Need Help With Panic Attacks?

Susan Ardizzoni
Jun 24, 2016
2 min read

Are you experiencing panic attacks? Oh, what an awful feeling. Most people have experienced a panic attack at some point in their lives. However, if you are getting attacks frequently you may need to get professional help. To get a handle on your panic issue, you need to teach yourself to respond in a very calm way. You'll need to talk to yourself in your mind's ear repeatedly to master this.

Generally, a person that panics does all the wrong things in responding to an attack making the situation worse. So you need do the right things to get control. I've listed five steps below that can be used to alleviate your panic attack. If you practice this on a regular basis, you should be on your way to getting rid your attacks.

Awareness Steps:

When a panic attack occurs, you need to acknowledge the attack and accept it. This is the most important step. You are aware that you are afraid so don't ignore it. Admit it to yourself. Don't try to run from it, confront it. You are not in danger so realize it.
This is the time to wait and observe yourself to assess what is happening. Make a mental note of the incident, what you were thinking and doing. If you are not directly involved with the situation but on the side lines (like a passenger in a car) you don't need to take direct control) just watching and waiting is all you need to do. If you need to continue performing a task (like driving a car), you need to attend to your driving task as well as watch and wait. This is more difficult to do. Later, take the time to write this down in your journal.
Take immediate action to make yourself comfortable. Think of something pleasant to put you in a good state of mind.
In your mind, repeat the above three steps. Some times you think that you are over the attack but you are not so you need to keep repeating the first three steps again.
End of awareness steps. Relax! This last step is put here just to remind you that your panic attack will end.

Things you can do to overcome panic:

Try doing some belly breathing, this is very important.
Talk to yourself in your mind's ear about what is going on and what you think you need to do. See what option you can come up with.
Bring yourself into the present time. People don't panic in the present but rather in the past at something they imagined happened but didn't.
Try to get back into the activity you were doing before your attack. Concentrate on what is around you and participate in the environment.
Try to relax parts of your body that have become tense.