Learn to recognize the optimal stress level for yourself

Expert advice

For some time now, I have been getting panic attacks in the middle of a work day. And I frankly don’t know what triggers it. It’s not like a stressful environment is new to me; I have been working like this ever since I started working. But of late, it is becoming unbearable. It begins with a feeling of crankiness take all over me, followed by restlessness and then I finally break down. So much so that it is difficult to calm down till much later. I don’t like feeling this way. It is a horrible feeling. Please help me.

QYou know the feeling of crankiness and restlessness when it starts to build up. You gasp for breath and feel the pressure in your chest and may be your heart is racing and there is a knotted feeling in your stomach. This is the all familiar panic attack symptoms that most people experience when they are under extreme pressure at work. Often mistaken as heart attack or stroke, the person experiencing panic attack may think that they are on the verge of death. The reasons may not be apparent to you but if you have been working in a stressful environment for a long time, your levels of productivity tend to decline. When you have set high standards for yourself you tend to stress yourself to succeed, which is impossible every time.

While a stressful environment helps to be productive and brings the best in you there is a possibility that you are putting yourself in a perpetual state of stress, which is counterproductive. Learn to recognise the optimal stress level for yourself. You might want to reduce the self- imposed perfectionism. You could consider talking to a mental health professional for any co- morbid conditions such as depression or anxiety and learning ways of coping with panic attacks. — This query has been answered by Dr N. Sucharita PhD, from Roshni Counselling Centre, Hyderabad 040- 6666 1117/ 18. Write to us at: feedback. age@ gmail. com with “expert advice” in the subject line