How to Handle Your Emotions (Counseling Through the Bible Series) (27 page)

Increased talking (to aid in communication about the problem)

With abnormal fear, the level of fear a person feels is way out of proportion to the actual situation—in fact, the fear may be totally unrelated to the situation. Abnormal fear can lead to a panic attack. The person with abnormal fear can identify with this anguished cry:

“My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. I said, ‘Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest—I would flee far away and stay in the desert’”

(P
SALM
55:4-7).

A person experiences a panic attack when four or more of the following symptoms reach a peak within a period of ten minutes or less. (The body cannot sustain the “fight or flight” mode for longer than that amount of time.) Place a check mark (√ ) next to symptoms you have experienced:

Chest pain or discomfort (feeling like you are having a heart attack)

Chills or hot flashes (feeling like you
must
get to the hospital)

Choking sensation, difficulty swallowing (feeling like your throat is closing)

Cold hands, tingling sensation (feeling like you are going numb)

Detached sensation (feeling like you are losing touch with reality or yourself)

Dizziness, lightheaded (feeling like you are going to faint)

Fear of losing control (feeling like you are going crazy)

Hyperventilating, shortness of breath (feeling like you are being smothered)

Nausea, diarrhea, or abdominal pain and cramping (feeling like you have a life-threatening disease)

Rapid heart rate, pounding heartbeat (feeling like your heart is going to jump out of your chest)

Sweating, excessive perspiration (feeling embarrassed and conspicuous)

Terror of dying (feeling like you are
sure
to die)