How many of us have experienced a panic attack? Well it turns out A LOT. Panic disorders affects 6 million adults, or 2.7% of the U.S. population and women are twice as likely to be affected as men. And that does not include those of us who have only experienced a panic attack once or twice. And if you are one of those who have experienced a panic attack you know how horrible and sometimes scary it can be. But what you do about it can be the difference between it being a one time event and turning into a full blown panic disorder that continues to get worse and may really begin to effect you living your life.
Unfortunately what a lot of us do when we start to experience the beginnings of a panic attack just make it worse. We may try to ignore it at first. Then when we are unable to ignore it we begin to tell ourselves some pretty unhelpful things...like "oh no what is happening to me?", "I'm going to freak out in front of others", "people are going to think I am weird or crazy", "I'm going to faint", "I'm going to have a heart attack" (make sure you check with your doctor if you think this is a possibility), etc. All these things increase our fears and continue to get those hormones racing through our bloodstream even more (it's really interesting how thoughts can do that). And before we know it we are in a full blown panic attack.
So what can we do? Turns out it is pretty simple. I'm going to share with you the 6 step approach that I teach all my anxiety clients that works wonderfully. Some clients have success after one try with this approach others have to practice this more often to completely get rid of their panic attacks.
6 Steps to end the attack
First get yourself some index cards. On the first index card write the bold words of the 6 steps. The other cards are for steps 4 and 5.
1. Accept. Recognize your body symptoms. Get in the habit of being aware of the signals your body is sending you. The key here is catch it before it has gone too far. To try to nip it in the bud so to speak. Are you noticing your breathing getting faster, is face flushed, are your thoughts racing, is there a tightness in your chest or throat, are your muscles tight. Once your recognize the symptoms don't try to push them away. Accept them.
2. Permission. Give yourself permission to be anxious. Tell yourself it is OK to be anxious and it will go away. Don't scare yourself with all kinds of negative thoughts. Let yourself go with the anxiety again not pushing it away.
3. Breathe. Deep breathing for one minute. This is critical and probably one of the most important things to do. If you can't remember any of the other steps do this one. Make sure you slow your breathing down and breathe deep. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Count to 4 in and 6 out holding the breath for a count of 2. Count by 1000s. That will force you to slow down your breathing. Look at a second hand of a watch or set a timer on your phone for 60 seconds.
4. Inner Dialogue. Truthful, positive statements. Do this one ahead of time, don't wait until you are in a panic attack because you won't be able to think. Use a couple of the index cards and write down some positive statements about yourself or about the anxiety itself. Here are some examples: "This will not kill me" "I will be OK" "It will pass" "I have coped before" "This is teaching me patience" "It's just anxiety" "This is my body's way of telling me I need to pay attention and slow down" "I am a capable person". Carry your cards with you so that you can pull them out and look at them often and especially if you start to have a panic attack. Have at least 3 positive statements to tell yourself.
5. Distract. Do something to release the energy. Use some more index cards here. Again have 3 ideas of things you can do to release the energy of the panic. Think of things that will use some energy to temporarily distract you while your hormones dissipate in your body and you calm down. Watching tv or reading a book is probably not the best choice. You could go for a walk or a run, clean your house or a closet, play a sport, or you could take a bath or shower, put a cold compress on your head or neck. Anything that will either use some of the adrenaline or calm you down.
6. Let time pass. It will go away. Finally, it will pass. Give it some time to pass. Especially if the panic attack is full blown it will take your body some time to allow all the chemicals it has released to finish clearing out of your system. So go easy on yourself and allow your body to reset.
OK there you go. Good luck on your journey of freedom from panic attacks. And for more help I use a 15 lesson program to work through the anxiety and usually accompanying depression that is very effective.
So call for an appointment to finally put an end to your anxiety and depression. 928-232-9280. I can take clients from anywhere in the state of Arizona with online and phone sessions.
