How To Stop A Panic Attack in Two Minutes

A few weeks ago, I found myself on vacation in a situation that caused such panic I thought we would have to end our vacation just after it had begun. My husband, son, and I went to GenCon (yes, a gaming convention, we are quite geeky) and while I have been at many conventions for all sorts of things before, this one was really crowded and the convention center was so convoluted that you were often in places that had no exit to the outside near you. As some of you know, I panic when I do not know I can easily get out of a room or situation. Thus, large buildings with few exits like conventions centers, indoor malls, movie theaters, and hospitals scare me to death.

As soon as we walked into the convention center, I was a wreck. I got overheated and sweaty, I was breathing fast, I was shaking, and I felt sick. I was having a terrible panic attack. No matter what I did- deep breathing, repeating to myself that I was safe, talking to my family to distract me- nothing stopped the panic and I did not have my Ativan with me. I went into the convention center and saw a corsetiere booth and knew I could stop my panic attack in two minutes.

At another convention I had bought a corset as a costume piece and while wearing it I noticed I was calm and did not feel my usual constant anxiety or have panic attacks.

As soon as the corset was laced up, I calmed down. My husband and son were surprised at my almost instant turn around. We were able to continue our vacation and I had no more panic that weekend, all because of the corset.

Copyright: J. Norris

It is not surprising to me that a corset can calm panic, since deep touch pressure has been used for many years with animals (such as the Thundershirt), and now for people with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Deep touch pressure became more popular and widely studied by Dr. Temple Grandin after she discovered that she was calmed after putting herself into a squeeze chute made for cows.

The corset is not that different than the weighted clothing they make for autistic children. The nice thing about the corset is that you can adjust the amount of pressure throughout the day. There are also different lengths of corsets.  You can get some that are smaller which cover mostly just your waist (waist cincher or short underbust corset), or one that goes farther up your back and chest (overbust corset), depending on how much pressure you need over your body. When I am really manic in the evenings sometimes I will put on my obverbust corset, which covers my whole torso. They do make corsets for men as well and you can get a corset made to your exact measurements and body shape, such as an asymmetrical corsets if you have one hip higher than the other. You can wear corsets under your clothes, but I find it more uncomfortable and a bit hard to handle because you can not adjust the pressure of the corset if it is under your clothes, especially a dress.

Corset under clothes. Copyright: J. Norris

I will write more posts in the future about with details about corset wearing, but in the mean time, Lucy's Corsetry will tell you everything you need to know about getting a good corset and how to properly wear one.

For me, wearing a corset is a quick and safe fix for panic and mania. I can wear it all day, it's adjustable, and it does not cause addiction like anti-anxiety medications such as Ativan do. I would like to use Ativan all day due to how much anxiety I have, but I can't because it is an addictive substance. However, I can use the corset all the time and it is totally safe. (Read about corset safety here.)

Blessings,

Rev. Katie

P.S.: The corset I am wearing in these photos is the short underbust corset from Timeless Trends.

Where Would I Be Without Montessori?

I have been thinking a lot about my Montessori Pre-K through 8th grade education recently in reflecting on how I became who I am today and the work I do in the world. As I look at how people who are "different" are treated in society, I feel so lucky to have gone to a Montessori school and I wonder where I would be without it. Given that I had a different kind of mind and learning style, would I ever have been able to get into college had I not learned at an early age how to learn rather than just what to learn?

Looking back, I know that ever since I was about six years old, I have had ADD, anxiety, and probably even the bipolar disorder. I always knew I was different. I knew most of the other kids did not have such difficulty with math and linear thinking, most of the other kids were not scared all the time, and no one else needed to call home to their mother in order to get through the school day.

In the 1980's had I attended a non-Montessori school which focused on memorization, competition, conformity, and testing, I could have easily fallen through the cracks. I would have been labeled as less intelligent, easily distracted, weird, and a child who would never really do much with her life.

Jeffrey with the Trinomial Cube.

However, none of my Montessori teachers labeled me as anything negative. As Temple Grandin says, I was "different, not less" and that is what I learned from my teachers. If I was struggling, they tried to help me learn using methods which worked best for me. Usually that was through tactile and visual learning. It always surprises me that some of my favorite "work" in the classroom was all math related, even though I am horrible at math. I loved the Bead Bars and the Trinomial Cube and my son loves Test Tube Division (he has his father's exceptional brain for math though.) So even in my worst subject, there were ways to teach it that I was actually interested in. Montessori taught me how to be creative in learning. It taught me that even if I could not learn something in the way everyone else did, I could figure out how to learn it anyway. Basically, Montessori taught me how to be resilient, which is how I was able to figure out how to get through high school, college, and graduate school all while having undiagnosed mental illnesses.

I often hear people say that they don't keep their child in Montessori past kindergarten or that they don't try Montessori at all because they think the kids then don't know how to go to a "normal" school afterwards. I went from Montessori to a competitive private high school and did just fine. In fact, I don't think I would have done well in high school had Montessori not already taught me that I was smart and I could accomplish things. Montessori defined me by my abilities and not by my limitations.

Most importantly though, Montessori taught me empathy and compassion. The Montessori principles of focusing on what you are good at, accepting people as they are, and seeing the potential within teaches empathy. Those principles also take away the shame and judgement often associated with mental illness and other brain disorders. If we as a society were all taught these principles, the world would be a far less judgmental place.

Dr. Montessori said: "If we have neither sufficient experience nor love to enable us to distinguish the fine and delicate expression of the child's life, if we do not know how to respect them, then we perceive them only when they are manifested violently." This is basically what society does to people with mental illness. They see the "bad behavior" rather than seeing the actual person. This means they then do not help the person find their inner self and how to live to their greatest potential. They see the manic episode rather than the person struggling to do the best they can who happens to have an illness in their brain- which we could help them manage if we cared enough to get to know them and find out what helps them.

There are many ways in which I think the Montessori method and principles help those of us with brain disorders, so you will continue to see these concepts on my blogs. (There is already a bit about Montessori based dementia care on Moving in With Dementia.) Mainly though, I think Montessori has taught me that no one is "hopeless," no one should be left on the fringes of society just because they are different. Everyone deserves dignity and respect and to live a life of meaning and purpose. Montessori led me to fighting for my life despite my illnesses, and it also led me to being a minister in a faith that has the same values.

Blessings,

Rev. Katie