For me, there were a handful of important things I needed to accept before I figured out how to prevent panic attacks.
These were "states of mind" that were holding me back from recovery.
The worst thing was, I was completely unaware of these states of mind for almost all of the 17 years I lived with my anxiety disorders.
But when I woke up to them, and started adjusting my behaviour around them, the transformation was almost immediate.
I'd like to share one of these states of mind with you right now.
If you can get your head around this you'll be many steps closer to knowing how to prevent panic attacks.
I call this "Overcoming Your Fear of Recovery.
" You might read that and think it sounds nuts.
Because who wouldn't want to recover from these terrible anxiety disorders? But the truth is, when you've lived with anxiety for many years, you come to depend on it.
You identify yourself with it.
It becomes you, and you become it.
And if you're anything like I was, then you'll find imagining your future life without anxiety hard to do.
You'll be scared at the new identify you'll take on if your anxiety is gone.
You'll be scared at the thought of being panic-free and what that might mean for the many other ways you'd have to change.
But here's the good news.
All you have to do is remind yourself of this state of mind from time to time.
Remind yourself that there's a part of you that is scared of recovering.
If you can learn to do this every now and then, your subconscious will one day be able to let go of the fear of living without your anxiety.
And when you want to know how to prevent panic attacks, learning to let that fear go is vital.