Has anyone only had just one panic attack?

[Tabitha22]

Hi I'm 21 and I had my first panic attack a couple days ago and have had anxiety since. Has anyone just had one panic attack and then got over it? I've read on the internet that if you have one you will most likely have more so I think that makes me more scared. I just can't stop thinking about it. I was prescribed xanax but I'm scared to take it a lot so I only take a really small dose when needed and it seems to help. I have a counsler appoint next week and I want to get back to feeling normal.

[MrGreen]

You know how to go about things in the right way. That's for sure. Counciling might get you back on your feet by itself. Just because you had one panic attack there is nothing to say you must have another. Whoever said that is speaking rubbish. People have more attacks because they dwell on the first attack. That would include myself too over the years. Had I of had a panic attack and thought nothing of it, the chances would have been very slim of me having a second one. So you don't have to have more panic attacks. Get your mind thinking in a more positive way. It was just a one off event might be a better way to think about it. Easy for me to say now. I have lived and learned the hard way. It's not a road you have to take though. As for xanax? Come on. Look about the forum and see how nasty and addictive that tablet is for you. Find yourself a better medication sollution and you will find yourself a better life too. Trying to remember what normal was like once. But you can have your life back. Just don't let that first attack get under your skin. Don't keep thinking it will keep happening. You are your own boss. You control your future with your thoughts from here on in.

[scaredjo]

i would agree with mr green i know plenty of people who have had only 1 or 2 attacks the key is to not dwell on it cause thats how you start the anxiety circle and its really hard to break. (i have been goin through this for 14 yrs) i dont really have panic attax as such anymore i jus worry about my heart and can get myself in a right state.
i dont know much about xanax i take beta-blockers which help keep my adrenalin at bay if your panics do carry on i would recommend therapy it helps re-train the brain into positive thinking rather than negative - which you are doing cause your worrying about your next attack even though it hasn even happened

[JSGeare]

Here's the DEAL. Listen up!

If the panic occurs because of some completely outlandish, outrageous, unusual and never-to-be-repeated situation ... then you may have only ONE. Example: you are buying shoes and masked gunmen raid the shoe store, kill some clerks, and rape you.

Under such circumstances, panic would be regarded as a normal reaction. Matter of fact, if you did NOT have panic, you'd be looking at a career in the military. Special Forces.

But let us suppose the panic comes "out of the blue," or for "no reason." Maybe you are crossing a bridge, going to a movie, or changing a diaper. THAT's diffo, kiddo. For whatever reason, your brain has decided at that moment to send up a flare. And the next time you do whatever you were doing when the panic hit -it will probably hit again; or, at least, you'll think about it.

And what you do about it is exactly what you are doing. Get help.

You will discover that, in the emotional background, there is a cast of characters whoneed to be dealt with. Do it -and the panic will go away. I promise.

[Pum]

I get the feeling what you are really saying is that you are scared and anxious about having another panic attack. Unfortunately that kind of thinking tends to promote them rather than make them stop. You are doing all the right things. The other one is that if you don't fight the feelings next time you will stop a panic attack dead in its tracks. Try to think, "this is not going to kill me, there's nothing wrong with me, come on do your worst" rather than "oh no, I'm going to die, there's something wrong with my heart/head/whatever system your anxiety has decided to focus on, go away go away".

Good luck. Enjoy the ride of your life and consider this a growing experience. You now understand a whole lot more stuff than you did before you had a panic attack.