What to Do When Having a Panic Attack

A lot of people have asked what to do when having a panic attack to help calm yourself down. Having had panic attacks myself for the last few years I have learned a few ways to try and shorten and deal with them when they arise. Below is an explanation of what a panic or anxiety attack actually is, followed by a technique to help you deal with a sudden onset attack that comes out of nowhere. I will also have a link at the bottom to some more helpful information to help you deal with your panic attacks.

First off it's important to note what a panic or anxiety attack actually is, that way you know what it is that you are going to stop. A panic attack is at its most basic level, your body reacting to an outside source in a way that it does not have too, much like an allergy. All an allergy is, is your body deciding that something harmless, like flower pollen, or dog hair, is actually harmful to you and it activates its own built in systems to get rid of the object. In that respect, a panic attack is your body activating the fight or flight mechanisms in a situation when it does not need too. Fortunately, this is not dangerous, like a bee sting allergy, or a peanut allergy. That being said these attacks are very uncomfortable and not a pleasant experience..

Sudden Onset Attack:
Sudden onset attack is my own classification for a panic attack that comes out of nowhere without any warning. These are typically the kind of panic attacks that I get, and usually in the middle of the night when I am trying to sleep. But regardless of where they may occur this is the method that works for me the best.

First off, remind yourself that this is your body reacting to nothing, it's like an allergy. The reason you have to make sure this is on your mind, is so that you don't try to find the reason you're having this attack. If you start to search for a reason or an external object that may be causing this you will only prolong your attack.

Second, try to observe what you are feeling. I know this sounds unusual so let me explain. When I have an attack what I do is keep track of what I am feeling physically, I will literally list in my head or out loud, "my pulse is racing, I feel like I am being watched, My chest is tightening", now, it is very important to note that you should not react to this, you have to take on the mindset of a person who is observing, like a reporter, you are to report, not interfere. The reason behind this is simple, trying to stop an anxiety attack will only prolong it, concentrating on making it stop will only cause you more stress about it not stopping fast enough. If you let it happen, and I know that doesn't sound pleasant, but if you let it happen and monitor what you are feeling it will end itself. By observing it, you give your mind something to do, so you stop trying to end your panic attack, and you let it end on its own. Another additional part that might help is to monitor the changes in what you feel, and say to yourself, "the feeling is the same" or "the feeling is changing" every ten seconds or so. Doing this has helped me to take the major edge off of my attacks and shorten them from as long as hour, to as short as only a minute.

The third step, once you start to feel the major part of the attack subside is to remember to breathe. Now, I don't mean hyperventilate I mean breathe. Take a deep breathe in and count how long it takes you to inhale. Most people can do it between 5 and 8 seconds, however if you can do more great! Then exhale slowly, try to see if you can let your exhale last twice as long as you're inhale. So if you can inhale for 5 seconds see if you can make your exhale 10 seconds. If you can't that is perfectly ok, don't stress yourself out about this just look at it as an experiment to see if you can do it. If you start to feel light headed or dizzy, take a few regular breathes.

Once you start to feel yourself calming down, and your breathing seems natural and you feel the panic attack is subsiding, grab a piece of paper and a pen, not a computer, and write down your thoughts on paper. It doesn't matter what you write down, just start to write by hand. The reason for this is that typing uses less muscles and parts of your brain then writing, so if you sit down and write by hand, you will occupy more of your body and mind and allow it to relax. It doesn't matter what you write, you can write about your day, what you want to do tomorrow, what you had for dinner, you can even write a paper about how crazy this idea sounds, it doesn't matter. If, and only if you have something specific that you think is on your mind that caused the attack you can write about that specific thing but only if you can do so calmly.

Finally, and this may be the hardest part of this, find someone to talk too. You don't have to talk about the attack or what caused it unless you feel comfortable doing so, but find another human being to talk to, it can be in person, on the phone, over Skype it doesn't matter. It is however better if it's in a method where you can hear the person so try to avoid Instant messaging and texting.

So in summary, for a sudden onset panic attack the steps are as follows:
Step 1: Remind yourself that this is your body reacting to nothing, and that you are safe.
Step 2: Try to observe what you are feeling, don't try to stop it, let it burn itself out naturally.
Step 3: Take slow deep breaths to relax yourself, breathe normally if you feel dizzy or lightheaded.
Step 4: Sit down and write with a pen and paper your thoughts on whatever topic comes to mind.
Step 5: Talk to another human being for a while, just so you can get other parts of your mind working.

I hope you have found the advice I have given on what to do when having a panic attack, and how to prevent them useful. You can learn more about what to do when having a panic attack by checking out The Panic Puzzle.