Panic Attack Time-frames

Many subscribers have asked these questions: “Will I get better?”; “When will I get over my panic attacks/disorder?” 

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Things That Make - Anything - High Quality, Good, Great, Excellent - Whatever Adjective You’d Like To Use!

YES this topic relates to anxiety, panic attacks and agoraphobia! 

I need to first explain what I mean here.

If we think of high quality, in a sense, many times we realize that many of the messages we receive on television or the internet are that quality equals a well known brand or specific company, at least in advertising.

Is this really true?

This is certainly not always the case.

But there is a reason why certain companies do gain recognition.  There is a reason why certain methods and techniques gain recognition.  There is a reason why certain people gain recognition. 

What is it?

In one word: Quality.

We do, however, really need to understand quality and I’d like to provide an example.  (Don’t worry, while at first the example might seem a little off course, it does indeed relate to the subject in hand.)

For many years when I was younger I worked a hotel while going through school.  I started when I was just a teenager and, at that stage, was more concerned about the latest rock music song or hanging out with friends and playing my guitar than quality. 

But my early days working at the hotel allowed me the fortunate experience to meet a man, the manager of the hotel, who I came to hold in high regard.  This particular hotel, in addition to having rooms, had a nice restaurant, convention center and lounge.

At first it seemed to me that he was quite finicky and particular over all details.  In a sense he tended to micromanage some things a bit much, or so it seemed.

For example, he needed the music in the restaurant to be a certain level, things needed to be set up just so, the food needed to be presented in a certain manner, it seemed staff needed to look and act a certain manner, the overall décor had to be just so. 

I took to working hard and almost immediately this manager noticed my hard work, acknowledged it and told my immediate boss that I was to get a raise.  What a great feeling! 

This is not about me, but rather this is about the bigger picture.

The bigger picture is that the General Manager noticed all sorts of things and appreciated them.  That’s why things had to be a certain way. More importantly, that’s why the entire operation was a success. Because all of the more subtle things were attended to, the overall operation – the hotel - was high quality and consequently did very well.

This, however, is not a business lesson or a lesson about a highly successful hotel (although it certainly could be both).

The next part of this story really shows the important point.

After I had been working at the hotel for a while, new ownership took over.  Their focus seemed to be different than the General Manager’s.  They were more concerned about the bottom line:  How can we increase our profits? 

Unfortunately new ownership took the approach that the best way (and in their mind the only way) was to cut costs.

Their mission strictly became a cost cutting one.

One of their very first steps was to fire the manager because he was paid a fairly decent salary and this could result in savings.

Once this manager left, his role was divided among people.  Unfortunately these people did not see the bigger picture: that everything (including the subtle things) needed to be attended to.

Unfortunately no one saw this and focused on cutting costs. 

Slowly the business began doing worse and worse until reaching its eventual demise.

Ownership did not see the value of the work done by the former General Manager.  While he was paid a fairly hefty salary, others could see his salary as it really was: an investment, not expenditure. 

While this may not always the case with high payed people, it certainly was the case here.

In some cases you certainly do get what you pay for.  Certainly in this example it was true.

Everything is made up of many things.  Some of these things might be obvious, while others are not.  Regardless, they do need to be handled. 

Whether we’re talking about a product that has great ingenuity and quality or whether we’re talking about a great way of living this principle remains true. 

How often do people overlook these things with their own health, particularly their mental health?

Consequently, many times, it’s all of the details (including the subtle ones) that slowly lead to our recovery.

Just like the manager of the hotel who was overseeing all aspects of the business, ensuring it was a quality and successful business, people with anxiety need to do the same with their mental health. 

Rather than just viewing your anxiety as a problem that you just need to find the one great solution to, if you can become a person who proactively addresses all details of your life, in particular details, techniques that can alleviate your anxiety, panic attacks and agoraphobia, you can get better.   

Once you start doing this, you will appreciate and feel good about all of the changes you are making in your life.  You will appreciate the quality and effectives of the combined effect of these things.  You will become trained to seek out things that positively affect you. 

I’ve always maintained that a multifaceted approach was the best one for anxiety.   You will have noticed that I do not simply make products recommendations although there is a ton of stuff out there that supposedly can cure anxiety and panic.  There’s a reason: Anxiety is not something you just overcome instantly by buying the next great cure.

Rather anxiety something you can overcome for doing various quality things and making various changes in your life. 

While I have made product recommendations, I only make what I consider to be high quality recommendations, not products that claim to be the one secret cure-all for anxiety. 

The two high quality resources I have recommended thus far are:

1. Dr. Larry's "Breathe Easy and Conquer Anxiety” Relaxation Track

2. Jon Mercer's Easycalm Video Series.

In recommending these products I’m not advocating that this one recommendation will instantly alleviate all your anxiety.  That would be obviously unrealistic.

Rather these recommendations represent high quality actions that can become part of your effective anxiety recovery strategy. Continue in this direction and I believe that you, like me and many other recoverers, can improve the quality of your life and alleviate your anxiety, panic attacks and agoraphobia.

So my closing message would be: Become proactive in your recovery by handling all the details: consulting a high quality mental health professional and proactively consulting high quality information systematically for the rest of your life.  Not only can you recover from anxiety, but you can improve the quality of your overall life.

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