How do you (or, 'how does one') overcome the severe effects of a panic attack or phobia?

I’m confused. You mention panic attacks and phobias in the question, but sharp pain and nausea in the description. I realize you don’t want to go into the details of your situation, but I do think it would be helpful if you could clarify your question a bit more.

I would add that psychosomatic pain is “real pain” for the person experiencing it. Just because the cause isn’t physiological, doesn’t mean they’re just making things up. For example, people with amputated limbs will report phantom limb pain—at least that’s my understanding.

Regardless, I wish you well and hope you can find a solution to your ongoing medical conditions.

If a head injury like a concussion it is more serious if nausea is experienced.

Better to get to a clinic or hospital even just to calm down the panic attack etc

Best to be sure then leave it to fester either mentally or physically.
Take deep breaths to regain composure it helps.( usually inhale and exhale three times deeply).

I’m going out on a limb here, but could it be hypochondria is in play here?
You know nothing inherently life threatening is going on with you, yet your mind, for a reason, can’t fathom that.
Thus giving you a panic attack?

Which ever reason, there is (potentially) something one can do, when experiencing one:
Realize and acknowledge that it’ll pass (it may have done in the past for you, it does for all)
Talk out loud to yourself (even if it doesn’t sound true for you at that moment, talk sense to yourself)
Trigger all your senses (look around you, what do you see, what colors, what subjects, what do you smell, name it, what do you hear, focus on that, what do you feel with your hands and feet, make contact with the stuff that surrounds you)
Call someone that told you once that you can call them any time of day when in need, and ask them to be with you, comfort you.

Lastly, it will pass, I can tell you.

I take a deep breath and consciously relax. Then I look at the situation for what it really is. Not what my addled brain might make of it, but what it really is. If it is a pain, I look at what is really hurting and if it serious enough to warrant medical attention. If it is a fear of something, I look at what I am scared of. If it were a spider, I would consider the fact that I am many times larger and stronger and that even if it bit me it would likely not be fatal. If it were something like the dark I would focus on what I hear or feel or smell and not what I can’t see.

Are you overreacting? Lying passively, afraid to move and not able to check out the symptoms you experience seems like under reacting. Feeling a sharp pain from a physical injury that is not healing is something you should get checked out. You should deal with the cause rather than the symptom which is the panic attacks.

Sometimes, just getting a diagnosis, can help with the mental part of it. If you can go to the hospital, and make sure it’s nothing fatal, it may make the situation better.

I’ve been dealing with a terrible pain, in my lower abdomen. It keeps me from sleeping, and I was sure I had colon cancer, or something.
It made my panic attacks severe. I finally got it checked out. It’s not fatal, just extremely painful. It lasted for about a month, back in November, then went away. It returned about 2 weeks ago. Just knowing that it will pass, is a huge relief.
It’s some sort of growth in my intestines (benign, I’m told,) that will naturally die, and then my body will remove it naturally. Now, I’m just waiting it out. I don’t like pain meds, so I’ve just been dealing with it.

As far as panic attacks, I do need meds for those. Panic attacks, are something that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. See a doctor, for one/ both.

Most importantly, keep.hope alive, and don’t give up.

I wish you the best.

Peace n love.

To all:

Thanks for your responses I am over the worst of it, the pain is still there, and I guess I’m still n the throes of it. Not much has changed butt I’m not in as much of a panic..

I have a new injury (from several days ago, which I thought I was doing fine with) that will not heal and has exacerbated an injury from eight years ago.

As some of you know, I was shot in a robbery in 2012. I was already in my 40s then As someone who went to a bad high school it really wasn’t that bad psychologically because I have a history of being attacked and beaten by teams of thugs. But today I have a lot of nerve damage on my right side and a lot of stiffness and burning-yet-icy pain and very little feeling there.

Recently, I have scraped my ankle on my right side. I already have a phobia about ankle injuries. This is not healing after three or four days. I went to a doctor and nothing is broken but the flesh injury is intense and making my entire right side of my body in a lot of pain

I cannot explain psychologically how horrible the overall impact and sensation is right now. The pain is hard to cope with. I can sleep through it but have a routine and schedule I must keep. Honestly, I’d rather be dead right now than go though any more hours of this.

I know exactly how it feels. I’m a recovered hypochondriac. Hopefully recovered anyway. I don’t think that’s what you are describing though.
There is no dealing with it, it takes over and you have to hang on knowing that it will get better. Eventually either you lose fear of dying or those neurons that keep you ruminating get burned out and you stop caring. Took me 25 years or so after the onset to recover and there are no guarantees it won’t start up again.

@Yellowdog I’m sorry buddy. I have two people with constant pain living with me now and it’s difficult. From panic to depression to tears, nothing helps. Frankly distracting them is the only way I know how to help them, as well as letting them talk about it if they need to.
I’m here for you, via PM, if you need to vent more privately.

@Yellowdog: If you scraped your ankle (the other day) by falling, then you’re going to experience leg pain and possibly bodily pain for a few weeks.

A few years ago I slipped on a flattened Starbucks cup in the parking lot at my job. One leg slid on the cup and I went down on one knee. My leg was black and blue and scraped for about a month. I was in pretty bad pain for about three days. I’m lucky I didn’t break anything.

I have rid myself of some pain in the past which I knew was more than an injury called for.
Instead of trying to ignore what we know couldn’t be ignored, I focused on the pain, and in deep detail. I would focus on the area, and attempt (no touching) to find the exact location, and the center of the pain area. If that was not enough, I would focus on the type of pain; hot, stabbing, throbbing, pinching, that sort of thing.
The more you focus, the less it seems able to hold a position.
If that fails, you might think of your other ankle, and mentally congratulating it for being the good one. I’ve never done that myself, but maybe jealousy, you know.

Go see a doctor?

A killer doobie may cool your jets but you might have to pop a couple of reds, man…

Dude….

Make it a real fat one. I’m joining you. I give killer shot guns.

@kritiper You are breaking all my mental images of you now….haha
So what are reds?

@KNOWITALL Downers, barbiturates. At one time, at least, they were in the form of red pills.

@kritiper Ohhhh, I see. Thx!

The Wolf of Wall Street used a lot of those, from what I recall. Good movie if you haven’t seen it, pretty wild.

Good movie. And you get to see Margo Robbie naked. Yes….