How To Cope With Panic Attacks

Anxiety is the most common of all mental health issues, and it has been steadily increasing since the 1950s.

We all experience anxiety from time to time, but it becomes known as panic when it reaches a more extreme level.

And when a feeling of panic gains momentum, it can turn into what is known as a panic attack.

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For our first step, it’s important to identify what thoughts, feelings, or situations are most likely to contribute to a panic attack.

This is likely different for everyone, but as with most things in life, there tend to be clues and patterns.

So, if you've had a panic attack, a good place to start is to think back to see if there are any patterns to watch for that could be making your anxiety worse.

Second, it’s important to know what the signs and symptoms of a panic attack are.

Based on my experience with clients over the past 20 plus years, most people have a few telltale physical and psychological symptoms that generally occur when they have a panic attack.

And according to a 2011 study by Dr. Alicia Meuret and colleagues, the two main symptoms you want to watch for are, increased heart rate and shortness of breath, as these are the two signs that people tend to notice first.

You want to pick up on these initial symptoms as soon as possible, so you can begin to try and prevent, or at least minimize, the severity of a panic attack.

For the third step, the goal is to begin calming the body.

The best way to do this is to change how you breathe.

When people become anxious, it’s common to take short, choppy breaths from high in the chest.

Instead of this, you want to begin to take slow, deep breaths from your diaphragm or belly.

With deep breathing, the goal is to lower your heart rate and blood pressure, as both become elevated during a panic attack.

And if you catch your symptoms early, you might be able to largely avoid the uncomfortable physiological symptoms of a panic attack.

If you don’t catch the symptoms early, deep breathing is still worth doing, although the goal needs to be to try and help minimize the physiological symptoms.

Because once your brain has released a large dose of adrenaline (the chemical that leads to much of the uncomfortable feelings in the body), the goal is to hang on for the ride and not make the panic attack worse than it already is.

For our next step, the focus is on calming the mind.

What you say to yourself in your mind is critical at this stage, as it will likely influence whether the panic attack gets better or worse.

The panic attack is probably going to get worse.

So, the goal at this stage is to have calming phrases to say.

And essentially, that’s what you are trying to do here.

The goal is to ride the wave of anxiety, as it will rise to a peak and eventually fall.

For most panic attacks, the worst is usually over within 10 – 20 minutes.

More severe panic attacks can last a little longer, but like all bad things, they will eventually come to an end.

For our fifth step, I encourage people to get moving whenever possible.

During a panic attack, the brain releases large amounts of cortisol and adrenaline, and the sooner you can reduce the levels of these hormones, the better.

And if you can get moving, after you take the initial steps of calming the body and mind, physical activity can help reduce cortisol and adrenaline, which will help you work through the most uncomfortable parts more quickly.

And for my sixth and final step, if you're unable to get moving or continue to experience some of the uncomfortable physiological symptoms of a panic attack, this would be a good time to engage in positive distraction.

So, as defined by HKS Clinical Solutions and Research, positive distraction is:

‘An environmental feature that elicits positive feelings and holds attention, without taxing or stressing the individual, thereby blocking worrisome thoughts.’

So, much more simply put, the goal is to find something positive to do that will help occupy your mind while your body works through the rest of the excess adrenaline that is causing the uncomfortable feelings.

Because what you focus on influences how you feel, and focusing on feeling anxious, or trying to make sense of anxious feelings at this point, will likely be counterproductive.

So, I hope you found these strategies helpful.

#Anxiety #PanicAttacks #MentalHealth

[jonahharmsen]

Anyone else watching this mid panic attack?

[sleepy-meep]

Been having panic attacks almost every night for the past few weeks. I have horrible anxiety about my health, I feel that every new symptom I experience is a sign of a deadly illness. and it becomes really bad at night. I haven’t had a good nights sleep in a long time because of this. 😭

[RC]

Does anyone have the fear of going blind while having an attack? The sort of blurriness, dizziness or detachment from reality and that things just aren’t “right” are what’s making me think this will happen. Then I start to freak out even more.

[rickyt.]

I remember when I was 19(I'm 41 now) having my first panic attack.scared me to death, I couldn't get home fast enough.i suffered for years while not telling anyone.i thought I was losing my mind.until one day my uncle described exactly what I was going threw and told me what was happening.ever since that day I've been almost free of panic attacks.thats not to say I don't get that weird feeling occasionally but simply knowing what it was helped me IMMENSELY!now if I get that weird feeling I know what it is and know I'll be just fine.still one the scariest times of my life.and once you've had one you'll never forget.

[pahideugoi]

Had a mini panic attack an hour ago!!! Full 15 mins of anxiety, fast breathing and dizziness!!! I did walk around my room to help me calm down my emotions and it kinda helped but the most annoying thing about my panic attacks is crying and hyperventilation!!! I usually walk around the room or play with my dog whenever this happens but today I decided to watch videos and seriously it really really helped!! Thank you!! I feel like whenever someone tells me that these things do happen more than often, I feel normal and relaxed!! Positive distraction is a BOON!

[savajandric]

I used to struggle with panic attacks myself, but today everything is much different. There was also anxiety. I wish you all a speedy recovery🌱

[MrGavinmccolgan]

You are not alone, hang in there, put up your best fight, it WILL get better !

[williambradley]

Had my first one today. Managed to get through it. Thank you for this video. It makes me feel normal at least.

[anToha_UA]

My panic attacks are triggered by pain around head or neck. Walked out of one just right now partially thanks to this video. It is very underrated as I am sure that there is a lot of people not knowing what's happening to them while experiencing a panic attack.

[scrivenerdenograde]

It is 3am and I woke up having a panic attack. Surprisingly, your voice helped calm me more than the advice 😅🤣

[riskoffailure]

the scariest thing for me when i have panic attacks is that i can’t control my breathing like even if i’m calm in my thoughts i’ll still be hyperventilating

[Finis.Terrae]

I noticed every time when i am alone, at night, that's when it gets me.

What saves me is online gaming.

Every time i have panic attack, i log in to play game with a lot of people.

[roxxane]

Walking around waiting for my friend to respond
I watched this on 1.25x & summarized it for him

[HealthyMindProject]

Thank you for this video. I came to this video as I was having a panic attack and wanted to have a calm voice and something to focus on. Thank you. It helped to soothe me and calmed me down. I had my first ever panic attack 15 years ago, and I was so convinced that I was having a heart attack I dialled 999 (UK equivalent of 911). After that I developed a panic disorder, and gastro-intestinal issues from the resulting anxiety. At its height, I become housebound, I was so scared to move. It took some therapy and pushing myself a little more each day to slowly buildy myself up again. Panic attacks went away, but would sometimes come back during periods of high stress, such as reently. I was diagnosed with C-PTSD 2 years ago, and I think that is a big factor in my panic attacks. I am generally quite an anxious person due to the CPTSD, but when I get lots of extra stress in my life, the panic attacks can come back. They are very scary, especially when they sometimes happen in the middle of the night and wake me up. Actually, it's usually stomach issues that wake me up, but the sensations in my bndy make me into full blown panic. Thank you again for this video. It helped me to calm down during this evening's panic attack.

[Princofaiiyanz]

So refreshing getting a video that actually helps. Thank you.

[SoVidushi]

it's nice that you're offering advice and help in the comments section even if it's been a while since the upload. Keep up the good work :)

[jalendavis]

I never thought I’d be looking up how to deal with a panic attack for advice for myself. But here we are

[maddisonkent]

Hello, i told my teacher i was struggling with panic attacks and i felt bad. after i watched this video i somehow felt a bit better.

[joshgabrielarguelles]

I experience my panic attacks due to my anxiety with my health. Once I feel my heart is beating fast, I suddenly became dizzy and have shortness of breath. I experience it almost 2 month now.

[beneficjenci]

Taking a "deep breath" is the last thing You want to do during a panic attack... Slow - yes, but definitely not deep as it increaes the o2 levels in Your body which is already saturated by it causing hypeventilation.