On Tue Jun 26 14:23 2007, 'Jason Pegler' sent: Hi Will, Just wanted to say I think your COPAST analogy is very good. There is a lot of truth in what you are saying. I like combining NLP with being – and I see that as an example of mental health empowerment. Jason Pegler Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2005 CEO of Chipmunka (The Mental Health Group) www.chipmunkafoundation.org

So, on to the main focus of this website, which is to understand why 'my' panic was a ‘symptom’ of a desire for perfection, which can be truly devastating. As said, in my case, I have found that 'coping with my mind' has, at times, been a real problem. Though I know a lot of my problems have been focused on my being a 'perfectionist' - I am well aware that not all panic sufferers are perfectionists. Nevertheless, COPAST is still 'central' to all recovery where anyone's 'mind flow' is interrupted.

This has sometimes led me to believe I am 'mad', or not normal, which has then caused the ‘panic’. The fact is, I consider myself to be intelligent and have all sorts of thoughts/feelings and have slowly, through time, developed the self-confidence to live with my own mind! There may well be a certain type of person that develops this behaviour – mainly, in my case, someone who is very intense and sensitive and who 'wants things right'/struggles with things 'outside of the box'. Alternatively, when it comes to flighter panic - this is very much an 'opposite reaction' shown by a more 'extroverted' 'loss of control' - you will see this is then 'shown' by 'compulsive comfort taking' like smoking/drug/alcohol/food 'excess' etc, which are all ways of taking this 'comfort' (see MORD pt 4 and Chapters 2 - 4, 5, 7, 8).

There are many situations that have arisen where I really have felt so low and depressed, that I wondered if I was ever going to pull through. I may get stressed, for example, my young son needs daily physiotherapy and when I get home from work I can find myself tied in a ‘mental knot’ about whether to relax and do his exercises later (as I will have to do them for the foreseeable future anyway) or do them as soon as I get in, so that they’re done with and I can then relax. What would then ensue is a flurry of 'after' panic, that I should not be thinking in this confused/stressed way and would enter a 'downward spiral' of analysis/checking my every thought – because of initially thinking about just one issue - (see also 'Grey Areas' - Ch 6 and ''Our Incorrect And Forced 'Response' To That Tension Pause'' - 'The Final Stage').

I would then find myself trapped in this obsessive checking or analysing with no way out – a typical situation of complete and utter panic. As you will see from the 'Recovery' page, I have isolated the process which develops in these circumstances and give further examples/situations in the book, as well as other people's experiences.

So, now, I would be able to recognise the very important secondary process taking place at this stage in my thought. It is a strong temptation to explain my thoughts, because I don’t have complete control of them. This may be due to me thinking they were wrong/I didn't like them/felt uncomfortable with them/were confusing and wanted clarity etc. The confusion/subsequent whirr I would experience would be quite horrifying, but now I can understand that the problem here, is quite separate and distinct from my initial (natural) thoughts. These, I refer to as ‘primary’ thoughts, as this is where we function as ‘normal’ human beings, but when we 'feel' threatened/feel as if we cannot cope, we may be tempted to re-run those thoughts (our panic) - developing a secondary thought process, which can easily become obsessive due to the fact that you cannot accept you're leaving these thoughts - you have effectively become 'trapped'. 

As you will see from the COPAST diagram - when we feel 'uncomfortable' with a particular thought/feeling, the 'cut-offs', which subconsciously bring us 'out' of that thought, really 'stand out', making this 'now past tense thought' an 'issue'. What we 'do' next is very important...only understanding can help us 'develop' the 'awareness', that we 'don't' have to intensely force ourselves to 'do' anything 'extra' here. 
 

The basic concept is, don’t be tempted to 'force' yourself into this secondary panic. It is not necessary, though you will think it is, and once you have clarified this is a separate process, like I have, you will feel better. That’s what panic is, a separate/distinct forcing back into thoughts/feelings after they have happened. As said, primary thinking is all we should be aiming to achieve – and we will get more control than we ever imagined. If I now encounter stressful situations etc, I simply recognise my temptation to force myself into a 'more intense' panic mode of explaining/checking obsessively and through this realisation, I now find it quite easy to resist, as I understand what’s happening.

ISOLATE THE 'PROCESS'!

'To achieve flow - we don't have to consciously and force oursleves to 'do/react to' anything. 

You will see that this is really about us staying with what's CURRENT in our thoughts. The MORD ('Method of Recovery Diagram' - Chapter 1) and COPAST Diagram (Chapter 7) show that we unnecessarily 'go back' into our negative and even positive thoughts by putting our foot back 'on' the pedal, rather than taking it 'off' it. We, inadvertently 'hang on to/run from' these thoughts when they've already gone, causing greater confusion and 'repetition', as we're now 'stuck'. Our 'reaction' may differ because of our personalities - some of us may 'go back' by fighting to understand these thoughts, whilst others may 'take flight' or 'run away' from the perceived 'threat'. Both of these are unnecessary 'over'intense responses to feelings of discomfort. Due to our confusion, we are doing completely the 'opposite' of what we should be doing. 

Ref fighters and flighters...

...... Thanks Will again without you I would be still in the sh*te. It is horrible situation to be in, and when you read other people getting stuck I so feel for them. But it’s so eeasy. How long did it take you to figure it out? Hats off to you. I was thinking (oh god!?!?!!) ,well it was my brothers idea, why dont you set-up a forum on your web site I would love to help other people, perhaps another persons view would be useful. Anything I can help with your site, please be free to ask Anyway thanks  N. Watts Jun 06

What really caused me a lot of pain for years was a lack of understanding as to what actually happened. I had to isolate the process which took place, as I had a basic understanding of why I was struggling, but I didn’t know how to stop it happening. Again, when I felt really low and anxious one day, my mind was in its’ usual process of racing in despair and I suddenly realised that I was actually 'forcing' myself in to this behaviour of explaining. Even though it was very enticing, I could clearly recognise this process was unnecessary, and as a result, I felt better. Throughout the next day, there was a real temptation to keep explaining 'how' I was thinking, but I knew what to do and gradually, as time went on, I phased out this behaviour (patience please!).

So for those who have really suffered with this, I think there may be some understanding from what I’m saying and that, because I wanted to understand everything in life, there was a tendency to explain compulsively. Our 'immediate' and strong temptation is to inadvertently force ourselves to 'deal' with the problem, by consciously panicking about the negatives (the 'initial scramble' for relief), or by trying to over-control/force any subsequent 'positive thoughts of control' like ''relax'' (MORD pts 3 and 4), so that we 'never have to suffer again' (see also 'Catch-Alls' Chs 3-5).

On Tue 30/09/08 2:45 PM , Michael sent: