<<Imagine you are faced with a minor stress - a flat tire, a clogged-up sink, or a trivial disagreement with your spouse, friend, lover, child, etc. Instead of finding an acceptable solution, your mind seems to panic. A sense of unease develops, possibly causing discomfort in the stomach or chest. Feelings of anxiety complicate the increasing sense of uneasiness and restlessness. This is followed by progressively worsening anger - eventually becoming a rage so strong it overwhelms you - even though you realize it's excessive. Over the next few minutes to hours, other negative sensations creep in - including memories of past hurts - until you are experiencing virtually every bad emotion a human can feel.

You feel trapped and vulnerable. Your psychological defenses are overwhelmed by unbearable emotional pain. You feel depressed. You find yourself unable to cope as your mind and body are now in a full scale panic. You lose proper perception of reality - jumping to erroneous conclusions in a futile effort to make sense of what's happening. As the pain continues to intensify the nervous system creates bizarre sensations such as emptiness, numbness, and unreality. You become incapable of rational thinking as the panic continues to worsen. >>