

There are loads of calming gifs you can download to your ‘phone, tablet or laptop too. Look up just that ‘calming gifs’
My favourites are calming cat and calming octopus. They give you something to concentrate on whilst also helping to regulate breathing.

It does pass, and no doubt some of the ladies who’ve been through exactly the same will be along to share their techniques for getting through it.

[Shaz]

Hi fudgecake

I suffered an anxiety attack this week. It was the first full-blown one I had had and I had no idea what was happening to me- I thought something very sinister was wrong. I couldn’t stand up without support, got pins and needles and chest pain. I was also a long, long way from home. I took myself to hospital and 3 hours later was told that given recent experiences I was having an anxiety attack. I was shocked and felt even more bitter towards my ex for everything I had gone through.

I told my counsellor about it and ebonyraven- she gave me the exact advice you have just given. Focus on the here and now, count numbers, colours, anything immediately around you to bring you back to the moment. It is the hypervigilence that we were under essentially coming back- our bodies, although now safe, have not recovered enough or been able to figure out how to be ‘normal’ again yet, so they go into the fight or flight state again. Another piece of advice is to have an item you carry with you all the time, a photo, a stone, that brings you back to your current surroundings and reminds you you are safe. I am certainly going to find something as I am concerned about how these attacks can just ‘happen’ without much warning.

Also, try and get to know the early signs of anxious feelings so you can do all you can to try and ground yourself as soon as possible.

One thing I have taken from this is that I now know I wasn’t imagining what I was going through, it wasn’t me, it wasn’t all in my head. It really was trauma.

Take care of yourself x

[Fudgecake]

Thanks for the advice. It’s reassuring to know that these reactions are to be expected. I will try out all of these.
I think Shaz, that you and I left around a similar time so it’s interesting that we’re now experiencing these things at same time too. It makes sense that our bodies/ mind are in hyper vigilant state still. Makes you realise the incredible strain we were under just coping to survive. Have to say I can’t wait for this to ease off. The parting gift I guess…

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