Anyone who has experienced a panic attack knows how hard they can be to deal with. Your heart races, you feel sick, start to shake, feel cold and clammy. There are a huge range of symptoms that accompany panic attacks but the overriding one is a feeling of complete and out of control fear.
There are however some simple and very effective ways of coping with a panic attack. These are techniques that you can practice yourself if you suffer from panic attacks or even things that you can help other people with if you know someone is experiencing a panic attack.
What to do for a Panic Attack
Firstly, are you sure that it is a panic attack. A panic attack will be experienced differently by everyone, but there are some common signs and symptoms. The overwhelming feeling of panic and fear, often you can feel that the walls are closing in and all you want to do is run away.
Here are some simple coping techniques for panic attacks
One of the problems with a panic attack is that you can easily start to hyperventilate. This where the body starts to breathe more quickly, taking in too much oxygen which tricks your body into thinking that you are short of breathe which makes it difficult to breathe normally. This is one of the effects of the fight or flight syndrome. To help to cope with this try sitting down and breathing into a paper bag. By recycling the air that you are breathing you reduce the levels of oxygen which helps to re-establish normal breathing.
If you are inside when you start to panic, try going outside. Panic attacks are often accompanied by a feeling of claustrophobia, a fear of confined spaces so getting outside can start to alleviate the symptoms of a panic attack.
Phone a friend. It’s not just game shows that use this technique to help. Talking to a friend can distract you from whatever has set off the panic attack. Phone someone who you know is good at talking and who you can usually engage in a lively conversation. If you’ve started to experience panic attacks try talking to a friend and explain what you are going to do when you have your next panic attack. A sympathetic friend can be a great help in coping with panic attacks.
If you are at home and feel a panic attack starting, try listening to music. Calm yourself down by listening to your favourite songs but try something slow and relaxing rather than heavy rock.
If you get into the habit of listening to a particular tune or album when you relax, just listening to it when you are having a panic attack can have a calming effect.
Accept that you are going to be okay. If you are reading this then you have probably already had a panic attack and although it was frightening at the time, you came through it, you didn’t have a heart attack and you survived. Just accepting that a panic attack won’t harm you can go a long way towards coping with them and controlling the symptoms of panic attacks.
Panic attacks are frightening but you need to understand that they can’t harm you. Some people suffer one panic attack and then never experience another. Others go on to develop a panic disorder.
If you have had a panic attack it is always worth consulting your doctor and getting some professional help and also just to put your mind at rest that there is no underlying health problem that is causing the symptoms.
You will get through this. People recover and stop having panic attacks.