Hi Brooke,

I have been doing really well with my anxiety/panic attacks since I started listening to your podcasts. Some of what was triggering them was smoking, and hangovers from drinking and I quit both of those which have helped a lot. I thought I had a pretty good handle on how to cope effectively with the anxiety and I know you talk a lot about having it in the morning and feeling it and working through it. But something so silly just triggered a huge amount of anxiety/panic/dread and I’m not sure I can pinpoint a thought that is causing this feeling. I was at a gathering of people I was meeting for the first time playing a card game that I never had played before. And I started getting confused and anxious about the 13 cards I had in my hand and not being able to figure out/ organize what I was doing. Then I started feeling shaky, sweaty with a rapid heartbeat and feeling nauseous like I was going to throw up. Tell tale signs that I was about to have a panic attack. The card game ended and we went home but it’s like I can’t function even now the next day. Im shaky and can’t get my thoughts straight to figure out how to do a thought model. I just feel sick to my stomach and jittery. I don’t know how to get a handle on what I’m thinking to do a thought model. Do I just sit with this feeling until it goes away? I have things I am expected to do today an I can’t stop crying/shaking/dry heaving enough to leave the house. There is no reason that I can pinpoint that my body would be reacting like this. Im not ill or anything like that. The only thought I can think of that im having is “I can’t handle this” . It sounds so silly when I type it out but it feels so paralyzing. Any ideas would be so appreciated. Thank you- K