Conquering Anxiety and Panic - David Powlison

This was a message presented by David Powlison (a good introduction to Powlison posted by Justin Taylor is posted here) on the topic of panic attacks, anxiety and fears. I have written below a fairly comprehensive outline of what was said, but if you want the main points, check out the conclusion toward the bottom.

Goals of message

1. "I want to communicate "feel" for a change process, "feel" for a person growing; what are the elements, pieces; what is going on where someone who has struggled intensely with these "free-fall", just utterly destructive patterns of fear-- the most extreme; what are ways that they go forward?"

2. Hope that all listening will, "by getting a certain kind of orientation, will not be intimidated, to be willing to enter very hard, deep waters with other people;" that underlying the scope and depth of the problem are certain points of continuity, of identity, there's no temptation that overtaken that's not common to all, that we'd have a confidence to not ourselves be stricken with fear because we're dealing with someone else who's absolutely ripped apart by fear.

3. To get some practical sense of direction

*Other introductory note is that these are fear experiences that are not generated by something outside of you, but rather the attacker is you, it's inside of you

I. Point 1

4 Scenarios with trajectories that can lead to panic:

1. Living double lives, guilt, pressure ("Paul" story)

2. There was a "traumatic event", where one encounters their fragility and lack of control

3. Pressure upon pressure, and eventually they break. "Straw that breaks the camel's back" occurs

4. The experience is extremely narrowly focused on one particular object. "phobias"

**There is a common thread that runs through all of these, where they all have in common the sense of precariousness, and the fragility of life, and our vulnerability and the fact that there's these things that are bigger than us that we cannot control that are very, very threatening.

Basic elements of genuine change (deep, ongoing, with staying-power):

1. A "Reckoning" with deeper connections, with wider issues.

2. He started to hear another's voice-- God's voice.

3. Not only does hear another voice, but he gains a voice.

There's someone you can talk with. There's something about gaining a voice that is the opposite of this fear experience, this fundamentally isolated experience that one has.

4. It's not just vertical. There's someone else there along with your for encouragement.

5. You start to see an outreaching care for other people.

6. There is an "unfolding" change process.

The difference between Christian perspective and our culture, is that the culture sees these horrendous symptoms, and says "if you can just take the edge off with medicine, fantasies, etc."... Christianity has brought in the lens because it has a sense of a far-more comprehensive change process.

..."from the Christian standpoint, you don't necessarily nail the fear experience in its extreme version directly and then hope it trickles out. You actually nail the whole life, and it inevitably ripples in and touches those more extreme experiences of fear."

Find commonality in fear experience

What you find is that everyone, if they're honest, has the ability to identify with the essential core experience, and it is that:

• We are vulnerable
• We are weak
• We are fragile
  
• There is something about the human condition that is fundamentally unable to control the world and unable to guarantee our own life
• We are dependent even by our own creation.
  

We live in a world that is fundamentally evil. But God reverses this evil, both in this life and in the final reversal.


Our role in supporting someone suffering from panic (1 Thess 5:14):

• Encourage the fainthearted-- There's no analysis, no admonishment; it's just straight encouragement. You're there with them, you're not leaving
• Help ("hang on to") the weak - In the panic experience, it is the one best thing we have to offer is in a sense you "hang on", you're there as an anchor of sanity in a world of madness, of courage in a world of terror, etc...

Out of the box, we're working more in the "hold on" and "encourage" part of the ministry.

Notes on Phobias
Phobias "named fears" are actually too narrow of a focus of fear, attributing a fear to one defined thing, when in reality we are far vulnerable and lack control in a far wider spectrum.

The "unnameable fears", which are attributed to the panic attack, anxiety attack, dark abyss, etc., are just chaos, while with phobias --"named fears"-- point out specific dangers. With panic, it's just absolute chaos and destruction, you don't know what's coming at you.

One of the goals in helping a person with phobias is you really almost want to "broaden" the problem. There's something else that's bigger than that fear. Maybe they're without God and without hope in this world, and death is writing their script...

With panic, you actually want them to "name" the different sources of fear so that it's not just blank panic going on.

Meditating on Luke 12

The birds of the air, the lilies-- there is a fundamental vulnerability in all the world. We are fundamentally weak. We are dying, we are mortal.

You want to have good reasons for fear. Reasoning your way out of your fears is never is never big enough. The fears are too unreasonable, and the fears are too real underneath.

** The truth is, all that we work for will come to nothing. Death is all that's guaranteed, and the real marvel is that we're all "kooks", going crazy with panic, because this reality applies to all. Without a saving knowledge of the resurrection of Christ, we have no hope.



Summary: Relate your way Forward

You can't reason your way out of the fears of life, but you can relate your way forward in life. That relating gets you out of the "isolation" of the fear experience. It makes you connect to God and to others.

1. Involve others, or Be the Involved Other

If you're the sufferer: Involve others. Ask for help. God has designed it that having someone in the room is part of solving the problem with fear, that there's someone else there.

If you're the helper: This is a situation where you are truly powerless. You can't fix or control the other person's panic attack. And you're being asked to "jump in" to someone else's free fall, and you ask "who am I that I should be able to help this person?"

-- think of Moses asking God, "who am I?" God comforts him, "I'll go with you."

"The medicine for the helper is always the medicine for the needy. It's always the way God does it. It's terrific. It's a wonderful dynamic-- for grace, for grace, for grace, for grace."


2. Though we can't reason our way out of the whole, we can make sense of what' s going on. It's something bigger than the moment

a. It's very important for our self and others to face what we're afraid of. What is it? Name it, identify it.

• If the person's got phobias, broaden the identification-- it's usually a fear of death or a fear of being out of control. There is always an underlying fear, and it's isolated on a specific object.
• If it's panic, what are the evils, the troubles, the hardships that they are afraid of. This is not rocket science. (The fear of failing, fear of death, fear of running out of money). These are the things that become monsters in people's lives.
  

b. Identify what your wants

• "Fear" and "want" are just two sides of the same coin. Fear is what I don't want, and it always implies something that you want. It usually is a good thing, but it's not good enough to build your life on.
  
• Example: "I want to live, not die"-- living is a good thing, but it's not good enough because it's fundamentally precarious and you are going to die; it's good to want friends, but it's not good enough because friends will betray you and fail you
  
• This identifies the idolatries of the heart

3. Be able to make sense of "What is my specific need for God's mercies?"

• Christ is the only true hope of the fearful
• When you can sort out the fears, you know who to call and what to say

It's not enough to just focus on Bible verses. Talk! Talk to God, get out of your head and talk to God. If God is Soveriegn and good and we need help, ask for help.

4. Walk openly with other people

- Be"sowing" to the needs of others (sowing implies you don't know what's going to happen); Like St. Francis of Assisi, pray, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is fear let me sow courage and hope and love; And Lord, where there is panic, let me sow safety and trust."

-We should be willing to go into people's lives and sow good things that will have a ripple effect in their lives

-One of the wonderful things about the way the Bible works is that all the things that are bad have this wonderful, redemptive alternative. For example, love is a good, holy anxiety for someone else's welfare. Phil 2, 2 Cor 12. We want to feel a holy anxiety, so that we can act on behalf of others.