I finally stopped calling meditation a scam after my panic attacks got worse

I used to see those meditation apps and think it was just rich people paying to sit still and feel superior. Told my buddy Dave last spring that it was basically a subscription for doing nothing, and he just laughed at me. Then around October I had three panic attacks in two weeks, one so bad at the grocery store on Broadway that a manager asked if I needed an ambulance. My doctor straight up said 'try breathing exercises or we talk about medication' which felt like a threat but whatever. I downloaded a free 10 minute guided thing one night when I couldn't sleep, and I fell asleep before it even finished. Now I do it most mornings before work and I haven't had a single panic attack since December. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize your skepticism was just stubbornness getting in the way?

2 comments

2 Comments

stone.jesse15d ago

That free 10 minute thing probably just bored you to sleep, not fixed anything.

the_dakota15d ago

Yeah, "bored you to sleep" is actually closer to the truth than people realize. Most of those free sessions are so rushed they just walk you through basic breathing exercises you could find on YouTube. The real therapy happens when you've been seeing someone long enough to actually build trust and dig into stuff.