anxiety.why do I have no control?

unfortunatly anxiety is not at all an easy thing to control.  a look at all the topics here will show that a great many people struggle with it, and in turn become scared of the symptoms of anxiety - which lead to more anxiety. its a very viscious circle of fear and anxiety.  if you gp is aware of the anxiety, and if its becoming unmanagable for you, there are a few avenues to go down.  gp's tend to like to start out with some medication - for many this can be short term and will help you through it. for longer term medication is still an option, but therapy can play a part too. treatment really is different for everyone, but there are ways to help - maybe speaking again to your gp to talk about options might help?

Hello Steph,

Excellent question. It brings to mind my dear departed grandmother, who when asked a tough question by a curious child (me) used to say, ' why (y) is a crooked letter that you cannot straighten ' . Wasn't very helpful to me either, bless her.

You can influence panic attacks, but there is no simple off switch. Continuing in story telling mode ( not fact, just thoughts) the anxiety you feel may be considered a misplaced response to stimulus. Your body is preparing for flight/fight, but there is no tiger chasing you. So you are left charged up and this turns into anxiety and dread in just seconds or minutes. For us that get anxiety attacks there is often trigger/s and the temptation is to avoid that thing once identified.   However this is often not most practical and so there is a whole bunch of psychologists++ that have various schemes of treatment that seek to retrain our responses. This will take time to achieve, weeks and months. In the short term there are meds that seek to regulate these hormonal systems. I was so deeply anxious about the next tiger attack I couldn't see how to carry on, and the meds helped a lot . Then I took the CBT training and now I can safely observe tigers without fear. Mostly. All the Best, David .

Hi Steph yes it is anxiety just maybe it was the op you had set it off,it's weird what starts it out of nowhere try get some Kalms or Valerian or Bach Rescue spray you can keep in handbag. Will go as fast as it began don't worry you'll be fine it is scary anyone on this site will tell you that.Youve been medically checked out,so no more thinking on it than you need to,palpitations we get with anxiety.Calm yourself is key to dropping it so go try the above see if it helps. Your find lots on this site with good tips what they use . Wish you well 

I have found that Propranalol stops the palpitations. Just use them when necessary. Ask your gp about it. Your heart is one of the strongest muscles in the body and can take massive amounts of palpitations with no harm. Try to ignore it and don't google it. Good luck. You will be ok.

The reason why you can't do much about it is that it is part of the automatic system in the body. This is called the involuntary nervous system. It is called involuntary because it does it's own thing (like breathing, heart beat etc). It is completely out of your control. Your thinking or will power cannot affect it, so no point. The only thing that can affect it is your mood and/or medication. You cannot solve this problem by thinking your way out of it, in fact it only makes it worse. Do physical things that can change your mood (like going for a brisk walk in nature or relaxing in a warm bath or vigorous sex). Don't think about it. It doesn't work.