How To Overcome Panic Attacks
Panic attacks
Panic attacks
are sudden, intense surges of fear, panic, or anxiety. They are overwhelming,
and they have physical as well as emotional symptoms.
Many people with
panic attacks may have difficulty breathing, sweat profusely, tremble, and feel
their hearts pounding.
Some people will
also experience chest pain and a feeling of detachment from reality or
themselves during a panic attack, so they make think they’re having a heart
attack. Others have reported feeling like they are having a stroke.
Panic attacks
can be scary and may hit you quickly. Here are some strategies you can use to
try to stop a panic attack when you’re having one or when you feel one coming
on:
1. Use deep breathing
While
hyperventilating is a symptom of panic attacks that can increase fear, deep
breathing can reduce symptoms of panic during an attack.
If you’re able
to control your breathing, you’re less likely to experience the
hyperventilating that can make other symptoms — and the panic attack itself —
worse.
Focus on taking
deep breaths in and out through your mouth, feeling the air slowly fill your
chest and belly and then slowly leave them again. Breathe in for a count of
four, hold for a second, and then breathe out for a count of four:
2. Recognize that you’re having a panic attack
By recognizing
that you’re having a panic attack instead of a heart attack, you can remind
yourself that this is temporary, it will pass, and that you’re OK.
Take away the
fear that you may be dying or that impending doom is looming, both symptoms of
panic attacks. This can allow you to focus on other techniques to reduce your
symptoms.
3. Close your eyes
Some panic
attacks come from triggers that overwhelm you. If you’re in a fast-paced
environment with a lot of stimuli, this can feed your panic attack.
To reduce the
stimuli, close your eyes during your panic attack. This can block out any extra
stimuli and make it easier to focus on your breathing.
4. Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness can
help ground you in the reality of what’s around you. Since panic attacks can
cause a feeling of detachment or separation from reality, this can combat your
panic attack as it’s approaching or actually happening.
Focus on the
physical sensations you are familiar with, like digging your feet into the
ground, or feeling the texture of your jeans on your hands. These specific
sensations ground you firmly in reality and give you something objective to
focus on.
5. Find a focus object
Some people find
it helpful to find a single object to focus all of their attention on during a
panic attack. Pick one object in clear sight and consciously note everything
about it possible.
For example, you
may notice how the hand on the clock jerks when it ticks, and that it’s
slightly lopsided. Describe the patterns, color, shapes, and size of the object
to yourself. Focus all of your energy on this object, and your panic symptoms
may subside.
6. Use muscle relaxation techniques
Much like deep
breathing, muscle relaxation techniques can help stop your panic attack in its
tracks by controlling your body’s response as much as possible.
Consciously
relax one muscle at a time, starting with something simple like the fingers in
your hand, and move your way up through your body.
Muscle
relaxation techniques will be most effective when you’ve practiced them
beforehand.
7. Picture your happy place
What’s the most
relaxing place in the world that you can think of? A sunny beach with gently
rolling waves? A cabin in the mountains?
Picture yourself
there, and try to focus on the details as much as possible. Imagine digging
your toes into the warm sand, or smelling the sharp scent of pine trees.
This place
should be quiet, calm, and relaxing — no streets of New York or Hong Kong, no
matter how much you love the cities in real life.
8. Engage in light exercise
The exception to
this is if you’re hyperventilating or struggling to breathe. Do what you can to
catch your breath first.
9. Keep lavender on hand
Lavender is
known for being soothing and stress-relieving. It can help your body relax. If
you know you’re prone to panic attacks, keep some lavender essential oil on
hand and put some on your forearms when you experience a panic attack. Breathe
in the scent.
You can also try
drinking lavender or chamomile tea. Both are relaxing and soothing.
Lavender should
not be combined with benzodiazepines. This combination can cause intense
drowsiness.
10. Repeat a mantra internally
Repeating a
mantra internally can be relaxing and reassuring, and it can give you something
to grasp onto during a panic attack.
Whether it’s
simply “This too shall pass,” or a mantra that speaks to you personally, repeat
it on loop in your head until you feel the panic attack start to subside.
11. Take benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines
may help treat panic attacks if you take one as soon as you feel an attack
coming on.
While other
approaches to the treatment of panic may be preferential, the field of
psychiatry has acknowledged that there is a handful of people who will neither
respond fully (or at all in some cases) to the other approaches listed in above,
and as such, will be dependent on pharmacological approaches to therapy.
These approaches
often will include benzodiazepines, some of which carry FDA approval for the
treatment of this condition, such as alprazolam (Xanax).
Because
benzodiazepines are a prescription medication, you’ll likely need a panic
disorder diagnosis in order to have the medication on hand.
This medication
can be highly addictive, and the body can adjust to it over time. It should
only be used sparingly and in cases of extreme need.
Find your Inner Happiness
Do the things that makes you happy .And find happiness in the little things in life :) :)
