Self-Monitoring
Goal
To be able to self-monitor panic attacks and mood symptoms
Overview of Self-Monitoring
Developing awareness about your panic attacks is a crucial step in being able to overcome them. This is done by engaging in self-monitoring of your panic attacks, anxiety symptoms, and general mood symptoms. At first it may seem like self-monitoring elevates your distress since it requires you to focus on your experience of being anxious. In time, however, the distress should subside due to the positive impact of repeated exposure to those feelings.
Panic Attack Record Exercise (adapted from Barlow, 2008, p. 21)
Instructions: Record your panic attacks in the below Panic Attack Record. You will need one record per panic attack. Complete your entries as soon as possible following the attacks. You may need to print out this record and make copies of it in order to be able to carry it with you at all times and to have enough to capture all of your panic attacks.
Date: ___________ Time Attack Began: ___________
Triggers: _______________________________________________________________________
Expected: ____ - OR - Unexpected: ____
For the below symptoms that were present during your attack, indicate how severe the symptoms were on a scale of 0 to 10:
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| None | Mild | Moderate | Strong | Extreme | ||||||
| Chest pain or discomfort | _____ | Sweating | _____ |
| Heart racing/palpitations/pounding | _____ | Nausea/upset stomach | _____ |
| Short of breath | _____ | Dizzy/unsteady/lightheaded/faint | _____ |
| Shaking/trembling | _____ | Chills/hot flushes | _____ |
| Numbness/tingling | _____ | Feelings of unreality | _____ |
| Feelings of choking | _____ | Fear of dying | _____ |
| Fear of losing control/going crazy | _____ | ||
Thoughts: _________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Behaviors: ________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Daily Mood Record Exercise (adapted from Barlow, 2008, p. 21)
Instructions: At the end of each day, record your levels of anxiety, depression, and worry about panic on a scale of 0 to 10. You will need one record per week.
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| None | Mild | Moderate | Strong | Extreme | ||||||
| Date | Average anxiety | Average depression | Average worry about panic |
|---|---|---|---|
| _______ | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| _______ | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| _______ | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| _______ | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| _______ | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| _______ | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| _______ | _______ | _______ | _______ |
Next Step
Continue self-monitoring your panic attacks and mood symptoms indefinitely. Once your symptoms have improved significantly over a period of at least one month, you may decide that self-monitoring is no longer necessary.
