

Ask HN: How do you deal with stress, panic attacks, and that evil voice? - diminium

Lately I've been having this little voice in my head that says "your doomed, your not going to make it, stop it" then comes stress and the panic attack with that "feeling" that everything is going to collapse.&#60;p&#62;The only cure I've been doing is to try and keep busy.  It helps but that "feeling" never disappears.<p>Edit: I'm bootstrapping entrepreneurship.
======
ZeroGravitas
These are all typical symptoms of anxiety.

There's a bunch of physical approaches to reduce anxiety, better sleep, more
exercise, eating better, less caffeine, less alcohol, applied relaxation or
the relaxation response (two non-spiritual versions of meditation), yoga,
gardening, any physical hobbies.

I'd recommend reading some books on anxiety, particularly the science-based
cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) stuff, as often people's panic attacks and
the avoidance they cause are literally because people are frightened of fear
itself, and the way it makes them feel, and so understanding the basic
chemical responses that your body undergoes can be handy. E.g. no-one has ever
actually gone crazy or had a stroke or a heart-attack as a result of a panic
attack. It's hard to convince yourself of this during one but having that
knowledge at the back of your mind helps to prevent you worrying about that
outcome and escalating things. Try "When Panic Attacks" by Dr David Burns or
some of his other books for some sensible advice on this topic.

The CBT stuff is based on logically addressing irrational thought processes
like "I never succeed at anything" and facing up to stressful things so that
you'll not fear them similar to the rejection therapy stuff that was popular
here a few months back.

SSRI's are popular drug treatments with much reduced side-effects and
addictiveness compared with previous tranquilizer type drugs, but they'll
still only mask the problem, not cure it like CBT can. Handy if you need the
help to get started with CBT or just cope at all, but not necessary for most
people and they do have side-effects and risks worth reading up on before
taking them. Beta-blockers are a low-risk medication (taken by many people
every day of their life for a variety of physical ailments) for controlling
the physical responses to anxiety, though it sounds like your suffering more
from the mental side (though of course they feed into each other in a vicious
circle) but I don't think they're officially prescribed for anxiety in the
U.S. so you may have to find a doctor willing to prescribe "off-label" if you
think that they'll help.

------
latch
You've given us very little context. Are you bootstrapping? Are you an
employee in a large company? Is your concern over specific projects? Or your
place in this profession in general?

Maybe you should just step back and try to enjoy life more. Work out every
day, learn to cook, take a trip, read more.

Maybe you should seek professional help. Or speak to your friends and family
about it.

------
rlawson
Go see a good counselor. You may get better just with talk therapy or you may
need some anti-anxiety meds. Either way a counselor will help you coordinate
your options. I have noticed that programmers (myself included) tend to be an
anxious and high strung bunch. There is no shame in something like this
happening but take my advice and don't try to deal with it all yourself. Good
luck !

------
RealGeek
This usually happens when you are working on something for long time and have
achieved little or no success so far.

Achieving some successful results can bring a lot of motivation and positivity
in your life.

Try to set smaller achievable goals/milestones, and step up from there.

From how long have you been bootstrapping?

------
veyron
Idle hands are the devil's tools and an idle mind is the devil's workshop.

That feeling is healthy :) By healthy, I mean that at least you aren't
suffering from overconfidence. I've been having that feeling for months, and I
cope by trying to occupy all of my time. HN helps :)

------
fistfulofparens
Don't forget to maintain your physical fitness level. Doing something till
total physical exhaustion (like weight-lifting) combined with tranquil sauna
sessions always help me through these down moments.

------
ramblerman
meditate. It's a great way to bring some peace up there :P

------
Mz
My two biggest/best calming tactics:

A) A good sounding board to hash things out with.

B) Work on resolving (or at least addressing) whatever problem is inspiring
the feeling of Doom.

