OMG!!! NO PS???

[mochi]

I went though a severe withdraw!

 

[mia1181]

Me too! I almost died without my beloved PS!!!!

So glad it''s back!

 

[grapegravity]

yeah! It''s back on~~

 

[VRBeauty]

Woooooohooooooooo! It''s back!

 

[April20]

I had to *gasp* find other websites to spend time on! Oh the withdrawl.......

 

[LostSapphire]

I got cold sweats and the shakes..I even think my bling was aware of the server being down!!

WHEW!! Hi everybody! Everybody OK???

I did a search and found the thread on PANIC ATTACKS. Whitby posted a very helpful exercise: (for those of you still experiencing severe anxiety and withdrawal:




i'm was a psychologist who used to work in a women's only practise for many years. i used to see many women with panic attacks and had them myself briefly about 10 years ago when my husband and i moved overseas to a place i didnt know where i knew nobody.

panic attacks are caused by an excess of cortisol and adrenaline in your system, and the only way to actually get rid of those hormones is to metabolize them ie sit it out. a panic attack normally peaks and subsides in about 10 minutes on average so the first thing to tell yourself is 'hey - this is gonna pass - i can do ANYthing for 10 minutes!'. it WILL pass - it's how the body works.

secondly, slowing your breathing might work - and it might not. some people have panic attacks with no hyperventilation, so don't pin your hopes on that. i used to see an excellent cardiologist in London who said that in his opinion the best way of dealing with them was to go into them, rather than trying to avoid them - with a view to getting out the other side as quickly as possible.

however, the ONE THING i've found that consistently works is distraction. people simply dont have panic attacks when they're thinking about things that they're comfortable with. panic attacks don't come out of the blue. those hormones don't increase suddenly because of no reason at all. we have panic attacks because, on some level, we're worried, we're imagining a 'worst case scenario', which turns to fear, which turns to panic. if i was ever WITH a client having a panic attack - generally in australia, i would normally ask them to come for a walk around my garden with me and ask them to name as many flowers and plants as possible. sometimes i would ask them to recount their academic record from many years ago - with names of subjects and marks/grades scored. or i'd ask them to count backwards in 7's from some obscure number (like 3,026), or i'd ask them to say tongue twisters as quickly as possible. anyway - you get the idea.

one simple exercise which utilizes this idea is the 5/4/3 exercise.

when you feel a panic attack coming on, close your eyes, and name 5 things you can phsycially feel. like - "i can feel the seat under my bottom, i can feel a breeze on my face, i can feel my feet on the floor..." and so on to five.

then name 5 things you can hear. then open your eyes and count five things you can see.

then close your eyes again and do 4 things you can feel, hear and see - each time looking for something you haven't mentioned before. or repeating old things if you cant find new things - either is fine. but you have to be conscious of it before you can count it. if you say "i can hear children playing in the distance" - you have to take the second to actually hear it.

you then do three things.

then 2.

then 1.

open your eyes and see how you feel. one of the problems with panic attacks is that they tend to take us out of our bodies (anyone who has had panic attacks knows what that means) and they get us stuck in our heads. this exercise forces us to reconnect with our surrounds.

if you still feel panicky, do the counting backwards in 7's exercise and see how you feel.

you might need to do this a number of times a day, but practice makes perfect. if you really want to overcome these attacks, you'll need to do some work - but it's entirely possible. i've found going to a gym helps no end as it's simply impossible to panic intensely about almost anything when stomach crunching 70lbs.

when having panic attacks, what we most want to do is freeze and concentrate on the things terrifying us. WRONG. get up - move - do something. anything to distract your head. remember always - it's your head, you CAN control is. it just takes practice.

good luck!
whitby
(AKA 'cake lady being attacked by a dog')





LS

 

[Catmom]

pant......pant.......finally!! I was running out of other sites to visit.

 

[whitby_2773]

oh Losty - you big ham! PS withdrawal exercises - LOL!

 

[whitby_2773]

...actually, can you imagine all the single guys trying to get on to rocky talky, counting on PS support to get their engagement diamonds chosen this weekend?? i''ll bet there was some sweat and hyperventilation going on over there!!

 

[MonkeyPie]

LOL I''m glad I was asleep so late today - not that I would have had withdrawls, or anything, you know...

 

[Fly Girl]

Finally!.... Missed you all....

 

[musey]

You ladies are too silly!!

 

[Italiahaircolor]

I was confused. But, it forced me to work on other things around the house (boo!)

 

[iheartscience]

I must have missed the PS power outage!

 

[princessplease]

I agree mochi!!! I almost yelled at the computer, lol!!!

 

[Tuckins1]

Oh thank god it''s back!!! I was freakin'' out!!

I went wedding band shopping with my friend today and I couldn''t post anything when I got back!!

BTW- she''s going with a ring wrap of yellow gold, with two small round side stones and channel set stones down the sides... Looks real nice!

 

[LadyBlue]

I''m happy that is back too, my hubby has been gone during this afternoon, and I was dying of boredom

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I got hours of yard work done!

 

[D&T]

Date: 5/3/2009 7:11:23 PM
Author: Catmom
pant......pant.......finally!! I was running out of other sites to visit.

yep yep...

 

[tigian]

Me too! My husband asked me why I kept going back and forth to the laptop. I told him no reason. He laughed when he saw the error message that I kept going and told me I was addicted.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Wow, I cooked a meal for 30 while PS was down. Seems like I spend a lot of time here. Normally I just throw a burger in the microwave and press a few buttons.

Missed you guys!

 

[vintagelover229]

Date: 5/3/2009 7:44:06 PM
Author: Italiahaircolor
I was confused. But, it forced me to work on other things around the house (boo!)

Ditto! My hubby came home from work thinking he had laundry to do (he normally doesnt work on weekends, but the plant is having issues) and found the laundry washed and dried (not folded though...I''m not THAT good, lol) the kitchen cleaned, as well as the bathrooms!

He was beside himself! He didnt know what to say! LOL! He did say thank you after the shock wore off!

 

[bebe]

I gave up and detailed our master bath.

I was looking for an excuse to use the new Meyers Cleaner anyway!!
(Lemon Verbena scent)

 

[Kaleigh]

I was very busy with DS who was home for a short time. I did his laundry and bought him groceries to take back to school. Then went to brunch. We took him to see my Mom. I had to get some stuff done for her, forms, etc... I am glad PS is back up and running smoothly...

 

[Linda W]

I had severe withdrawal symptoms. I could not imagine not ever having PS.

 

[CaliSun]

Hi everyone!

Wow, I am new here and even I felt the pain!
This is such an informative forum and I missed it for that little bit!

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 5/4/2009 12:15:09 AM
Author: CaliSun
Hi everyone!

Wow, I am new here and even I felt the pain!
This is such an informative forum and I missed it for that little bit!

Awww, welcome Calisun.

 

[bee*]

I really missed it too-it meant I had to continue to study

So glad it''s back!

 

[gemgirl]

The funny thing is I rarely spend much time on the computer on Sundays, but it was such a dreadfully damp, chilly, rainy day here in New York, I looked forward to catching up yesterday. BOOOOoooooo to emergency down time! LOL!

 

[Rhea]

I cooked dinner and watched a movie with the hubby. I did check in, got the message, so I went back to DH. I did check back first thing this morning to see if it was up again.