Eight Ways to Diminish a Panic Attack

All of us have experienced anxiety at one time or another. Maybe you panicked when you realized that you were seconds away from hitting the car in front of you or maybe you felt a sudden burst of anxiousness when you realized you were in a strange part of town. For most of us, these anxious moments are fleeting, a very real reaction to a very real fear. What happens, however, when driving down the highway or standing in the checkout at the grocery store causes one to panic? What happens when the mundane, everyday activities of life are shrouded in a cloud of fear and worry? If you suffer with panic disorder, the most important thing to remember is that you are not alone. There is hope and you can get better. The following tips will help you to work through a panic attack. Be patient and remember that it takes time to train your mind to think beyond the fear and the worry.

What does a panic attack feel like? That is the question I get asked the most when people find out that I suffer with anxiety. Every person's panic attack is unique to their situation but there are some common symptoms that most all of us experience. Below is a list of symptoms that you may experience during a panic attack.

1. Sweating
2. Hot/cold flashes
2. Dizziness
3. The feeling of being disoriented
4. Tingling in the hands and feet
5. Rapid heartbeat
6. Fear of dying/going crazy
7. Shakiness

Now, what does a panic attack really feel like? For me, it feels as though I am on the precipice of insanity. As soon as a panic attack hits, I find myself feeling completely disoriented, shaky and nervous. I feel like I am going to lose control and do something outright embarrassing or crazy. For example, one day I was driving down the highway, out of the blue a panic attack hit. The fight or flight response kicked in and I felt like I was going to jump out of my car and start running down the highway. I just wanted to run from the situation that I was in as fast as I could. Well, that reaction would have been a wonderful response if I were running from a madman but how would that benefit me on the highway in the middle of rush hour traffic. I gripped the steering wheel and tried, with all that was in me, to stay in my car. I turned around and headed back home, shaking with fear, afraid that I would lose all control and do something embarrassing. Within minutes I was fine but that moment left me so fearful of driving that I could barely drive a few blocks from my house for months. The fear of the "great big" panic attack started to limit my life. For months, I lived in constant anxiety. Life became unbearable. It was then that I knew something had to change or I was going to be stuck in my house for the rest of my life. Here are some of the methods I used to go from a borderline agoraphobic to a fully functioning person.

1. It's just panic. Really. I know that a panic attack is the most frightening thing that most of us will experience but it really is nothing in the grand scheme of life or even your day. Panic attacks last about ten minutes, thats it. When I can feel an anxiety attack coming on, I remind myself that its just panic. I have never gone crazy from it, I have never died from it and there have even been times when I have been able to carry on full conversations in the middle of one and no one was the wiser. Just taking away the magnitude of the panic greatly diminishes its power. Now, you have turned it into "just panic." Tell yourself that you will feel weird and scared for about ten minutes and then its over.

2. Go with the flow. When I feel panic coming on I simply go with it. The more you fight it the worse its going to get because now you have turned it into something to be afraid of and when you are afraid your body reacts to that fear. I look at panic as a wave in the ocean. It starts small, gets bigger and then shrinks back into the ocean it came from. Panic is the same way. There is a start, a climax and an end. There will always be and end! Just ride it, feel the fear and ride it. It will be over before you know it.

3. Breathe. This is one of the most effective ways to battle anxiety. When we are afraid our breathing becomes more shallow and more rapid. Stop there. Bad breathing will only make the anxiety worse. Practice breathing the right way before you are faced with a panic attack. Stretch out on the floor and lay a book on your stomach. Watch how you breathe. Most of us breathe through the upper part of our chest. Now, look at the book. Focus on making only the book rise with every breath. Inhale with a slow count of four, purse your lips and exhale with a slow count of four. Do this for a full minute and you will feel yourself becoming more calm.

4. Give yourself time to worry. Sometimes when I am driving I can feel the panic start to well up. I give myself permission to be anxious but at a specific time. For example, I will tell myself that I can have a panic attack at 3:00 that afternoon. Just giving yourself the option to be panicky takes away from the fear in that moment. Again, you are not fighting it which diminishes the panic quite a bit.

5. Think positive thoughts. I know that this sounds a bit cliche' but the way you think is a great weapon in the fight against panic. Picture yourself successfully working through the situations that make you fearful. For the most part, we automatically picture the worst thing that could happen. No wonder we are anxious! If you are afraid of standing in the checkout line at the store you probably picture yourself standing there with your cart of groceries. All of a sudden you see yourself panicking, leaving the cart in the checkout line and making a beeline for the door. You probably ask yourself what others would think of you if that really did happen. Well, change the thought. Picture yourself standing in line with a smile on your face. Imagine that you are talking with the cashier and that you are making her laugh. Now, picture yourself leaving the store with groceries in tow and panic nary a thought. The way you think can alter your panic by leaps and bounds.

6. Force yourself to do it. This is a hard one. We don't want to have panic so we avoid situations that cause it, naturally. In order to conquer it, however, you have to do it. When I get nervous driving, I force myself to drive one extra block. Just forcing my way through, as uncomfortable as it may be, has really helped me to overcome my driving fear. If you are afraid of elevators, force yourself to take one up to the next floor. .Don't go to the top of an 80 story building, just go up a floor or two. As you do this, you will feel the anxiety diminish with every step.

7. Be kind to yourself. Anxiety does not mean you are weird or crazy or somehow defective. As a mater of fact, it makes us more understanding and compassionate with others. We know what it is like to feel pain and through that we can comfort others.

8. Don't be embarrassed. You may not want to tell anyone about your anxiety because you are worried about what they might think or how they might perceive you. Everyone has problems, my friend. If you don't want to tell the world about your panic disorder, I understand, but don't do it because you are ashamed of who you are. Be proud. If someone can't accept you for who you are, you don't want them as a friend anyways.

I hope that these tips can help you on your journey to recovery and remember it's "just panic."