Anxiety and Panic Attacks: what are they really?

...and how to best get rid of them...

Angus Friedrich Scheck, Anguish, 1878 - a way more existential type of anguish than the one discussed in this article.

There was a time when I believed that I too suffered from panic attacks. Oddly enough, these would always occur in restaurants after eating, and it didn't occur to me that they were simply the result of a rapidly rising blood sugar level, meaning that I actually had diabetes. Instead, I translated this feeling into the term "panic attack" because it was conveniently at hand.

When you suffer from something, the most important thing is that the diagnosis is correct. I think there are many people who believe they suffer from panic attacks when the real problem is fundamentally something else.

I came upon this idea while watching Love on the Spectrum, one of the episodes preceding The Star Wars Pugs - Connor has a speed date, and after thinking he might have done something wrong, he has to go out to the balcony to catch his breath because this causes a ‘panic attack’. Let's examine this phenomenon closely.

Connor has to make a decision. However, he possesses an overgrown 'machinemind', a term I use to denote a certain constellation of the Default Mode Network. This 'machinemind' is a kind of network stretched between three pillars: the thinking node, the inner-speaking node, and the visual node. This 'machinemind' is constantly trying to predict reality.

Explanations without a cause

But here's the thing: because in our societies we have decided to bombard the mind with images, the visual node grew into an overgrown node that oppressed the others. This is the real reason why people are no longer really capable of proper thinking: labels like ADHD and Autism are so-called 'explanations without cause' - they are brain diseases that fell out of the sky, labels stuck on an effect. The cause of both conditions is indeed different, but they are related to each other.

Why can you only be relaxed when reality is 100% predictable? Because you have an evaluation system that no longer works as it should. Connor's brain 'demands' loudly that everything he does must be soaked in a sea of predictability, but why? Where does this tyrannical voice come from?

It is the voice of a runaway machinemind, wishing to predict everything and everyone. However, that's not at all what this machine is 'intended for'. I put that in quotes because it's debatable whether there's an 'intention' behind everything, but at least we can hopefully agree that brains constantly trying to 'predict' everything and everyone are out of step.

What is the philosophical question here?

Do they do this out of fear, or out of tyranny? That's an interesting question, isn't it? Normally, you can let the machinemind predict reality when it's useful for you. A machinemind that constantly kicks in to evaluate everything and anything without any demonstrable benefit is a runaway machinemind. Observe humanity, and you'll see that it is almost constantly in a sort of fight-or-flight response. Should you call that a 'panic attack'?

Could the machinemind which is just a constellation, become so powerful thanks to our education? By formatting the brain with superfluous knowledge for twenty years, letting it grow up in toxic light, and then bombarding it with images of fear, war, and games at every moment of freedom until the visual cortex grows so out of proportion that it starts to displace other brain parts - is it strange within that sketched picture that you get a kind of tyrant in the brain that only thinks it can control things through enforced panic?

Heavens, consider that there are masses of people who then identify with that tyrannical voice.

They probably stopped reading this long ago, as the voice has already commanded them to leave, as this is all too unpredictable for it.

What can you do if you suffer from such a voice?

First of all: stop bombarding your brain with images, information, war, all excessive input must go. Start reading again, however difficult that may be. De-identify yourself with every possible voice you hear by always asking the question: if I am that, then who is hearing it?

Calm your nerves, but don't do it with Benzodiazepines or other highly addictive manipulated substances. Herbal tea, or if you need something stronger, Amanita Muscaria. That's the best nerve tamer nature has to offer, because Muscimol is the only substance that can completely replace Gaba, read more about this in my book Amanita Muscaria - The Book of the Empress, which has an entire chapter on fear and the use of this mushroom to calm fears.

Because entire populations spread misinformation about this mushroom (for example, that you would hallucinate from it), when people do use it, they do so with completely wrong expectations. That's a pity because then you miss the essence of the medicine.

De-identification is the key

Furthermore, you can only recover from mental illnesses if you take responsibility for your own life. The model of 'ultra-tyrannical victim' should be abandoned as soon as possible. This identification is essentially your real problem: because explain to me how you can panic from a voice to which you attach no value? The fact that you panic proves that you believe you are hearing an important voice.

The issue is, when you give credence to this tyrannical inner voice, you reinforce its power over your perceptions and reactions. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, where the fear of panic itself triggers more panic. This cycle is detrimental and perpetuates a state of constant anxiety and overreaction to stimuli, both internal and external.

What is needed is a fundamental shift in how you relate to your thoughts and feelings. It's about recognizing that these are just that: thoughts and feelings, not absolute truths or commands that must be obeyed. By questioning and challenging the validity and authority of these internal narratives, you can begin to dismantle their power over you.

This process is not easy and often requires consistent effort and perhaps guidance, whether through therapy, mindfulness practices, or philosophical contemplation. The goal is to cultivate a sense of detachment and objectivity towards your own mental processes, learning to observe them without immediately reacting or becoming entangled in them.

In summary, the key is not to eliminate the voice or the panic it causes, but to change your relationship with it. By understanding that you are not your thoughts or feelings and that you have the power to choose how you respond to them, you can start to regain control over your mental and emotional well-being. This journey towards self-awareness and self-mastery is, in many ways, the essence of both personal growth and philosophical inquiry.

Martinus 06-02-2024

There are two editions of the book Amanita Muscaria - the Book of the Empress available: The Amazon Paperback version or the Hardcover full version, available in Holland and Belgium