Tag Archives: panic attacks

10 Surefire Ways To Deal With Anxiety

Winona Dimeo-EdigerMay 1, 2012 //
Hello, Anxiety!
How Jessica dealt with anxiety issues after a breakup. Read More »
On Panic Attacking
When little worries become a big problem. Read More »
Our Weirdest Worst Fears
Birds, phone convos, and the Bermuda Triangle? 8 Photos »

I’ve struggled with anxiety since I was a kid. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, earthquakes used to be a huge source of stress for me, and I’d often lie awake at night terrified that the ground would start shaking. As an adult, I’ve got a pretty good handle on specific fears like that, but sometimes I’ll get hit with a wave of generalized anxiety–my mind races, my heart rate quickens, and any semblance of calm suddenly feels so far away. Luckily, over the years I’ve found a few ways to deal with these freakouts. Here are some tried and true anxiety busters that have worked for me and other members of the Frisky staff. Check out our list and please add your own strategies in the comments section–I’m always open to new ideas! Keep reading »

Book Excerpt: “Agorafabulous! Dispatches From My Bedroom” — Plus, Win A Copy Of The Book!

Sara BenincasaFebruary 11, 2012 //
Panic Attacks Explained
Sara Benincasa explains panic attacks in cartoon form. Watch »

Sara Benincasa’s struggle with panic disorder began with childhood anxiety attacks and intensified until, at the age of 21, she developed full-on agoraphobia.  Her fears were so severe she was afraid to leave her own bedroom.  She sank into suicidal depression.  Garbage piled up against the wall as her appetite for food—and life—slipped away.  Finally, one day two college friends contacted Sara’s family out of fear for her safety and state of mind.  Here is an excerpt detailing when Sara’s parents have first been notified that their daughter was dealing with some very real problems.

“Hello?” I said hoarsely.

“Hi, Ra-Ra!” chirped one voice.

“Hey, Ra!” boomed another.

It was my parents. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: Thoughts On Panic Attacking

Rachel Kramer BusselJanuary 23, 2012 //
Panic Attacks Explained
Sara Benincasa explains panic attacks in cartoon form. Watch »
I Have...
An essay about suffering from panic attacks. Read More »
Handle It!
How to handle awkward moments without panicking. Read More »

Two days before my birthday last November, I got a facial at my favorite spa. I lay down on the bed, with the paper gown tucked around me, and the technician went about working her magic on my pores. She put a mask on my face and left me to relax for 10 minutes, with cucumbers resting gently over my eyes, the lights dimmed, and soothing music playing. The setting should’ve been everything I needed to stay calm, and it was … for about two minutes. Then my phone beeped, and I saw a text from a friend telling me to check her Twitter stream ASAP. Of course, I was curious, but I couldn’t get a signal, and spent the rest of the “rest period” feeling antsy, continually picking up my phone to see if suddenly service had been restored. The serenity that I look for when I go to the spa, the chance to shut off my mind while getting my skin rejuvenated, wasn’t there, because all I could think about was when I could get out of the room to check my phone. Keep reading »

Panic Attacks, Explained In Cartoon Form

Jessica WakemanDecember 20, 2011 //
Explaining Depression
What does it really feel like to suffer from depression? Read More »
Celeb Mental Cases
These celebs have talked about their mental issues. 8 Photos »
Celebs On Depression
Celebs open up about coping with depression. 10 Photos »
Watch Video

Here at The Frisky’s offices, one of the most hotly anticipated books of 2011 is Agorafabulous!: Dispatches From My Bedroom, by the comedienne and all-around-awesome-lady Sara Benincasa. I love this girl for her balls-out honesty regarding her mental health struggles with agoraphobia and anxiety. Agorafabulous! is based on Sara’s one-woman show of the same name, which recounts how vicious panic attacks created a fear of the outside world, to the point where she refused to leave her college dorm room. In this cartoon, Sara explains all about anxiety attacks, the “flight or fight” response, and why you shouldn’t shop at Whole Foods. As someone who has suffered from panic attacks from age 15 onwards, I could have used an explanation like this back when I was hyperventilating and didn’t know what the eff was going on!  

How To Handle Awkward Moments Without A Panic Attack

Jessica WakemanMarch 30, 2011 //

Karma’s a bitch, dude. This morning, I was frolicking through Starbucks, smiling to myself about how awesome my life has gotten. On Friday, I’m moving out of my parents’ house and into my own apartment. Today I woke up next to my new Gentleman Caller the night after we decided to date each other exclusively. The sun is shining. The birds were trilling. Tra la la la la la la!

And then I ran into the woman whose ex-boyfriend cheated on her with me two years ago. A woman who didn’t respond to my multiple apologetic emails because, let’s be honest, she probably hates my putrid guts. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: In Praise Of Mental Health Days

Jessica WakemanSeptember 21, 2010 //

When I was growing up I had a friend who was as aloof as she was glamorous. She had a way of holding the cutest and most charming boys in her thrall and all the girls wanted her to like them. Whenever she had problems with her romances, her schoolwork, her friends or her family, she was very mysterious about it. Her glass facade never shattered in public and very seldom would she even admit to having problems at all. Some days, random Tuesdays or Thursdays, she wouldn’t be in school, even though she hadn’t looked sick the day before. She would call them her “mental health days.”

She seemed very melodramatic to me, as if this were all just part of her act. But it was also exciting. My mother is a lot like Betty Draper and she would say to me when I was growing up that if I was not bleeding, I was fine. That kind of mothering doesn’t exactly teach someone self-care: if I didn’t want to go to school, I would lock myself in my bedroom and shriek at my mother through the door that I wanted to be left alone. A “mental health day,” on the other hand, sounded so grown-up, like she was taking a “personal day” at the office and we weren’t just a couple of 10th graders. I could imagine my friend calm and collected, attending to her own needs like a cat licking his paws. Maybe it was melodramatic, but it still sounded nice. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: I Have A Fear Of Flying

Jessica WakemanApril 27, 2010 //
fear of flying photo

A few weeks from today, while you suckers are surreptitiously reading The Frisky on your office computers, I’ll be lying in the sun at a hotel in Los Angeles. There’s a pool on the roof and cabanas and waiters who’ll serve you cocktails poolside. I don’t intend to get up from my beached whale position all week — except, you know, to have sex with my boyfriend whenever I damn feel like it. It’s going to be heaven.

But there’s one little detail — two details, really — that throw a wrench in the whole vacation: I have to fly there and I have to fly back. And being trapped inside an airplane for six hours twice in one week fills me with such a crippling fear that I’m tempted to call the whole thing off. Keep reading »

I Have Panic Attacks

Sara BenincasaApril 14, 2010 //

In retrospect, it was all inevitable. Not the details, like the time I grew so afraid of using the toilet that I urinated in cereal bowls in my apartment, or the time I collapsed outside a filling station in Sicily and told someone I couldn’t remember how to breathe. Those specific situations weren’t predictable, of course. But looking back, I can see how much sense it makes that I have panic attacks. Keep reading »