Mental health.. News story triggered a panic attack

@Afraser
Thank you for your wise words once again
75% sounds better but = 1 in 4
it just upset me to see it phrased that way
my husband said the news will always go for the shock factor

I try and not google but even TV can trigger panic attacks and remind us of cancer :(

@StrongCoffee thank you for you advice
Being someone who has dealt with anxiety and depression for all my life
finding tools to control panic has never been more necessary then now
i will definitely give you suggestions ago 😃


@iserbrown and @Cath62  thank you for the hug xx

Sending you hugs xxx

Sending you a virtual hug!
It's a little confronting when reports on the news knock you around. 
Recently here in Melbourne the newspaper headline about breast implants and what to look for.  I am well aware and well versed, thanks to my Specialist however it does rattle the nerves.
The appointment with a Psychologist will hopefully give you some coping mechanisms and recognising triggers so you can cope and be one of the many triple negative survivors!
Take care

Firstly, as someone whose anxiety manifests in panic attacks I just want to give you a big virtual hug. They are just so awful and I hope you're not too zonked from it now.

I am sure your psychologist will be able to work through some things with you but I will share some of what has worked for me. Remember though, we are all different though so you will need to find what is best for you.

In addition to working through some of the 'why' of my anxiety with a psychologist, I also needed to deal with some more practical things to help cope during a panic attack and prevent future ones. To do this, I had to learn a bit about the physiological side of anxiety and panic attacks (through info from my psych and my own reading).

Firstly, ground zero, during a panic attack. If someone tells me to "take deep breaths" I'll tell them to take a long walk off a short pier. This makes me worse! However, there is a reason why there are so many old movies showing someone breathing into a paper bag. When we hyperventilate, our oxygen/other stuff mix gets out of balance, making us feel dizzy etc. So by rebreathing our own air for 5-10 breathes we restore this and absorb more or some specific something (sorry, long time ago I read about this). You don't need a bag, cup your hands over your mouth and take 5-10 breaths. Other things that help me are sudden colt temperature (go outside, stand at the open fridge, cold face washer, etc), touching another person's skin or calling someone (so I know I am real/not dreaming) and banging on a table or such (uses up pumping adrenalin).

Once I got used to knowing when a panic attack was coming, I could usually use one of these things to prevent it at the last minute.

The bigger thing has been to make big attitude and lifestyle changes to reduce my "baseline stress". This includes saying no to things, not trying to be superwoman and allowing myself to be lazy at times. When your baseline stress is high, it doesn't take much to tip over into panic levels. It also means that during unavoidable times of stress, like moving house, a work deadline or, yay, dealing with cancer, I know I need to back off even further on all the other stuff and be alert that I'm at panic attack risk/have supports in place.

I think what you're feeling is completely normal. I have "the breast cancer you would want to get if you had to have breast cancer" and I can't see myself not freaking out for quite some time yet. I can't even imagine how hard it must be for you. Don't ever feel guilty for how you are feeling or reacting, we are only human!

I do have one phrase though that I like to share. When my friend told it to me, as it worked for them, I looked at them like they thought I was stupid. It just felt too simple. She said, when you find yourself starting to worry (or despair, or stress, etc) about something ask yourself, "is me worrying (or despairing, or stressing, etc) about this actually going to change the outcome?". Then, as the answer is always "no", you can let the worry go. Just allow it to leave.

Not as in shove the feelings down and ignore them. Just observe them, understand that your feelings are valid, but don't hold them close and let them rule.

I'm working really (REALLY!!!) hard at practising what I preach at the moment. None of this is easy, but hopefully things can get a little bit easier for you.

When I discussed my pathology with my breast surgeon after a mastectomy, he used a Cambridge formula to estimate my chances of reaching five years survival were 76%. I felt very good about that. I had a well developed tumour, one malignant lymph node but I still had a three out of four chance of getting through. As they say, there are lies, damned lies and statistics. Statistics aren’t lies, but they are open to
interpretation and therefore not gospel. My view was that 76% was realistic - I was not out of the woods but I danced a couple of steps, it might have been much worse! Eight very happy and exciting years on, I still feel the same. I’ve been in the position (nothing to do with cancer) of being the one in 10,000 where something goes wrong. All fixed, happy ending. But it can happen. 99% survival would gladden us all, but not the ones who fall into the 1% group! Which, for thousands of cases, is quite a lot of people. The choice is yours, to see a one in four chance as threatening and depressing or a three out of four chance as being empowering and encouraging. It’s up to you, but I know which one makes your life happier and more fulfilling. Please keep up the psychiatrist, it can be really helpful as cancer is good at pulling the confidence rug from under your feet. Best wishes for a speedy return to feeling more optimistic.