Page 75 - Advance Copy: Todd Kaufman, Author

HOW TO MANAGE ANXIETY & END PANIC ATTACKS
fought with Homer, he just kept on overworking.
Here is how I discovered the key to ending my panic
attacks.
I love my bed. I really love to sleep. And somehow, Homer’s
over-activity had reached the point that in the midst of a lovely, warm, cuddly sleep, he would flood me with hormones, and I would wake up and sit bolt upright on the verge of a panic attack. The first time this happened, it was so startling I didn’t quite know what to think. The second time it happened I was pissed off! I mean, really, really angry.
There are two things in this world everyone who knows me knows not to mess with: my puppy and my sleep. Mess with either and I’m likely to hit a level of crazy that can make one’s nightmares seem like a happy place!
Angry and frustrated, on night two of being so rudely awoken, I actually yelled out loud, “What the hell do you want?!” And much to my shock and pleasant surprise, Homer backed down. I could actually feel the adrenaline and cortisol levels dropping in my body! As I sat in my bed realizing how quickly the symptoms were receding, I said, “Thank you,” at that point to no one and nothing in particular; just a general “thank you” out to the universe. And my symptoms continued to recede! (As a man always interested in self-development and personal growth, and later as a therapist, I learned the value of being gracious, and expressing gratitude. Gratitude Therapy might be one of the most powerful modalities there is to treat almost any mental disorder. We will discuss this more a little later on in the book!)
So now feeling a bit better, and in complete exasperation, I let out a rather pathetic sounding plea: “What do you want?” Apparently Homer knew he had my attention, and when I
expressed gratitude, and looked around my room and knew I was safe (there were no monsters under my bed that night!), he no longer felt the need to get me ready to run or fight.
And as I sat there in gratitude and amazement, it finally hit
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