Five Tips for Handling a Panic Attack

A panic attack is usually avoided or treated with medication, therapy or some combination of both. What if, though, you forgot to take your medication or therapy is ineffective? What if your panic attacks are infrequent enough that you don’t want to risk the side effects of medication? How do you handle a panic attack then? Below are five tips for dealing with a panic attack when other treatments aren’t available or aren’t working.

Tip #1: Stay in the Moment

The past and the future are beyond your control, and it is this lack of control that partially fosters anxiety. Conversely, the present is usually predictable and somewhat within your control, and control of a situation helps easy anxiety. You can’t go back to yesterday and avoid that pothole in the road you mistakenly took or predict whether you are going to be hit by a car tomorrow. You can control the speed of your car, whether you wear your seatbelt, and the route you drive. Focus on that; you’ll feel more in control and more calm.

Tip #2: Accept Your Fear and Panic

This tip for dealing with panic attacks is often extremely difficult to implement, but extremely effective if mastered. When you feel the symptoms of a panic attack coming on, take note of your symptoms and verbally explain to yourself why your having them. You can often diffuse a panic attack by telling yourself, “Oh, my heart’s racing and I’m sweating, I must be having a panic attack.” Again, this tip comes back to control. If your heart is beating a mile a minute and you feel dizzy, but don’t know why, you feel out of control of your own body, exacerbating the anxiety. If you identify the symptoms and their cause, you feel in control of your body and less anxious about what is or might happen.

Tip #3: Make Lists

Sometimes writing down the things you fear and the things that assuage those fears can help you feel in control of your fears and possibly face them without panic. Alternatively, keeping a list of things that calm you down can be helpful to have nearby feel the anxiety rise.

Tip #4: Breathe

Stop and breathe. Breathe deeply and slowly from your diaphragm. Taking such deep, slow breaths puts more oxygen in your blood meaning more oxygen can be delivered to your brain and other vital organs. This way, your heart can pump slower and deliver less blood with more oxygen rather than pumping faster to deliver more blood with less oxygen. With this tip, you can actually stop one of the major symptoms of a panic attack.

Tip # 5: Avoid Avoiding

Sure it’s easier to avoid situations that cause you anxiety, but doing so only serves to reinforce the idea that there is something wrong and frightening about these situations. Gradually confronting the situation that causes anxiety is a common method of treating situational panic attacks, and you may be able to do this on your own or with the support of family friends.