Letting it out! The benefits of VENTING!!!

At 24 I suffered from moderate Panic Attack Disorder and Agoraphobia (fear of leaving home, going into public places). I would have episodes of overwhelming fear of dying, my chest and body would tighten, my heart would palpitate, and I couldn’t catch my breath. That was a small attack, the larger ones I would break out in hives and sometime pass out from the fear. The Agoraphobia came into play from being afraid to go out the house. There were moments where I was afraid to even come out of my room. If you’ve never had an attack then maybe my description is something that you may not be able to identify with, so imagine you are walking in a dark alley and someone puts a gun to your head and you hear them cock the trigger, and at that very instant a rabid pit bull is charging at you, and the bill collectors are blowing your cell up. You can not run and you can not fight, you are suck and have to deal with that feeling in your body. Now imagine that feeling lasting from 1 to 3 min at that intensity, 5 to 6 times a day. You got me at 24. J But now I am grateful for that experience because that forced me to take therapy and look at other methods of treatment. And being a driven woman the idea of therapy and taking much needed time for myself had it own misunderstood notations. (LOL I am going to blog about that later). At 32 I am all better now and I can help other deal with panic attacks, depression and other anxieties. 

One of the reason I had Panic Attacks was because I was not venting out my emotions along with diet, and everyday stresses. Pressures can bust pipes so every now and then it is good to let out steam. I dealt with my P/A with very little medication, some herbs, and a lot of Cognitive therapy (mostly claming methods). One of the many lessons I learned was to be truly authentic with myself. Yell!Scream!Curse! Hit! Break! Venting your anger is very beneficial to your total wellbeing. I had a negative judgment toward anger and any other unpleasant emotions, yet anger is a natural and healthy emotion to experience. Some people feel like expressing anger is just not right. I’m not sure about you, but as for me I was always taught to be nice, to be forgiving (I am going to blog later on the different types of Forgiveness too), be the bigger person, or be strong, don’t worry about it. For awhile I bought into that. I would literally shallow my emotion and reactions would be minimal. Needless to say I was the person with the biggest smile on my face but on the inside I was dying from unhappiness. I was not being real with myself and I had so much anger and resentment in me until it started eating away at my very essence. What my actions were telling my soul was that I was not worth the effort and that my feelings were not important.

So how to vent with out getting in trouble or hurting someone?….. Good question. I know bullet points in a blog are a bit much, but hell I have a lot to say and one of my triggers is being disorganized. LOL, so hence the bullets.

• Recognize your triggers. Once you know what sets you off you can better prepare yourself for it. If you know you are going to be in traffic you can be prepare for someone that my cut you off. You can listen to some relaxing music or have in your mind that traffic is hectic and that it is okay. Now you do not have to go and ram your car into that fool.
• Breath…. Simple enough right. You are breathing now. Do you notice that when you are upset or mad that you may sigh? That is your body’s way of telling you to take in more air. We breathe shallow which is only enough to maintain life, but if you want to experience calmness, a sense of being grounded and present, then you may want to take a deeper breath. 5 on the inhale 5 on the hold and 5 on the exhale. Oxygen is free for now and it feels good. You may actually feel like you are high. So get a contact on air.
• Say what is on your mind. Saying that’s okay when you really want slap the person is not okay. You do not have to directly tell the person or thing to it’s face but you can write it in journal, exercising, focus into something that you enjoy doing or have sex (the last option can be a bit tricky) . You can be more assertive with your approach by remaining calm and expressing you views. If you can’t do those then excuse yourself. Tell them that you are angry or upset and need to moment to gather your thoughts. Process the emotion. Just don’t shallow it or try to change it. Feel and let the emotion take its course. Your emotions are the indicator… they let your body know where your state of being is.  
• Mediate or pray what I can say they work wonders for me. Even if you are not a spiritual or religious person you can take time to be with yourself. To quiet your mind. Did you know that your brain processes over 77,000 thoughts per day and if you are under the least amount of stress then it’s more than that? That is communication central. So I know a 15 mins break of letting your mind relax would be very beneficial. Turn off the News, say no, put your cell on vibrate, your mind and body will thank you later.
• Ask for help…. If this is a tough task for you ask for help. There are many books and people out there that can help you process your emotions. You have a lot to unlearn and learn about yourself. Be patient and don’t judge yourself.

So be your true self and let you emotion be. Happy Venting!