When I began the process of releasing the stress and anxiety from my life, it seemed like the stress had a tight grip on me. The more I released, the tighter it clung until finally it loosened it’s grip and fell away. I’m telling you this not to scare you. You might find that this is not the case in your experience, but even if it is it signifies the beginning of the end for anxiety and panic attacks in your life.
Anxiety is reinforced with negative self-talk. When you are constantly telling yourself there could be something wrong with you, or you constantly doubt your health, security or future, you are building up fear in your subconscious mind. This fear starts the spiral into a panic attack because your subconscious mind gets the body prepared to RUN OR FIGHT!!!!
During the time when I had learned the coping skills for panic attacks and was resolving the causes for my stress, my mind began speaking to me a lot. When I say speaking to me a lot, I mean shouting at me incessantly.
I recall a Tom and Jerry cartoon where Tom had an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. The devil would suggest evil things and the angel would try to disuade Tom from acting on them. Well, this is very close to what it was like. I couldn’t get the mean voice to shut up no matter what I did. I went around like this for days and it was very disconcerting.
This was the typical dialog:
Mean voice: “You know you are going to die right?”
My conscious self: “Yes shut up!”
Mean voice: “You are just a matter of days away from having a massive heart attack.”
Kind voice: “Don’t pay attention.”
My conscious self: “I’m not paying attention. Besides, I’ve looked online and read all about heart attacks. I don’t have any of the symptoms of heart disease.”
Mean voice: “You don’t have to, your arteries are clogged.”
Kind voice: “That’s not true.”
My conscious self:”That’s impossible, besides I can exercise and have no problems.”
Kind voice: “exactly!”
Mean voice: “That pain in your stomach is cancer.”
My conscious self:”SHUT UP!!! ARARRGGHH!!!”
This is how it was for days and days and days and days. It was unrelenting. It was like a song that wouldn’t go away. It just replayed over, and over, and over again.
When I realized that it was like a song you can’t get out of your head, I dusted off my guitar and my learning guitar books and picked a song that I could play. I picked Jamaica Farewell. Then I wrote new lyrics. Positive lyrics. I played it over and over and over again.
Here’s a taste of the first verse:
I am healty and I am strong!
I’m relaxed and I am calm!
I have a healthy body and a healthy mind, and I feel great now all the time!
It worked like a charm. I still sing it every day. Sometimes I catch myself humming a tune, and realize it’s my song!
I replaced the negative self-talk with a positive song which I can’t get out of my head. It just plays and plays and plays and I like it that way. It keeps the mean voice in my mind from having any attention.
If you find your mind full of negative self-talk, try this technique to regain control. Not only does it silence the mean, questioning, fearful little voice, it also implants healthy, positive suggestions in your subconscious over and over and over again.
