First panic attack

[Craigxt22]

Hi all,

 

So first of all, I have been watching Leo's videos now for just over a year, and while I am aware he makes it clear we should all have a meditation practise, I admittedly have only just started a strict routine 2 weeks ago. I have meditated before, but only 1 off sessions. I've done at least half an hour each day and can already feel a slight shift in my consciousness. I have always been a neurotic person, and suffered with anxiety moderately - bad.

 

Now this weekend I went to a rave almost completly sober, bar 1 small bottle of beer (I used to enjoy going to raves and taking drugs mainly MDMA, ecstasy etc when I was younger),  a few hours into the event I was just having a casual conversation with some friends in the smoking area, then out of no where while I was chatting I had a full blown panic attack... I went dizzy, weak,  had tunnel like vision, my heart started beating crazy and left the venue. I was actually conviced at the time someone had spiked my drink, because it felt kind of like I was coming up on an ecstasy pill, anyone that has done it before will before will be familar with the horible initial feeling of the drug kicking in.

 

I have watched the dark side of medation video, and like I said NEVER have had an anxiety/ panic attack in my life and now understand what people mean when they say it feels like they are dying. Very scary espescially when you are convinced you've been spiked, I almost made one of my friends call an ambulance.

 

Could this have been a direct effect from my meditation routine? Have I just purged stuff out of my unconscious mind? Should I expect things like this happen again? Once I calmed back down I remembered what Leo had mentioned in the dark side of meditation video, felt alot better, went back inside and enjoyed the event.

[Michael569]

I had a panic attack couple months ago that haunted me for few days, for me it was triggered by a period of high stress with my studies that ended. Can definitely understand the feelings of impending doom and feeling like you are about to die. 

It is hard to say what triggers them, but usually it is about your mind perceiving something that is not a threat yet it seeses it so so it activates a fight or flight response however the reaction is to a wrong stimulus that is not harmful. So we try to fight it back and tell our mind that this is wrong which creates even more anxiety, bit of a viscous circle. Once I realised this and that it is under my control, it started wearing of.  In your case, it is possible it had something to do with simply being at that place (loud events with lot of flickering light present a tremendous amount of stress to your body even if you enjoy them on the outside). Could have also been related to a spiritual breakthrough, its possible. 

What helped me the most were sessions of extremely slow deep breathing. Into the belly. 8 seconds in, 12 seconds out. This helps your nervous system to calm down and signals your mind that it is safe.