Eric Zink, da Califórnia, aconselha que as pessoas que sofrem de ataques de ansiedade carreguem limões em sua pessoa, pois isso poderia ajudar a "aterrá-las".
O homem de 39 anos lutou contra a ansiedade, transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo e depressão, além de dependências de drogas e álcool.
Com a terapia, ele conseguiu superar a maioria de suas lutas, no entanto, ele ainda sofre ataques de pânico e usa seu canal TikTok como um lugar para compartilhar dicas que podem ajudar outras pessoas.
Seu vídeo de morder limão se tornou viral e foi compartilhado em várias plataformas de mídia social, acumulando milhões de visualizações.
No vídeo, ele diz: "Você mantém os limões à mão se estiver tendo um ataque de pânico. O que você faz é pegar um limão e mordê-lo. Isso o impede.
"Os limões são extremamente amargos. Quando você mora nisso, a textura e a amargura vão parar as besteiras que estão acontecendo em sua mente e o obriga a se concentrar no sabor.
"Isso fará com que você saia de um ataque de pânico, por isso é chamado de técnicas de aterramento. Você sabe o que, elas funcionam. É usar seus sentidos e seus sentidos mais fortes para tirá-lo de um ataque de pânico.
A man has revealed how to stop an anxiety attack by simply biting into a lemon as a sure-fire grounding technique to trick the brain’s panic response.
Eric Zink, 39, from California posts videos on his TikTok account @dr1ven8 dedicated to sharing coping techniques for people with anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression.
Eric struggles with general anxiety disorder, an alcohol and drug addiction and used to self-harm for years.
Through therapy, Eric has since been able to overcome most of his struggles but still suffers from panic attacks especially during major life events.
The 39-year-old has since come up with various "grounding techniques” to keep his nerves at bay during a panic attack.
One of his favourite tips is biting into a lemon as a sure-fire way to trick the brain into focusing on sour taste of the fruit and stop his thoughts from racing.
Eric said grounding techniques have helped him during his darkest times.
He said: “My self-harm started in my pre-teens and my panic attacks were triggered by the fear of failure.
“I also got panic attacks when I was heavy into my alcohol and cocaine addiction, which I used to get a feeling of numbness.
“Setting healthy boundaries along with therapy helped me out of the self-harm.
“I still get panic attacks but not often unless they I’m going through a massive amount of stress such as job loss, loss of a family member and such.
“Finding ways to ground myself was a huge help.
Eric shared his lemon trick on his TikTok page @dr1ven8, which gained over 1 million views and has since gone viral on other social media sites such as Twitter.
In the 1-minute clip, Eric said: “You keep lemons on hand if you’re having a panic attack what you do is you grab a lemon and bite into it. This grounds you.
“Lemons are extremely bitter. When you bite into this, the texture and the bitterness is going to stop the bullshit that’s going on here and focus you to force on your mouth.
“It will bring you out of a panic attack, that’s why it’s called grounding techniques. You know what, they work.
“It’s using your senses and your strongest senses to bring you out of a panic attack.
“Panic attack is a massive amount of emotions and it’s so overwhelming that it feels like you’re dying sometimes. It feels like you’re having a heart attack.
“Lemons, the bitterness from these things... Bite into them. Get the juices into your mouth. Get out of here and get back to here and fight through it.
“You’re stronger than the battles that you’re going through. You’re an amazing human being.”
“Find what works for you, we got this. You matter.”
Dozens of users thanked Eric for his helpful advice and for sharing the incredible trick.
One commented: “Thank you sir. Only pp who have panic attacks understand how terrifying and debilitating they are.”
Another added: “CEO of knowing what to do when life gives you lemons”
One wrote: “Thanks so much g, best of luck for anyone who gotta deal with this”
Eric also shares various other coping techniques for anxiety, depression, self-harm that have worked for him over the years on his TikTok page.
He started his social media accounts with the hope to make a difference and let people know that it is okay not to be okay.
Eric said: “I lost a wife and father to suicide, I have self-harmed, I am a recovering alcoholic and cocaine addict, I am diagnosed with ADHD, PTSD, GAD and MDD.
“I wanted to make a difference and not sugar coat what we are going through in life.
“I wanted to be real about the struggles but also realistic that it is okay to be not okay and that everything in life is worth it.
“I love social media because it reaches out to so many people and different age groups.
“There are not a lot of resources for adults and even teens to find coping mechanisms that are easily understandable.
“I think when we see others that go through struggles and what they about it reminds us that we are not alone.
“It also helps us start our trial and error process to find out what works for us, so that we can have the tools needed to help us.”
Eric has urged people to not be afraid to reach out for help when they need it, and also encouraged people to be there for their loved ones who may need a listening ear when dealing with their mental health struggles.
He added: “Find the triggers and senses that work best for you to ground yourself when a panic attack hits, sometimes therapy can help in finding those and finding more techniques that work.
“Remember you are not alone. 1 in 4 people struggle with a mental illness and the strongest thing you can do is to ask for help.
“If you are trying to help a friend or family member, remember to listen and do not listen to respond.
“When we share, we are getting out those emotions and allowing our brain to find a solution for us and our struggles.
“Responding or trying to fix someone only pushes them further away and they feel even more alone.
“To any parent, family member or friend who has someone in their life struggling, you can make the biggest difference by just realising when someone says they are struggling and need help it is not attention-seeking.
“It is connection-seeking. They want to find someone willing to help them through the process of getting the right help for their mental health struggles.”
ENDS // VID - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vdBOpqtj0rjOEdLsOpeIUlXHQulxA9_k
"O ataque de pânico é uma quantidade enorme de emoções e é tão avassalador que parece que você está morrendo às vezes. Parece que você está tendo um ataque cardíaco.
A popularidade viral do vídeo sem dúvida agradou Eric, que compartilha vídeos como este para ajudar pessoas que passaram por lutas semelhantes às dele.
Ele disse: "Perdi esposa e pai por suicídio, me machuquei, sou viciado em álcool e cocaína em recuperação, sou diagnosticado com TDAH, PTSD, GAD e MDD. Queria fazer a diferença e não usar açúcar.
"Acho que quando vemos outras pessoas que passam por lutas, isso nos lembra que não estamos sozinhos."
"Isso também nos ajuda a iniciar nosso processo de tentativa e erro para descobrir o que funciona para nós, para que possamos ter as ferramentas necessárias para nos ajudar."
"Encontre os gatilhos e os sentidos que funcionam melhor para você se aterrar quando ocorrer um ataque de pânico - às vezes a terapia pode ajudar a encontrá-los e a encontrar mais técnicas que funcionem."
