Nicole Dake - Trauma Survivors Guide to Coping with Panic Attacks: Focusing on Panic Associated with PTSD and cPTSD

As a trauma survivor myself, I started writing this book because I realized that a lot of the advice out there on coping with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (cPTSD) just talks about making lifestyle changes to reduce the frequency of panic attacks, not what to actually do during a panic attack.

This book is meant to assist other trauma survivors to cope with panic attacks that frequently occur as a part of PTSD and cPTSD. It is my hope that this guide may assist you in learning to cope during a panic attack, so that they wont be so debilitating.

Since I am not a mental health provider, I will provide examples from my own experience to illustrate situations that may be common to all of us. Throughout this e-book, I will use examples of triggers meant to be benign to the reader, and most often just refer to a triggering situation vs. the trigger itself. I believe that most people with PTSD, cPTSD and panic attacks resulting from those two disorders experience a panic attack in response to a triggering situation in a fairly similar way.

In this guide I will refer to taking medications for your condition, as that is what I currently do. However, if medications are not for you, be assured that you will be able to manage your condition without them as well. I was fine on my own using meditation and exercise to cope for as long as 5 years, and other people do it for much longer periods of time. Whether or not medications are right for you is something that you will be able to decide in consultation with your healthcare provider.

If you already have a formal diagnosis of PTSD or cPTSD, or working with a Mental Health Provider, you may want to skip some of the first chapters. They are geared toward anyone who has self-diagnosed using google and online chat groups. Chapters on symptoms and Advocating for Your Mental Health are intended to allow you to know which symptoms that you are experiencing and how to find a Mental Health Provider.

I hope that this guide is able to help you in coping with PTSD or cPTSD, and to live a full and happy life. At times it may seem that this is impossible, but believe me, it is possible.

Throughout my treatment I have been told by mental health providers that I am very well functioning for how much trauma I have experienced. That being the case, I hope that my experiences and work on self healing may help others to become happy and well functioning too!

Coping with a mental illness is a daunting task if you focus on it all the time. I understand that trying to live a better life can be a struggle; some days even getting out of bed is a struggle. I feel all the feelings of inadequacy that society has placed onto all of us who are diagnosed with a mental illness.

Change and healing started to happen faster for me when I started to accept that panic attacks might always be a part of my life. I accept that as part of who I am, but only a part. I am so much more than that, and so are you. You are more than a disorder or a diagnosis, and your life can be about more than PTSD. I accept myself as I am, and it makes me feel at peace with myself and my life. You can come to feel that peace and acceptance too.

It was a revelation for me, during one of my panic attacks. Instead of fighting against the panic, I accepted it. And surprisingly, shortly after, the panic melted away.

If I can feel better, so can you. Let that be your hope for now, and soon, you will find a greater hope inside yourself. That is what I wish for you, and I hope that this guide can make some contribution to your healing.

I feel happier now, so can you.

Since you are reading this, odds are pretty good that you have been formally diagnosed with PTSD or been googling the symptoms on your own. Even if you already know that you have PTSD, a mental health provider will still need to formally diagnose you to begin treatment.

Most people think of PTSD as something that happens to veterans coming back from war, and that is an accurate description, as far as it goes.

Often, when soldiers are returning from war, they have seen terrible things that they don't know how to process. They have lived on the battle front, where danger is a constant, and they develop hyper-vigilance to threat.

When our bodies stay in a constant hyper-vigilant state, the fight or flight response becomes activated more easily. This is an evolutionary response to very real danger.

There are other events that can trigger PTSD however, besides being in a war front. It can be caused by other types of traumatic events, including sexual assault, child abuse, domestic violence, chronic illness or injury, chronic poverty, and many others.

The factor that is the same in all these situations is the chronic stress response, as well as re-experiencing of the trauma as though it was still actually happening.

According to VeryWellMind, In order to be diagnosed with PTSD according to the DSM-5, the following criteria should be met:

• Exposure to the traumatic event
• One (or more) intrusion symptom(s)
• One (or more) symptom(s) of avoidance
• Two (or more) symptoms of negative changes in feelings and mood
• Two (or more) symptoms of changes in arousal or reactivity

These symptoms also:

• Must last for longer than one month
• Must bring about considerable distress and/or interfere greatly with a number of different areas of your life
• Can't be due to a medical condition or some form of substance use

According to the DSM-5, a traumatic event is defined as one that involved death or threatened death, actual or threatened serious injury, or actual or threatened sexual violence.