Stress Center Peer Support

Hi, I am on session 3 and i have listened to it about 6 or 7 times. I am very negative and each time I listen to it I pick up on something else that i missed before. I find it very helpful. My concern is that in the very fist session they make it a point to tell you that you can't die from a panic attack, and that it can't hurt you. Then in this session they talk to a woman who has had a heart attack due to anxiety. So which is it? Doesn't it sound a little contradicting? I guess this is also a negative statement but it sticks out in my head every time I listen...
Thanks
Linda

Hi There!
I must get that cd out and listen again.
Because I didn't think the lady's heart attack
was from anxiety. I realized that a lady had had a heart attack.
A lot of people have heart attacks not attributed to anxiety. You can have anxiety and if you have heart disease you might have a heart attack but it won't be your anxiety that caused it.
Anxiety can feel like heart problems. I know from experience. Twice doctor's had me get an angiogram because even they thought i had symptims of heart problems. But when they did the angiogram both times they found that my heart and my arteries were just fine.
And in January a year ago (as recently as that),
doctor's thought that something was wrong and sent me to emergency room. (I had not told the doctor's that I was coming off my medication at that time). So, in emergency room they hooked me up to the thing that shows your heart rate , BP, and stuff. And they just watched. Oh and they xrayed heart. Amd did the ekg , etc. I was down there about 6 hours, I guess. Well come to find out my heart was okay. But I was throwing lots and lots of pvc's, or whatever you call them (those extra beats).
It was anxiety. I was very anxious about coming off my medicine and was having some withdrawal too which made me more anxious.
So they told me I was okay and sent me home.

The first thing I learned when I got this program Jan. 3, '07, was that the anxiety wouldn't really harm me. And I believed it immediately. And I felt like a lot of anxiety left me right then when I heard that. You see , when they did those angiograms, one in 2001 and one in 2004, well I hadn't known what the anxiety and panic attacks were really. So I wasn't sure I believed the doctors. Anxiety and panic feel so bad that you just feel you are in awful danger. You think something is bad wrong. So when I heard them say that it wouldn't really harm me, I could believe them because of my past experiences. Anxiety makes me feel like I will pass out any minute when I get it really bad.
When I first became so anxious years ago, I would feel like I was choking. I mean I've had some awful symtoms.
So I was sure relieved after all those years of feeling so bad to learn that anxiety wasn't going to hurt me.
Of course that doesn't mean that I won't someday have a heart attack. I might.
But in the meantime I can relax a bit and know that every little twitch in my chest isn't serious.

Of oourse I think it pays to go and get a really good physical examination. It pays to take care of one's self.
However, I must tell you that I started having extreem anxiety in 1961. And I am still here.

What a lot of years of suffering I could have avoided if I'd only known about programs like this one. But I just didn't have any information about such things at all.

I hope this will help you relax a little.
But I would go ahead and get a good physical.
And then listen to the relaxation cd a lot and work the program.
You will like the results.
MJ

her heart attack was from anxiety.

Anxiety can't kill you, but untreated anxiety CAN lead to health problems that can cause things like heart attacks.

The woman then puchased this program as treatment for her axiety. She also said that she shouldve got this program before. You'll be fine, you are treating/working on your anxiety, so don't worry aboutthat anymore.

It was my understanding that the woman's heart attack came from stress. Anxiety can bring on stress (or stress can bring on anxiety) but as far as anxiety being the cause of a heart attack, I believe that to be false. Think of all the aspects of this woman's life that could have brought her to heart disease, such as what was her diet, her genetics ... both big contributors to illness. Add to that the stressful situation she was in and even without anxiety she could have been in trouble. No, I do not think anxiety causes heart disease. Never did.

Craw, she didn't have heart disease. Her doctor said it came from her stress/anxiety.

We don't know the woman in the video. She could have come from a family that had serious heart problems and she could have been predisposed to heart attacks, so naturally stress would affect her.

In my opinion, this is not a good example of anxiety issues. Anxiety will not hurt you. I know a lot of people with anxiety issues and only one out of many suffered a heart attack. (But he developed anxiety AFTER the heart attack because he was constantly worried about it happening again.) It is not the "norm" that anxiety causes heart attacks.

The heart is a very strong muscle and actually gets some good exercise with anxiety.

Let it go and move on with the program. Don't let this be something that keeps you from learning helpful tools to move you forward.

Linda...I suffered from severe panic attacks and anxiety for 21 years, and I am now 46, and have never had a heart attack from it...Stress may have played a role, but, not panic or anxiety attacks...Before I took the program, I worried continuously about having a heart attack...It is common for people who have anxiety and panic attacks to think they are actually having one, but, believe me, they don't, or, I would not be alive today to tell you about it....I hope this helps you overcome that fear...May God Bless You

TY All of this information helps a lot!!!

The years of stress is wrecking my health. Bursitis, Uvitis, asthma, migraines, unexplained chest pains, dizziness, low blood pressure,and kidney damage. Stress is a killer because it is an accessory to the crime.

Linda,

I have the same exact feeling. In fact, I have been listening to the CD every single day and when the woman starts talking about her heart attack, I have to fast forward because it bothers me so much to hear it. I guess the idea here is that a panic attack won't cause a heart attack, but the stress that the body goes through during a panic attack is not something the body likes to deal with over a long period of time (like constantly for years), and that over time (years) the physical symptoms can cause "damage" or organs possibly to operate less efficiently.
However, I still don't like to hear the part about the heart problem. I'm extremely "cardiophobic" (and have a fast heart rate in addition to skipped and/or added beats at times) and I have a history of freaking myself out during a panic attack because of the fear of doing damage to my heart. As I would enter the panic attack, I'd fear my heart racing too fast, and the fear would make it beat faster, and I would repeat the thoughts and my heart would beat so incredibly fast, I wouldn't think it possible for it to beat so fast. I'd wake myself up thinking that way and I'd go from a period of rest, right into 100 mph panic in several seconds. Then, of course, I started fearing falling asleep because I would wake up in a panic...

The two best things I have done for myself are:
1. I bought the program and have been trying to stick with it.
2. I went vegetarian - and I wish this program would focus on cutting out animal products because I that was the source of a lot of unpleasant physical feelings. I may not have the positive self talk down (yet), but changing my diet has given me the energy of a little child again and I feel AMAZING.

I would recommend the vegetarian diet to all who suffer from anxiety and/or depression. Anyone should feel free to contact me because I am well read on nutrition and I write nutrition articles for newspapers and magazines. It is the absolute best thing you can do for yourself. All the best

P.S. The vegetarian diet also has given me peace of mind because NOTHING I put in my body now will ever contribute to heart disease. Animal products eventually will, without fail.