Is it healthy/okay to “push through” a panic attack?
Lately I’ve been struggling with my anxiety. I had about 4 or 5 of the worst panic attacks of my life and they were terrifying. This in turn made me scared of things like going out in public due to fear of panic attack. However, I don’t want to let this get a hold of me and change my life. So today my boyfriend was driving me to the store and I started to feel this immense anxiety that I could tell wanted to boil into a panic attack. However, I resisted telling him to turn around or that I didn’t feel good and instead told myself that it’s just anxiety, it can’t hurt me. I might feel uncomfortable but I’m not actually afraid, my body just thinks I am. When we got there, I asked him to hold me for a second and I said out loud “I like clothes. I love shopping. It’s just anxiety. It’s not how I really feel.” I cried some but we went in because I decided to and spent about an hour there. Now that we’re home I have mixed feelings. I’m swiped out and feel mind fog, slightly blurry vision, out of it, like my body took a toll. But I’m also proud of myself because I didn’t have a full blown panic attack and felt fine in the store. Did I treat my mind and body poorly for pushing through that severe anxiety or did I do the right thing? Thank you.
Posted Jul 1, 2021, 12:18 AM UTC