PANIC ATTACKS

[dibbul]

The forum always amazes me with the randomness of the postings (Thats a good thing !).

I just wanted to wish all those people who suffer the best of luck and hats off for being open and honest and telling the rest of us how you are feeling.

[bsolxiv]

Firstly, the quote is 'a little learning is a dangerous thing' i.e. don't read a single fact and then stop any further reading on the subject. Delve deep, do your research, find out everything you can about that subject. Is being qualified in first aid a dangerous thing, because you're not a heart surgeon? A little learning on the subject could be, if you're qualified in first aid, you should update yourself with new methods, discover new ailments, etc. Even though you may only have a little knowledge, surely that's better than having none at all? I can think of many times when a little knowledge has helped me, and very few (if any) where it's hindered me. And how do you define a little knowledge? Everyone has a little knowledge on something compared to someone else, just because your GP's not a world class neurosurgeon, doesn't mean you need to see one if you get a headache.

A better mantra to live by would probably be to know the limits of your knowledge, when to seek guidance, and to always be trying to learn more.

You're turning it into a black and white argument. No, of course you can't necessarily diagnose the difference between the two of those, and I've been saying the entire time that people need to do their own research. If you did have appendicitis though, and weren't sure whether you had it, you could look it up, notice that you're experiencing the common signs of it, and providing you did proper further research (looking up false positives, etc) you could be reasonably certain that you had it.

How do you know if you've got good blood pressure? Well, if you don't already know your blood pressure, then you'd go down to the local surgery, say "I'd like to find out my blood pressure" and they'd test it.

20 year olds - while they have, the chances of it being a heart attack in a 20 year old who's fit and healthy are minute in comparison to the odds of it being a panic attack. Around 1 in 10 people suffer from panic attacks, whereas based on this: http://europace.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/07/27/europace.eur161.full.pdf people aged 15-35 have a 1 in 35,000 chance of Sudden Cardiac Death. RE obese 50 year olds being fit and healthy, that's a slight contradiction in terms...

I don't know what he'd think of my advice, and I don't see how it's relevant to your argument, seeing as you previously criticised me when you claimed I was using it as part of mine - one rule for me, one rule for you? I'd imagine though, that he'd agree with it, as he did when I followed my own advice dealing with a friend who was having a panic attack last year. Not that I'm actually saying anything that radical, I think any good doctor would recommend learning more about any medical conditions you have or may have - which is exactly what I'm saying to do.

But hey, if you want an qualified medical opinion, how about the South Central Ambulance Service, which, as I mentioned a few posts ago, recommends a whopping 20 minutes before calling an ambulance?

http://www.southcentralambulance.nhs.uk/content/first-aid-documents/panic-attacks.ashx

[eoJ]

Wow, you really went to town on me there, and you're absolutely correct - I got the quote wrong.

I think I interpreted it differently to you though, I thought people self diagnosing their medical problems over the internet was a bad thing. I'm sure it saves medical professionals hours and hours of their precious time dealing with people armed with all this internet knowledge (or learning). Add to this a load of 20 year olds attending their practice nurse or GP to get their blood pressure checked as you suggest.

My advice - if you're ill, seek medical help.

[lofichic]

Well this has all got a bit sanctimonious in the face of a great thread supporting people who suffer panic attacks to have a good time at the festival, hey. Let's hope I'm near the son of an ambulance driver if I do have a panic attack and then he can hitch me up on his back and piggyback me to the medical tent cause he's seen his dad drive a car

In all seriousness though, this is a great thread, thanks for all the tips. I tend to find Glastonbury is better than lots of places for when I get panic attacks because there's so many more spaces you can go to and chill out in. I find being around people on lots of drugs tough when I feel anxious though, so has anyone any tips for where you're less likely to find people off their noodle?

[bsolxiv]

Well this has all got a bit sanctimonious in the face of a great thread supporting people who suffer panic attacks to have a good time at the festival, hey. Let's hope I'm near the son of an ambulance driver if I do have a panic attack and then he can hitch me up on his back and piggyback me to the medical tent cause he's seen his dad drive a car

In all seriousness though, this is a great thread, thanks for all the tips. I tend to find Glastonbury is better than lots of places for when I get panic attacks because there's so many more spaces you can go to and chill out in. I find being around people on lots of drugs tough when I feel anxious though, so has anyone any tips for where you're less likely to find people off their noodle?