Panic Attacks and Addiction

Have you ever felt panicky and afraid? Your breathing becomes erratic and your heart beats in flutters and moves about wildly in your chest. It feels like you might be having a heart attack. It's probably not a heart attack, but a panic attack. You can tell the difference. During a real heart attack, the primary symptom is a crushing sensation inside the chest that causes a person to double up in pain. Panic attacks do not hurt physically. During a panic attack, the heart beats rapidly and you may even be able to hear your own heartbeat.

Panic attacks are scary because you don't know what is going on with your body. I know a little bit about panic attacks because I used to get them periodically. The first time I ever had a panic attack, my dad called an ambulance because he thought I was having a stroke or heart attack. Panic attacks are not a serious health threat, and they have nothing to do with the health of your heart.

Some people may not get full-blown panic attacks, but might feel anxious, nervous or fearful instead. The good news is, panic attacks can be completely eliminated from your life for good by getting to the bottom of why you may feel panicky and or anxious in the first place. Panic attacks are only a symptom of something going awry with your emotions and, or physical health.
Addiction of any kind can cause anxiety and fear in us. So can feelings of guilt and shame. Not eating a good daily diet, and having low blood sugar can also cause nervousness and anxiety. Certain medications can cause panic and fear in us too. Heavy-laden emotions can make us feel nervous, fearful and anxious as well.

The good news is, we do not have to let our feelings control our mind and body. We can humbly pray about it, asking God to help rid us of our negative and destructive feelings that might be making us feel fearful and anxious. We can trust in God with all of our heart and mind, and He will take care of us.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV)

If it is guilt that is causing you to feel anxious and fearful, maybe you just need to stop doing something you know in your heart to be wrong, or stop behaving a certain way. Many things can make a person feel guilty. To overcome this destructive emotion, you should really try and get to the bottom of what might be making you feel bad. Ask God to help you rid your mind of these unwanted feelings.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7 NIV)
If addiction is causing you to feel anxious or guilty, then again, you need to believe with all of your heart and mind that God can rid you of the controlling forces of alcoholism and drug addiction. When we pray we really need to be sincere by praying in a genuine selfless way, asking God to deliver us from the depths of addiction because we truly want to quit in the addiction and are committed to God.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)

This is the great and awesome works of our Lord and Savior! If you truly want to be free from panic attacks and other fearful feelings, God will take them from you forever! You will become a new person in Jesus Christ. You do not have to be a slave to your emotions any longer. Give them to God and He will take care of you.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified' do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9 NIV)

7 Tips For Staying Clean and Sober

Be Around Positive People

Try and find positive, happy people that know what you are going through, preferably who have been down the same road as you and are now sober and ready to support and encourage you in your sobriety. Try not to be alone too often, unless you are having quiet meditation and need the alone time. Happy people bring happiness to others.

Eat A Wholesome Diet

Eating whole foods can make a BIG difference in how you feel physically and will also affect how you feel mentally. Wholesome foods are always best when trying to maintain a clean life from drugs and alcohol. Limit sugar intake to a bear minimum. If you feel an absolute need to indulge in sugar, try “raw bees” honey, which you can find at farmers markets. Bee’s honey has minerals and vitamins in it and is an excellent substitute for white sugar and other processed sugars. FACT: Bee’s honey is sweeter than white sugar.

Take Up A Hobby

What do you enjoy doing, but feel you never have the time? Make time for the things you like and enjoy – you deserve it! Invest your time and energy in something you can be proud of doing. Whether it is a craft, building something, volunteering, or whatever it is you like to do, make the time and just do it. We need to feel good about “who we are” while being free of drugs and alcohol – the best way to do that is by doing things that we enjoy doing and that will give us a sense of accomplishment. We don’t need the crutch of drugs any longer because we CAN love the person God created us to be!

Get Involved!

Idleness can be risky to an addictive personality. The little voice in our head rears its ugly horns and tells us its ok to “use” again, especially when we are bored, lonely, and or depressed. Find out what is going on in your community and get involved. If you enjoy meeting people, attend your AA meetings regularly. Seek friendships that enjoy the same recreations as you and ask them to be a support for you when you feel tempted. Get out and do something!

Help Others With Addiction

Reaching out to others and supporting them in their efforts of addiction can help the addict immensely. I believe when the time is right for the drug and or alcohol user to help others to stay clean is the number one factor in them remaining free of mind-altering substances. Helping others gives us a satisfaction that no other can.

Take An Online Course

Improving ourselves will help to maintain sobriety. There are many ways in which you can improve and enhance yourself. Taking an online course (trade) in something will keep your busy and also show you that you can do something without the need to be under the influence of mind-altering substances. Of course, we should never compare our abilities and skills with others, but we can compare ourselves with ourselves. Where are you at now in your sobriety? Set goals and work towards accomplishing something new for each goal you set. And by all means, have fun doing whatever it is you decide to do. Reach for the S T A R S !

What Happens If I Relapse?

You have not failed because you relapse. You are normal because you relapse. We all have relapsed when trying to find our way out of the alcohol and drug trap. Never allow a relapse to discourage you from coming to sobriety. As a matter of fact, when we succumb to our addictions we can actually learn from them. Most of us fall back on our addictions for many reasons and here are three of those reasons. See if they ring a chord with you as well.

Not Committed

The first reason is because we just weren’t ready in our heart to stop the addiction – we felt anxious and fearful being without our best friend, and so our uncommitted heart caved in under pressure. We have all done it. Think of addiction as a “hard to break bad habit.” But don’t fret too much over it. Just because you’re not ready to quit now, certainly does not mean that you won’t be committed later. Keep trying and don’t give up!

Have you ever listened to the little voice in your head telling you that your addiction is ok? You know the voice – the reliable little guy that keeps telling you reasons why it’s okay to keep feeding your addiction. It goes something like this. “I’m not really addicted, I can stop at anytime” or about this one. “If I was not married to so and so, I would not need to drink anymore.” We have all heard this one. “My life is just too stressful and I only need it to unwind.” We hear the voice and we listen because the voice is a symptom of addiction.

Same Friends – Same Places

Now I am sure you have all heard the old adage, “birds of a feather flock together”, right? Well, it is very true! We relapse because we have not changed our friendships and lifestyle. But a newly sober addict cannot be around the same people or places they were in before – it’s like driving with a blindfold on, hoping you can stay in your own lane. Whewy! Life comes at you fast when we aren’t taking the needed precautions that we ought to.

Lack of Supportive Friendships or Collaboration

It is difficult to be alone and remain sober. We all need friendships, especially encouraging ones that we can go to when we are feeling down. It is never a good idea to be in negative relationships when trying to overcome our addictions. We need to choose friends that are REAL friends – they hang in there with you when the going gets tough and they help you get tougher. These kinds of birds are harder to find, but if you hang out in the same places as these birds you’ll find some great friends.

“You'd be surprised how much fun you can have sober. When you get the hang of it”. - Joe (Jack Lemmon) in Days of Wine and Roses, 1962