Fear of Fear
If only I had discovered this a few years ago. My life would have been so much better:
“a combination of heritable negative affect and stressful early experiences can generate a vulnerability to anxiety and depression, which provides fertile ground for the development of an initial panic attack. The attack includes autonomic responses such as quickened pulse, pounding heart, difficulty breathing, dry mouth and sweaty palms - responses that then become associated with the panic state through classical conditioning. Thus, whenever the person starts to experience these feelings, she becomes frightened that a panic attack will occur. To put it another way, the individual develops a fear of fear.”
I’m glad I’m better now.
