Anxiety/Panic attacks and climbing

Hey all, just looking for some input or stories from those of you with similar experiences. The past year I've been dealing with low-moderate general anxiety disorder and some panic attacks here and there. It's gotten to the point to when planning big trips, even climbs well within my range, gives me so much anxiety that I've lost motivation to plan and go on the trips altogether. It seems that it's not the actual climbing that makes me anxious because I am still climbing locally and have a good lead head, it's simply the fear of having a panic attack in an undesirable location, i.e. halfway up a multipitch or just out on some random back roads. Anyway, I appreciate any input...so far I've starting working on breathing techniques, trying to run more, etc...but it hasn't subsided. I've thought about having xanax on me as an absolute last resort but I'm also not too familiar with it and the safety of using it at altitude or a situation where I still need to be able to function. Looking forward to hearing some stories, thanks!

warriorsway.com/

You should read "Death Grip" by Matt Samet. It may not have too much advice o. How to cope with this on the rock but it is a great read from a pro climber who had pretty bad anxiety.

Cheers

Hey there,
Seeing and working with a GOOD psychologist will help you greatly. Yes, many people can deal with this on their own. But it sounds like the fear of panic is now impacting your life. Panic attacks, specific fears, and the fear of panic attacks, are all issues that a well trained psychologist can help you address in a relatively short period of time. Additionally there is a wealth of research reporting positive outcomes when empirically supported treatments are used to address the above issues problems.

Scott M. McNamara wrote: warriorsway.com/

Read The Rock Warrior's way, it will radically improve how you mentally prepare and plan for and during a climb.

Has your diet or timing of meals changed during the same time period. One common cause of anxiety, panic attacks, and sometimes depression is hypoglycemia...almost never diagnosed as a diet problem...almost always misdiagnosed as a psychological problem. Try eating a healthy snack with some complex carbs and fat containing proteins when you start to feel anxious and see if the symptoms go away...or try making sure you eat healthy balanced meals with healthy snacks every two hours and see if it eliminates the problem...simple fix if it works and much easier than SSRI drugs. If it doesn't work then go to a doc or therapist.

Thanks all for the advice thus far. My diet is pretty healthy and hasn't changed much but I'll try the snack thing to see if it helps. Regarding the rock warriors way, I've read excerpts here and there and much of it seems to be centered around the act of climbing itself which I'm fine with, it's more the buildup before going on trips and such. Is there info in there on this? Also, has anyone had any experience with cognitive behavioral therapy? Matt Samet mentions this and it seems like the most practical way of actually learning to manage these feelings rather than to mask them.

The books mentioned here are great, but...

I have experienced something like what you describe. I have dealt with panic attacks and generalized anxiety in the past. They were the major (but not only) factor in knocking me out of climbing for several years.

I think I've gotten them more or less completely under control.

My anxiety was about the (perceived) loss of control, not a fear of climbing, or fear of leading, or fear of falling. It sounds like you experience the same thing, hence the reticence to plan big trips.

So to be honest: you need help dealing with the anxiety in all contexts, not the climbing one. Indeed, my climbing techniques for controlling fear work fine and worked fine. It's outside climbing where I had to learn to control anxiety.

The problem is getting to the crag to begin with, and the aforementioned books are of limited utility. There are some great books for dealing with anxiety in general (The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook is one), and something like that is going to be way more useful to you, I think.

Also: seek professional help if at all possible. There are so many people in the mental health field that are experts in anxiety and can help you work through it. Don't try to do it alone.

Also: CBT is exactly what you want and need.

@Teece, thanks for the input. That fear of loss of control is definitely what I experience. It's kind of a trip, because I know that everything is fine but that feeling keeps perpetuating. It's good to know some climbers have experienced it and dealt with it as well. I'm definitely looking into the CBT and I'll keep my eye out for that book. Thanks again.

I definitely would try very hard to avoid Xanax and its brothers (Klonopin, Ativan, and Valium probably being the most common). The real problem is not that Xanax doesn't work, but that it DOES work. Samet's experience is somewhat extreme (I hope!) but a testament to how powerful a benzodiazapene addiction can be. In addition to the dependence potential, there is also the problem of essentially climbing while under the influence of a drug that is there for the express purpose of blunting your reaction to your environment, when in fact your life depends on being able to read what the rock is telling you.

That said, as you know too well anxiety can be incredibly debilitating, and a benzo may be sometimes needed in a crisis situation as part of a comprehensive plan. But if benzos are the whole plan, that's a formula for trouble.

The cognitive behavioral therapy mentioned above can be very effective for anxiety, sometimes more so in conjunction with an SSRI. And it is true that many very high-functioning people with anxiety carry a benzo with them at all times and NOT use it, just so they don't have to worry about being caught without it.

Good luck!

Ya, so far I've avoided going the drug route, I've just always felt that it's not the end all be all treatment for this stuff, but then again I also haven't really climbed much in the past year so I need to do something. I have carried a couple with me here and there but never taken them, it does seen to help to know I have them in the event that one hits. Anyway, i do appreciate all the input and hopefully I'll be out running around the mountains again in no time.

Khowe765 wrote: Read The Rock Warrior's way, it will radically improve how you mentally prepare and plan for and during a climb.

The Rock Warrior's Way was a resource for at least a decade but it's been superseded by Vertical Mind, published this year.

Arno has good advice based on his climbing and spiritual experiences but Jeff is a professor of psychology as well as having almost 4 decades of climbing experience. As you read along, it's easy to picture him at the front of a classroom lecturing... I kept expecting him to announce a test at the end of each chapter.

Tapawingo, you don't mention if you have anxiety over other things in general, but I'm assuming you do? I definitely second the suggestion that you find a psychologist and get into treatment.

One opposing opinion on the Xanax route: I have never had an anxiety attack when I've been well-rested, but if I'm operating on just a few hours of sleep? There's a pretty high probability of anxiety attack. When I travel for business, which I do quite a bit, I carry a tablet of Xanax. Just knowing that its there tamps down almost all attacks--because I know that I _can_ break the mental spiral, which keeps me from obsessing about it.

Don't get me wrong--I'm not pom-pons and rainbows. But for me, its been really helpful.

HTH

There is nothing wrong with Xanax and their ilk for occasional, as-needed use.

But they really can't be your only option. They are extremely addictive if taken regularly, have a small risk of seizures, and if accidentally over-used can cause panic attacks! That's the very thing you were trying to treat...

So if they help you to have on hand to defeat a bad attack, awesome. But you still have to work on CBT to learn to deal with most panic attacks without them.

That's pretty much the verbatim advice of a psychiatrist with decades of experience treating anxiety. But of course, I am not a doctor.

Be VERY careful with them if you have any history of substance abuse.

Hey dude. I know exactly what you are going through. The first panic attack I ever had was when I was younger on a climbing trip. I didn't know what was happening, I thought I was dying, I called my mom and just cried, for like hours until I managed to fall asleep sitting up in the front seat of my car.

It shook me up. BAD. I learned what it was, but I still didn't understand why, or how. It pretty much put me in a permanent state of vulnerability- I didn't know if it was going to happen again, or for how long or why. I did't go on many trips after that for quite a while.

I already had issues with anxiety and depression and my psychiatrist prescribed me Valium- not to take regularly by any mean, but to have in case of a panic attack. Well, it worked, and when I felt one coming on- it stopped it in it's tracks. Once I was aware that there was a way to stop them, it radically reduced the recurrance of them because I knew if shit starting getting loopy I had the power to shut it down.

This was probably about 6 years ago. I barely ever take them but I still get incredibly extremely anxious about trips. I go out every weekend and in the last couple years I've traveled around the whole damn country. It's really, really, really hard. It hasn't really "gone away" but It has gotten better.

A couple of posts already mentioned a couple things that might help- firstly what I know triggers them for me - being incredibly hung over for starters. Not getting enough sleep, a sudden drop in blood pressure, or chaotic environments.

What I know helps me to stop bringing them on- when I get in that negative cycle and start thinking about whether or not I'm about to have one I recognize that it's just intrusive and negative thinking. Being aware of the fact that the process has no logical conclusion or purpose helps me to stop thinking about it. This takes time but if you focus and when your feeling anxious to remind yourself "hey, what I'm thinking right now isn't necessary, I'm done with it." and start replacing anxious thinking with positive things like "man, you know what, lunch was really good today" "or the weather is actually pretty great right now". You can start to reduce the thoughts from even occurring in the first place.

I would highly recommend checking out a psychiatrist, even if only to see what it's all about.

Do you love climbing? Is it an integral part of who you are? Have you overcome unpleasant things before? Good. DON'T LET THIS DEFEAT YOU.

Looking back when things were the most appallingly terrifying and dark and thinking about what I would have missed if I had just quit. Well. I can't really. I've made me fucking dreams come true despite this bullshit. And YOU WILL TOO. Last winter I drove to Hueco by myself to spend a few weeks there. It was a 16 hour drive through complete desolation in the desert. Alone. Without cell phone service. On a thin budget. And I managed to do so without panicking once. It was the best experience of my life and if someone had told me when I fist started dealing with anxiety attacks that I would one day do that I would absolutely not have believed them.

Don't be ashamed either. If you have close friends you travel with, don't be afraid to fill them in on how your feeling or what your dealing with. Trust me, sitting in a car 12 hours from home with a group of people and silently freaking out while trying not to let on whats happening to you is unbarebly worse than just saying "hey y'all, I'm starting to feel a little anxious"- unless those people are rutheless assholes you shouldn't be hanging out with anyway they'll remind you that your going to be ok, that they're there, and that they love you.
Seriously, you don't have to isolate yourself. I know it seems impossible to even speak, and that the panic will make you want to keep it to yourself but you don't have to.

Please dude, if you need to someone to talk to message me. Don't let this take away climbing from you.

Yeah, I remember when those ducks flew away.

youtube.com/watch?v=Q0YXWpz…

Seems like climbing on Xanax could end badly, especially if you don't know how it affects you.

But maybe just having it on you, knowing that it's there if you *do* have a panic attack, will prevent the anxiety in the first place?

Idk, probably something worth asking a doctor/psychiatrist about.

My wife used to be like that. She would be so worried about having a panic attack while climbing that she would just opt out, and I'd go with someone else.

Finally I just forced her to follow me on an extremely exposed route in semi unfavorable conditions. I kind of down played the whole thing and gave her the idea that it was just a walk in the park and that we'd be back down in an hour. It was actually a fairly serious 4 pitch route.

Sure enough she had a panic attack. A few actually. And we still topped out. We didn't die, the black vortex of doom didnt eat us.

Now that she knows that there is nothing wrong with having a panic attack, she doesnt have them anymore.

Teece3003 gave some advice with the disclaimer "I'm not a doctor." I am, though, and he's dead on. Up-topic another poster suggested seeing a psychologist. Also good advice. When you're restricting activities for fear of a panic attack hitting, you're getting into agoraphobia. A psychologist skilled in CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) can teach you skills that will keep you in control and keep the panic attacks from taking over your life. Good luck!

I know this thread is a year and a half old and I apologize, but I just wanted to say that I really appreciated reading all of this. I came across this doing a web search for other climbers with panic attacks. I guess I just wanted to see I wasn't the only one with this problem.

I started climbing in the late 90's before I ever started getting panic attacks. It was maybe 10 years later that the panic attacks started creeping into my daily life and got worse and worse which resulted in me being hospitalized more than once and rarely left the house. I ended up getting diagnosed with General Anxiety, PTSD, and Agoraphobia.

Here's the tricky part. I'm actually a climbing instructor for a living and my favorite genre of climbing is multi-pitch trad. To say it has been difficult is an understatement. Many people hear things like anxiety and panic attacks and fail to realize how debilitating these can be.

Climbing single pitch (for me) isn't so much of an issue, you can just be lowered to the base of the climb. The moment you cross into multi-pitch, things change. Not only are you at risk, but you put your partner at risk as well. Because of this, I think folks like us have a moral obligation to let our climbing partners know, just as though we suffered from seizures.

I've been able to start climbing multi-pitch again, but I do things a lot differently now. In case anyone else comes across this thread like I did, I wanted to share some things that have worked well for me...

-Make sure to tell your partner before you head out to the wall. This is for a number of reasons. Most importantly, you don't want to put them in a dangerous situation. Give them the facts and let them decide for themselves if they want to proceed. For me, telling my partner in advance makes me less worried about the possibility of having one (won't be unexpected), which in turn, makes it less likely I'd have one.

-Climb with someone who doesn't have summit fever. If you know you're partner will get annoyed about having to bail because you're having problems with anxiety, that will make you more worried about it, and in turn, more likely to have one. My favorite people to climb with are the folks that "just like being outside".

-Pick a route with easy bail options. This is probably the biggest one for me. If you know the decent and/or bail is easy and straight forward, you'll feel less trapped on the wall and know that you could get down quickly if you had to. If you're on a route that has a lot of pendulums, traversing pitches, tricky raps, or "the easiest way off is up", that anxiety is going to start creeping in something fierce. Multi-pitch routes that are straight vertical with bolted belays work great for this.

-Pick routes with short approaches. When you know the car is less than a 30 minute hike from the base, it keeps you connected with that perceived escape route and makes you less on edge. I love Eldo for this exact reason.

-Project walls (if you live near them). The more that specific route becomes familiar territory, the more at ease you'll be. Let's say for example there is a ten pitch route you'd love to bag. Go out there the first day (with a patient partner), climbing the first pitch, and bail ...even if you're ready to do the next one. The following weekend, do the first two pitches. Ect...

-Be well rested and fed. This never crossed my mind until a Yosemite buddy told me. It sounds insignificant, but trust, it makes a different. If you're already feeling like crap, the minds going to follow the body.

-Keep a kit. Usually there's something that will mellow you out and/or make you worry less about necessities. Obviously you don't want to haul more crap than you have to, but it doesn't have to be anything crazy. A cell phone to talk to someone you know is a listening ear, a small toy your toddler gave you before you left, ...cigarettes, lol. For me, I always have my camelback and in addition to having water and a couple snacks, I have things in there that I know will bring me back down to a manageable level. As long as I have that camelback, I'm solid.

-Scout it out before climbing. Give yourself an extra day to hike to the base, look at the route, and scope out the decent. It can be mentally taxing for anyone to start a long climb right after epic approach that you weren't prepared for.

Attempting multi-pitch as someone with panic attacks seems impossible and posses so many more additional challenges. It can be very disheartening to watch people with less experience summit routes you dream of doing, but are hesitant to even try due to the anxiety and panic attacks. You study the topos, climb the grades, have your skills dialed, ...but get sidelined by something most people don't have to deal with. It feels terrible.

While it seems impossible, there's a way. Plan on having to put forth ten times more mental effort than the average person, but it's possible. You can do this, but it'll take work, dedication, and understanding partners. It's frustrating to deal with, but it's not a deal breaker.

Many adaptive climbing programs focus on people with physical disabilities. Hopefully, you'll start to see programs out there for people with less obvious disabilities.

Anyways, if you're looking for a climbing partner in the Midwest and/or front range, send me a message.

-Matt