How to calm a panic attack
It seems to happen more and more now days, especially when we under too much pressure. I personally have had a numerous amount of panic attacks. Here are a few tips that have helped me overcome them:
1. Simply breathing: The first thing to do is breathe and count to 10, shifting your attention to counting is something mathematical, and logical which does require the intuitive side of the brain, therefore, it stops the thoughts coming from fear. Breathing deeply and focusing on the breath for 10 seconds at a time is the best.
2. Increase awareness: The second most important thing to do is to be self-aware. Asking yourself: How do i actually feel? Why? Being aware of your thoughts, state of mind and emotions enables you to manipulate them. Being aware of yourself facilitates the process of controlling your thoughts and emotions without jumping to conclusions or creating the worst scenarios in your head because what we perceive to be true affects our reality.
3. Get your negative emotions out: If there is no one to talk to, no way of screaming or crying, write it out! Get out a sheet of paper or your phone/ computer and write your emotions down and what the cause is. Writing or talking about your problems enables you to see things more clearly and find solutions.
4. Call a friend: If you can, call a friend who can reassure you in these moments, someone you can really trust and who supports you and knows you really well.
5. Listen to music: This may not work for everyone but it has gotten me through a lot of panic attacks. Putting it loud as possible as if you were the only person in the room, closing your eyes, imagining yourself being free and running away.The songs that work best for me are the feel-good up beat ones.
6. Close your eyes: Instead of imagining the worst case scenario and making all your fears worse, visualize a positive outcome. Imagine things going well. Imagine happiness, imagine yourself doing the things you love, being with people you love.
7. Get help for Agoraphobia (extreme fear of having panic attacks in public places). Recognize it and work on it by changing your thought patterns and recreating synapsis in the brain, instead of hiding away, overthinking things and making the fear worse, Once you are strong enough, walk into your fears and you will see your strength grow.
8. Take it slow and move forward: If you don’t manage to calm your panic attack, forgive yourself, pick yourself up and try again, a daily exercise to avoid panic attacks is to be more mindful of how you are actually feeling. Take a little time (even just 5 min) everyday to reflect on your thoughts, mind and body so they don’t get out of control and your stress doesn’t turn into a full panic attack. Another thing is to not avoid fearful situations where you have faced anxiety or fear in the past. The best is to walk straight into them and stronger! And remember don’t take things too seriously, let lose and enjoy the life :)
With love,
A