“I was able to heal myself which is magical.”
Hi, my name is Sarah Goss, I’m a patient of Dr. Jonathan Inz. I began treatment after a recommendation from my primary care physician to receive treatment from Dr. Inz due to his vast knowledge of treatment of panic disorder.
The panic attacks began interfering with my daily life and I started avoiding situations where I felt anxious. First I began to avoid situations like plane rides, but eventually my panic symptoms worsened and were interfering with my job. In meetings I became anxious, thinking “what if the knob breaks and I can’t get out of the room??” My heart rate increased, I felt hot, sweaty, and dizzy. I couldn’t focus. I felt trapped.
“I felt out of control of my body.”
Eventually, I couldn’t be on planes, in a room, in a car, or driving on the highway. There was never anything physically hurting me, but the anxiety took over my body.
“I didn’t even want to be in a room.”
In the past, meditation apps never worked. I felt stuck inside my mind and more anxious. This was until I tried Dr. Inz’s relaxation training combined with the heartmath device. I was able to occupy my mind while focusing on relaxing my body.
The heartmath tool maps my heart rate variability and provides live feedback of my coherence which tells me whether I’m successfully calming my body or still having an erratic heart beat. After completing the breathing exercises, the heartmath app prompted me to use an emoji to represent how I am feeling and gave me a score for how well I was controlling my breathing.
The heartmath is very accurate, for example, if I had an intrusive thought the circle would turn red, and once I practiced my breathing exercises it went back to green. I remember thinking “my biofeedback is in alignment with how I feel” and I was amazed. I needed a form of biofeedback it to point me in the right direction, and reinforce that what I’m doing is working.
“Having the live feedback of my heart rate variability was so transformative.”
Although I do not use my heartmath as much anymore, I still bring it when I know I am going into a situation that might trigger high levels of anxiety. What has been especially helpful is using the heartmath before I enter the high anxiety situation, using it as a precautionary measure. The heart math sets me up to be successful and stop myself before the highly anxious feelings emerge.
Through my work with Dr. Inz and the heartmath, I have been able to live my life freely.
“The magic is overtime you learn how your body reacts and use the device to reinforce the breathing techniques.”
For example, the other day I wanted to try having my eyelashes done, but was worried about my anxiety during the process because you have to stay still and keep your eyes closed for almost an hour. At first I thought to myself, “I’m gonna die” but then I reminded myself of the progress I have made with my panic.
As I was laying in the chair, I felt confident in myself that I know how to control my panic symptoms. I practiced breathing in and out, and I made it through the appointment. It might sound silly, but people with panic disorder understand how much of your daily life can be taken away by your symptoms.