"How do I get rid of the thoughts that cause panic?" If you have agoraphobia, this is a good question to be asking because the question itself contains a key insight - it's our thoughts that cause us to feel panic and fear.
Panic disorder and agoraphobia are not mental illnesses or organic brain diseases that just happen to you.
Panic and agoraphobia develop largely as a result of our own negative and irrational thinking, which is good news because we can learn to control the way we think.
A major part of getting over agoraphobia is replacing your bad thoughts, but unlike replacing a bad knee that is hurting you, no doctor can do this for you.
Its up to you to replace your own thinking.
The first step in replacing your panic-producing thoughts is to become aware of them.
A lot of us have negative and irrational thinking going on in our heads a lot of the time, but the problem is, we aren't aware of it.
These thoughts are like radio waves being constantly transmitted, but we can't hear them unless we tune in to the proper frequency.
A great way to tune into your thoughts, is to record them in a journal on a regular basis - writing down each negative or irrational thought as a one to two line statement.
After journaling your thoughts the next step is to write a positive statement that directly counters each negative and irrational thought.
And once you have done this, it takes practicing these positive thought statements often to replace and get rid of the thoughts that cause panic.
I used to write down my top five or ten positive thoughts on a 3x5 card and carry them around with me.
I'd say each of them, either out loud or in my head ten times - at least ten times during the day.
That meant I was practicing each positive thought at least 100 times each day.
When it comes to replacing your panic-producing thoughts thoughts, just trying think more positively in general is not enough.
It takes replacing specific negative thoughts with specific positive statements to counter them.
And it takes repeating these statements, over and over and over, day after day.
But eventually, practicing positive thoughts will be like taking an emotional vitamin that will keep our mind from getting sick, and help you stop having panic attacks.
You wouldn't eat a steady diet of junk food and have a healthy body would you - well it's the same with what you feed your mind.
When you replace the junk food of negative and irrational thinking with something more healthy, it can really change your life.
I know it did mine.