Once inside the bathroom I realized I wasn‟t just a tad nervous through lack of
preparation for an important presentation, I was dangerously close to having a
full on panic attack.
Have you ever seen anybody have a panic attack?
If you have you‟ll know that it‟s not a pleasant site and looks uncannily like the
person involved is preparing to shuffle off this mortal coil. Many people having
such an experience initially think they are experiencing a heart attack. This in
turn can (not unnaturally) exacerbate their panic and so the spiral continues
until somebody grabs the ubiquitous brown paper bag.
I washed my face with cold water and stood there shaking. What the hell was
going on? I appeared to have no control over my body whatsoever. The more I
told it I really should be able to walk and talk, the more it rebelled by drying out
my mouth and making my legs feel like jello.
I have no idea how long I stayed in the bathroom trying to regain my
composure, but when I came out my manager was half way through the
demonstration and shot me some dirty glances. No worries though because I
shot him some dirty words afterward for hanging me out to dry.
That event happened almost a decade ago and I can still remember it like it
was yesterday.
I did what almost every person on the planet does when they first have a panic
attack, I resisted it with all my strength. Consequently, I got the same result as
everybody else that adopts such tactics, it intensified.
So what should I have done? What could have helped me deal effectively with
the situation without the need to leave? And what could have helped ensure
that the problems didn‟t recur further down the line?
That is what this ebook is about.
It‟s about dealing with such situations rather than enduring them. And I am not
just talking about full-on panic attacks either because thankfully they don‟t
happen to many people.