Coping with panic attacks

I often find theferret's posts boring and irrelevant. But every once in a while he comes up with something like this post on Coping With Panic Attacks

The walls are closing in around you, and why not? You’re a complete failure. The world hates you, and it’d be a relief if those walls actually did collapse upon you, ending your misery. You can’t take it, you can’t take it, you can’t take it…

A friend of mine’s been having panic attacks, and asked me if I had any coping mechanisms. As it turns out, I do, so I wrote them up.

A note: These are merely my coping mechanisms. Every person is different, and what works for me may not work for you. But these are the tools that saved my marriage, so I consider them valuable.

I don't get panic attacks, generally. Anxiety, yes. But I know several people on my flist who do get them.

Go read the post, and let me know whether it looks useful to you.

River: Nice while it lasted?

My recent string of happy days seems to have ended as abruptly as it began; no telling at this point whether it will resume after a brief setback, or where the real baseline is.

It happened, ironically, as I was thinking about joy, and realizing how little I understood the concept. Someone had mentioned a friend's "ability to reach out for joy" -- and I realized with something approaching shock that I not only lacked that ability, but apparently lacked the ability to recognize it in someone else.

At this point I'm not even certain I've ever felt what other people describe as joy, let alone been able to actively seek it out. If I have it was brief, unexpected, and totally out of my control.

At this point I'd settle for mild happiness.

The centipede's dilemma? Well, in any case my plan is to try to enjoy the weekend, which promises to be busy and happy, before trying to think or write about either my very real problems or this new-found, possibly imaginary one.