Hello folks,

just created an account to share my story. English is not my my first language, so please bear with me.

I hope this post will help some of you, who are suffering from anxiety or panic attacks.

Everything began with an initial panic attack due to severe stress.

Horrible lifestyle (poor diet, horrible sleeping routine, lack of exercise) + mental stress let to this point in my life.

After suffering from this initial panic attack my life changed to the worse.I thought "just sleep a night on it and everything will be fine"...oh boy, was i wrong...

I developed a severe Emetophobia (fear of throwing up) and panic disorder.

The first years i arranged my life to "live with it" and kinda lost myself in a victim mentality.

"Poor me."

"Why is this happening to me?"

At this time, i didnt know, that i f\*cked myself over with this kind of mentality, but we get to that later ;)

Fast forward // \~5 years into the disorder i lived through the most horrific panic attack while going to the cinema with my girlfriend. The world around me was spinning and i couldn't move for what felt an eternity.

After this incident, my mental and physical health were spiraling down rapidly. I lost 15Kg in 3 1/2 month...couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't even leave my house without having severe panic attacks.

I thought that it is over...the only future i had, was in a mental asylum on forced medication.

Lucky me, having a girlfriend with a (let's call it) "drill instructor mentality" (russian pragmatism i guess), she forced my into deep self-reflection and CHANGE.

Without her, i would be dead...

Quick note: I've always have been a person with a severe authority problem. So doctors, therapy and medication were never a real option for me...even on the brink of death (maybe i am dramatizing, but it sure felt like it).

So i took my healing into my own hands!

I read a heap of books, watched alot of videos and tried alot of things/methods. I will link the (imo) most important sources at the end of this text.

BUT LET'S CUT TO THE CHASE!

The most important tools on my journey were:

\* The Chill Pill (a must have)

\* Mindfulness / Meditation

\* Acceptance

\* A healthy, NATURAL lifestyle

\* Spirituality

Let me elaborate on those points:

Mindfulness / Meditation

A big part of anxiety lives from judging our own thoughts. And most of the time, these thoughts are about the past or the future...in case of anxiety the "future thoughts" are the BIG PLAYER.Because when we over and over think about things, that COULD happen, we are forcing our body into fight or flight mode (ANXIETY).

Thats how our brains work and should work: It should protect us from a possible threat. And the brain does not differentiate between a "real" threat and a "fantasy".

The moment we judge the thought, identify with it and are conviced that this is the truth, it's a "real" threat to the brain. And when there is a threat, there is anxiety. A normal reaction.

The problem is not the anxiety or the thought. It's the judgement of this thoughts / symptoms and the identification with it.

We have to see thoughts as what they really are: JUST THOUGHTS.

There is nothing like a negative or positive thought. This is just something we tell ourselves based on the content of the thought.

Also, there is nothing like a negative or positive feeling. It's just a story we tell about the feeling.

Feelings are just bodily sensations!

The big problem with anxiety (discorder) is: When we see anxiety as something negative, we force a stress reaction, that causes more anxiety. So if anxiety itself is relying on stress hormones and we force new stress hormones into our blood stream by judging a stress-induced feeling...we keep ourselves prisoner in this loop.

As soon as we drop the judgment, the thoughts and feelings have no more power to cause a stress-reaction and anxiety.

The tool to reach this state of observation without judging, is mindfulness.

I started with the HEADSPACE APP to learn the basics and started with silent sitting meditation soon after. This is where the real magic happens...when you are alone with yourself, in silence, "looking" at your thoughts and feelings.

Mindfulness is (imo) mandatory for the second tool: ACCEPTANCE.

As Carl Jung wrote: "What you resist, persists."

This is a key element for overcoming anxiety. If you hate your anxiety and resist it with every part of your body and soul, it won't go away. Not only that...it will grow!

Just imagine your feelings like a river. As long as it can flow freely, there is no problem. But what happens, when you build a dam? The dam collects the water at a particular place...the water rises...the pressure rises. And that's exactly what happens with anxiety. When you push it away and resist it, it will get bigger and the "mental pressure" rises.

YOU HAVE TO LET IT FLOW!

And to let it flow, you have to let go of your judgement about your thougts and about anxiety itself.Every negative judgement is a resistance that keeps you stuck in your anxiety.

Negative judgements are not only mental...a big part is language.

How you speak ABOUT your anxiety, makes the difference, if you can get rid of your suffering or not.

If you say something like "My anxiety is bad / horrible / gruesome.", you are sending a signal to your subconscious mind, which will manipulate you behaviour in a way, in which you are starting to sabotage yourself.

And this is part of the victim mentality. As long as you see yourself as a victim of external circumstances, you can't change anything.

Why would you change something if you believe, that:

1. there is no way out

2. It's not your responsibility

You have to take control of your health and your live in general.

YOU have to change. YOU have to call the shots!Nobody can do that for you.

Yes, you can get external Input, but YOU have to take the action.

But lets come to the most underrated topic, when it comes to anxiety.

Anxiety is not a mere mental construct. Anxiety can also happen on a physical base, without any mental factor.

A good example is caffeine. Caffeine will force your body into fight or flight mode, without any mental mechanism behind it.

Some other factors that play in the same league:

Low blood sugar

Where there is low blood sugar, there is CORTISOL. Cortisol causes the feeling of anxiety.

Free radicals

There are certain foods, that can cause free radicals. When there are free radicals, there is stress and stress/stresshormones = anxiety

The earlier you understand, that anxiety is not always mental, the better.

Then there are certain factors, that are a threat, but wont get recognized as such.

What do i mean by that?

There are certain fundamentals, that are necesary for life to exist.

WATER

Not much to write here. Drink enough water!

FOOD / NUTRIENTS

Our bodies need a full spectrum of nutrients. Without these nutrients, the body can't function properly. With a typical western diet (fast food / nutrient deficient) there is a almost 100% guarantee, to suffer from (mental) illness at some point in life.

Your body literally consists of the food you eat. When you eat garbage, your body consists of garbage.

But not only that: As i stated earlier, there are certain foods, that can cause anxiety by themselves. The foods are not healthy, and they are not natural.

LIGHT

Vitamin D is a necessary nutrient our body produces, when we are out in the sun. The body also produces Melatonin, which is necessary for relaxing sleep.

When we are deficient of sunlight, we are deficient in nutrients our bodies need to function properly.

MOVEMENT

You have to see it this way: Our ancestors couldn't order food over the phone. To eat, they had to hunt or collect food. They had to move! Without moving, they would die.

So lack of movement = life threatening.And remember: threat = anxiety!

We are not finished...anxiety puts you into the so-called "fight or flight mode". What is the common ground between FIGHT and FLIGHT?

MOVEMENT!

Anxiety includes the mechanism to get rid of anxiety (stress hormones). To get rid of stress hormones, you have to move!

But what happens, when we suffer from anxiety in our modern society? When there is no "real" threat?There is no reason to fight or flee, so there is no movement.When there is no movement, stress hormones maintain in the blood stream, so anxiety can't lift.

REGENERATION/SLEEP ROUTINES

Your body needs rest! 7-9 hours of sleep. Ban your mobile devices from your bed room!

I’ve heard all sorts of methods to fall asleep faster &amp; get more quality sleep, but I’ve used &amp; continue to use The Chill Pill (highly recommend)

Long story short: The more natural your lifestyle, the better!

SPIRITUALITY

Never ever have i thought, that i would get "all spiritual", but spiritual teachings like Buddhism and Hinduism were a big influences on my way out of anxiety.

Don't be too narrow-minded and give it a try!

Buddhism and Hinduism are literally dealing with these kind of issues (anxiety &amp; depression) successfully for over 1000 years.

If a doctor can't help you or you don't "RESPECT THEIR AUTHORITAH", try Buddhism/Hinduism. You won't regret it!

With the help of this tools, i were back to normal after \~ 6 month – 1 year.

"Back to normal" is a mere understatement, because my change not only got rid of the anxiety, but brought a quality of life, i couldn't even image BEFORE the anxiety disorder.

There is no solid time window...how long a person needs to get rid of his anxiety is totally up to im.

How much work does he/she invest?

Whats his/her priorities?

Etc.

TL;DR (How i got rid of my anxiety disorder)-Meditated 40-60 Minutes a day-Accepted my thoughts and feelings // dropped negative judgement of thoughts &amp; feelings-Changed my lifestyle (nutrient-dense foods, exercise, time in nature, quality sleep)

Good books:

Claire Weekes – Hope and help for your nerves

Eckhart Tolle – The power of now

David Hawkins – Letting go

Dr. Bulsiewicz – Fiber fueled

Patrick McKeown – The oxygen advantage

Christopher Ryan – Civilized to death

Matthew Walker – Why we sleep