How to Handle a Nocturnal Panic Attack

A panic attack can strike anytime, day or night, and a nocturnal panic attack can be especially difficult because you’re often thrown into the middle of a full-blown panic attack having been unconscious for the build up symptoms. Because of this, a nocturnal panic attack can be especially disorienting, frightening and dangerous. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize your chances of having a nocturnal panic attack and to limit the duration if you do have one.

Generally, the first nocturnal panic attack is the worst because you are caught completely unaware. After that, though, you have some idea of what’s going on if you wake up in the middle of a panic attack again. This awareness is the key to both preventing and minimizing the occurrence of a nocturnal panic attack, so if you already have panic attacks during the day, recognize that you will probably have them at night, even during sleep.

Once you recognize that you may experience a nocturnal panic attack, prevention becomes a lot easier. The easiest way to prevent a nocturnal panic attack, especially if you have a panic disorder, is to take medicine prior to going to sleep. Some medications interrupt sleep patterns or cause you to carry severe drowsiness into the next day. Some are addictive. If you are concerned about any of these side effects, you will want to try other methods of preventing a nocturnal panic attack.

For a more holistic approach to preventing a nocturnal panic attack, try to reduce your stress levels naturally prior to bed. Avoid caffeine and sugary or fatty foods late in the evening. Practice some gentle yoga poses and meditate. For an extra soothing time, incorporate aromatherapy. Lavender and ylang ylang have long been used as calming agents. During that time when you are in bed but not yet asleep, play soothing music or whitenoise to keep your mind from wandering prior to falling asleep.

If you do still experience a nocturnal panic attack, you can gently guide yourself out of it similar to the way you would talk yourself out of a panic attack during the day. The difference with a nocturnal panic attack is that you have to reorient yourself – reintroduce yourself to consciousness – before calming yourself down. Pick an object in your bedroom to focus on in the event of a panic attack, and practice looking at it from your different sleep positions when you’re not having a panic attack. This way, when you wake up in the middle of an attack, you can find it quickly and bring yourself from a semi-conscious state to a state of full awareness of what’s going on. Once you do that, you can start to talk yourself out of the attack like you would any other time. If the self-talk doesn’t work, remove yourself from the bedroom, perhaps get some fresh air. You should be familiar with these techniques from day time attacks, and they will work just as well with nocturnal panic attacks.

If nocturnal panic attacks are causing significant disruption to your sleeping pattern, consult with a physician to determine if there is an underlying medical condition causing the disturbances – perhaps sleep apnea or a heart attack – or if there is an appropriate sleep aid that can help.