A wedge in the wedge: the heroine of the story found a tough way to defeat a panic attack on the plane

artist, member of the international art foundation

“My profession is an artist, and a few years ago I flew to Vienna to meet my client. Probably the excitement had an impact, but it was on that single flight that I experienced a panic attack at great altitude.”

Suddenly I realized that I was sitting in a chair a few kilometers from the ground. My heart started to change rhythm and I had to literally talk myself into taking a breath and then remembering to exhale. I remember that I had tremors in my hands – I guess that’s called “shaking with fear”.

This is what I experienced at that moment:

a feeling of terror and fear that the plane was going to crash;
a rapid heart rate;
I found it hard to breathe, I felt like my brain had forgotten how to breathe;
I was covered in sweat;
had a foggy feeling; I didn’t get up out of my chair, but I think if I tried, I would probably have trouble keeping my balance;
chills.

Despite my worries, the business meeting was a success, but there was a return trip ahead. I was afraid the panic attack would happen again, and there was no way to deal with it.

By that time I was practicing yoga and, to be honest, I realized on the plane that no breathing practice/relaxation was working for me. So “shock therapy” came to mind.

Since I had never experienced anything like this before, I trusted my intuition and, remembering the truism “a wedge beats out a wedge”, I headed to the Vienna Prater amusement park.

Of course, the place was beautiful in itself, but I had a specific goal in mind. In this park there is the highest in the world chain carousel “Prater Tower”. That’s where I headed: I watched the local elderly ladies cheerfully flutter into their chairs and set off to the height of 117 meters.

Happy faces, blush and sparkling eyes – that’s how I remembered the faces of strangers. The expression on my face could hardly inspire anyone. Nevertheless, I gathered my will in a fist, bought a ticket and firmly decided to destroy my fear at the root.

Once on the attraction, I re-learned to breathe, again affectionately coaxed myself not to forget the sequence of inhalation and exhalation. To be honest, the most horror is not even from the fact that you are dangling at such a great height, just holding on to the chains on the sides of yourself. Fear is instilled by the rumble of the wind, the rumble of the storm in my ears. It felt like I was in the center of a giant tornado.

I tried to focus on my serene neighbors, who seemed to be genuinely enjoying the process. I decided to literally show my brain – what it means to sit in a chair at high altitude, what it would actually feel like. So that in the future the brain can make a rational choice – whether it is worth triggering a panic attack or there is not enough reason to do so.

What’s the bottom line? I have not had a panic attack until today, which I am very happy about. Will I decide to treat myself to the Tower of Terror again? Anything is possible!

Doctor’s opinion

psychiatrist, psychotherapist, somnologist, lecturer at the Department of I. I. Mechnikov NWSMU

“The described symptoms and experiences used to be called sympatho-adrenal crisis. Now it is called panic attack accompanied by autonomic symptoms (palpitations, trembling, cold sweats, foggy head with fear of catastrophe/death/madness (fear of loss of control).”

Often it is the moment of neuropsychic debility (stuffy transportation/metro/airplane), where there is the least control over external events, that triggers a cascade of anxiety reactions reaching panic.

The cause is not the airplane or the subway at all, it is only a drop that overflows the cup. It is the inner conflict, the experience that is at the heart of it. It is the same with the heroine of this story: a creative person went to a meeting with a customer and got overexcited.

In the process of psychotherapy, we literally break down the possible components of the causes of anxiety:

the desire to do everything perfectly, not just well – destructive perfectionism;
doubts in one’s competence (with attitudes like “where are you going”, and then there is the impostor syndrome);
worries “who am I leaving my family to, and what and how is my partner?”;
doubts “do I have to go to Vienna” (in the case of the heroine).

Without rationally solving the inner turmoil, feelings of excitement, worries, doubts are experienced. And here the law of conservation of energy A. Einstein’s law of conservation of energy:

Nothing comes from nowhere and does not disappear into nowhere, but only passes from one state to another.

When it comes to self-help techniques – really coping behaviors can be “wedge wedge” options – go for the fear. Fear of heights – go on rides, starting small and with a safety net. Afraid of snakes – so a terrarium with a pet specialist who will show and tell you everything. But this only works for fear – an isolated phobia.

And to work with the panic attack described by the girl, you can use other self-help tools:

Count everything around you and name (objects, people), touch five of them, smell three and lick one.
Another technique is square breathing by four (visualization with a breathing technique, preferably diaphragmatic). Jacobson relaxation also works great in a rolling feeling of anxiety to fear.
The key is to shift attention from internal (intrapsychic) to external (extrapsychic). Even talking on a distracted topic with an acquaintance (or fellow traveler) is already effective in keeping the panic from unfolding. On average, you need 5-10 minutes.
Anti-anxiety drugs at the biochemical level block stress hormones.
Physical exercise can reduce the level of adrenaline, the high content of which becomes the cause of anxiety and fears.

And remember: no one has ever died from panic attacks! This is a functional state, within the resource of the person. Yes, it spoils the quality of life, some of my patients refused to fly or use public transportation, thus limiting their lives.

To summarize: it is important to work with a psychotherapist on the cause-and-effect relationships, that the airplane is only a drop, but the cascade of reactions was triggered by the very inner excitement before. By resolving the inner conflict on the rational and sensual levels, we reconstruct the disturbed personality relationships, and the symptoms will not return.