How to Handle a Panic Attack
Panic attacks are frightening for anyone…
The symptoms of a racing heart, feeling out of control, difficulty breathing, and shaking make some people feel like they’re losing their mind or dying. During a panic attack, it’s incredibly difficult for someone to access logical thinking and calm down. These 5 steps make it easy to recall coping skills when a panic attack comes on.
1. Bring It On!
This might sound odd, but radical acceptance of a panic attack is the first and most important part of decreasing its intensity. What tends to increase the frequency and intensity of panic attacks is fearing the panic attack itself.
2. Observe
Step outside of yourself and observe the anxiety as a thing separate from you. Imagine it as a leaf on a stream passing by or a cloud in the sky moving away. Experience it as a wave. Don’t get wrapped up in it and buy into the lie that you are going crazy or that you will die.
3. Engage
Try to focus on what you are doing, whether it is driving, working, or watching a television show. Don’t force the anxiety away, but try to attend fully to what you are doing rather than your anxious thoughts.
4. Relax
During a panic attack, your body becomes tense. Try paced breathing and progressive muscle relaxation.
5. Self-Talk
Changing the way you think about a situation has a lot to do with how you actually manage it. For example, if you think, “Oh no, here it comes; I have to stop it,” you’re more likely to perpetuate the panic attack. Alternately, the following self-talk phrases can decrease anxiety:
- This is just my fight-or-flight system at work.
- Anxiety is uncomfortable but not dangerous.
- I have to face my fears to get better.
- I can do this. I can let the anxiety decrease by itself, no matter how long it takes.
Fantastic article!