[steffi 001]

That Rosebud woman has alot to answer for!!!! She`s got me thinking and wondering I don`t like thinking or wondering too deep... Rosebud.
I`ve started this as a new thread cos it`s not just pertaining to panic attacks.
Having replied in the panic thread,that my husband who is well capable of getting an entire flock of folk to safety given an emergency situation[such is his intensive training and his awesome ability to leap into action, with calm and control...needs a little more training on the emotional side though lol
...there was a marked difference when it came to dealing with my panic attack.He was clearly lost and helpless.I am not being deflammatory towards him.This is my point. It made me realise that I too,if placed in his position,would struggle to know how to deal with someone elses panic attack.Quite naturally,because we are ill ourselves,the main topics are about us...when we "go haywire" [again..this is natural]
But what if WE were the ones who in a given situation were the ONES who had to cope with someone elses panic attacks...someone elses "freezing" mid shopping trip.Something someopne else said also got me thinking about this.It
is not unlikely that we will never be placed in such a position and I for one wouldn`t have a clue how to deal with someone else freaking out on me.I mean..they say,don`t they,that if someone is hyperventilating,they should breathe into a polythene bag.Well its as sure as hell guaranteed that if I were to shove someones head in a plastic bag in the middle of town I`d get arrested for attempted murder!!!
Do you think there should be some sort of training for both ourselves and our carers to equip us to deal with common eventualities?It seems to me that we learn what we should have done AFTER the event.I am going to see a lady with parkinsons disease on wednesday,the only other person i have physically met with the same condition as me.And I have been thinking "what would I do if this happened..or that happened...and I realised that I possibly would be utterly useless.Sure I can offer gentle talking,and encouragement...but practical? Uh uh. I am sure I would mess up big time.
I know we can`t all be trained to neurological level,but we all undertake a mini survival course at school I guess...I know this for sure cos during my training in the school swimming bath,we had to listen for our partners knocking on the bottom of a capsized canoe...an indication to GET THEM OUT!!! QUICK!!! Well I was deep in discussion with someone else about the latest pop sensation while my poor friends fists were drumming like the clappers on the bottom [which was now the top] of her boat.
Being a little overweight she was well stuck and it took half the class to pull her out.She eventually shot out like a cork from the neck of a wine bottle and was propelled like a tornado the length of the swimming bath.Effective.Spectacular even...for the rest of us...who watched in stunned silence but not a pleasant experience for HER.
But..joking aside...am I the only one who you wouldn`t want around in the event of a mishap or like I said...shouild we be given support on possible eventualities.Frequently updated.
Does your book,Rosebud,say what is best to do with someone who is haviing a panic attack? Or do the carers on this forum have some quick tips on how Joe Public can be ready to deal with possible eventualities.

[rosebud]

Your going to give yourself a panic attack thinking about it! I don't worry much about being on the other side of the situation (whatever it may be) because I've had to do it many times. I Know that when there is an emergency or personal equivilent I am pretty good in the trenches. I remain calm and can hold things together for as long as necessary. That is perhaps the root of my problem. Maybe being the glue too many times in other peoples disasters has used up all my glue and now I'm having trouble with a glue shortage myself. A friend said to me once "no-one will ever feel sorry for you because you always land on your feet." And I have to admit that up to this point I have always pulled it together and it's been a real challange a few times. I believe I will pull it together this time too, but I must admit I'm getting darned tired of the whole thing. I am just as crazy as the rest of you, so when you read my threads you mustn't take them too seriously. A good nights sleep usually mends many of the holes in my tattered thinking and the next day I start all over again. Just like all of you.

I'll give you the "jist" of the book as soon as I finish reading it. I've been preoccupied lately with painting my kitchen. (it looks great!) But one thing I will say is that I have given much thought to being a caregiver to a person with PD and I don't think I'd be good at that at all. I'm a quick fix, short term kinda girl. I don't do well in the long distance events. Looks like I've got myself tied into a good one this time wouldn't you say? My personal philosophy is that this life is a place to learn. Yes I'm one of those people who believe in God and pupose and integrity and character building although I can't say I care for it in it's present format. However, being as I don't have much choice in the matter I will continue on my pilgrimage and see where it takes me. Don't worry Steffi...thinking is a good thing. It means you can choose how you will respond to your circumstances, and you may find you are much more alive than someone who does not think, but just lives out their days in a rather purposeless way. With my last breath I hope to be able to say....that was really an adventure! What's next?

[Curious]

steffi....you can use a paperbag..or just cup your hands over your nose and mouth. breath in the air you breathed out. don't think i'd recommend the plastic bag..

i always hyperventaleted during labor. so with 4 kids..i'm a pro.

[ol'cs]

my wife had panic attacks when we were young and moved to Campbell River (BC) and both worked at the Pulp/Lumber mill there. I was beside myself; I didn't have a clue what it was all about, and felt like someone on Venus, trying to communicate with someone on Mars, with two cans and a string.
It is so very difficult to REALLY even attempt to feel another persons feelings, especially when one is feeling great themselves.
Well, we got that one figured out years later, wen it turned out that we chalked it up to removal from her friends and family, and the guilt associated with "abandoning" our previous connections with friends and family, but we knew that what we were doing was striking out on our own, to ensure a "better" future for our own family to come. I had all that I wanted (it was a man's world), but she missed those psychological connections to others, that I, being a man, could care less about. I made friends easily, while she could not (not for trying, it just seemed a big empty world for her, wheras, I reveled in the novelty and the challenges and the beauty of a big new world.
Panic attacks, in my experience are a feeling of lost control; sitting on the edge of society; not knowing how to fill one's soul with a feeling of security. They seem to manifest themselves worst during "thinking periods", when one can be overwhelmed by the perceived "emptiness and meaninglessness" of life. The only way that i've seen myself and others cope with panic attacks is to have FAITH that what one is going through is temporary, and that all the pieces of ones life will come together and meaning and happiness will be restored. BUT, it is very disturbing at the time of the attack , and there is not much that one can say to another that will convince then that things will be so, given time.
Panic attacks are dangerous, as suicidal thoughts can be manifest (or at least one feels like drastic change is neccessary, if one is ever to be "happy" again). It is a very difficult time , and one usually cannot be "talked" out of it. It does not respond as well to medication as depression does.
The only advice that i can offer is that medication CAN POSSIBLY help (but often doesn't), and psychiatric help can worsen the situation because one with panic attacks can't be understood, and indeed often rejects the admonitions of the so called "psychiatrist" because one knows that they are in their right mind, but just can't put a finger on the origin and resolve that is neccessary to break the condition.
That's my humble opinion anyway. cs

[steffi 001]

What a wonderful description.You seem to have this sussed.I don`t want to give the impression that I am overwhelmed by thoughts about this subject.THere have just been some interesting points to ponder and so often we pd people are so wrapped up with coping with our own condition [not in a selfish way] that it had not really struck me until now how I might deal with it in others.As I said in Rosebuds thread .it is years since I suffered this awful condition and I don`t anticipate it happening in the near future,..but thank you to all who have responded.Your comments are useful.

x

[rosebud]

You have hit on the very essence of panic attacks.... you said " I don't anticipate it happening in the near future". Panic attacks are the stealth bombers of our brain. They are just suddenly there!

[steffi 001]

How naive of me Rosebud.You are so right. I guess what I should have put is I HOPE it doesn`t happen in the near future...or indeed EVER...and I wish the same for you.
Forgive me my slip.I feel like s*** today.Fluey and a little low.Praying that you are having better days Rosebud.
Hugs
x

[ol'cs]

I've seen it, panic attacks just "happen". Others wonder what's going on, but only deep in the brain of the person with a panic attack feels the feeling. Panic attacks are all due to different feelings , and no two can be said tro be "the same". It is a strange phenomenon. One can be alright one moment and panicky the next. I think it's like dying, one moment life will go on forever and all the "bugs" will be resolved and the next minute one loses "control" completely, like it was their last minute on earth and they have to deal with it all alone. Very freaky, and very poorly understood , by anyone. cs