If you’re visiting this blog right now odds are you either had a panic attack or you’ve known someone who’s had a panic attack and you’d like to help. For the former, it really sucks and for the latter, it really sucks. There’s no way around the fact that the panic attacks are terrifying and debilitating. I’m not going to sugarcoat it because I don’t believe there is any sugar coating. In this blog, I’ll be talking about what a panic attack is, ways to help a panic attack if you’re having one, ways to help a panic attack if a loved one is having one, and just overall support because, at the end of the day, support truly matters.
If you’re currently having a panic attack and need help, scroll down to the “Ways to Help a Panic Attack” section.
What is a Panic Attack
First, let’s talk about what a panic attack is. The name gives it away for the most part. A panic attack occurs when the fight or flight response kicks in due to a perceived threat. This doesn’t sound so bad when written in words, but don’t be deceived. Panic attacks can be extremely abrupt and happen suddenly sometimes with an obvious cause and sometimes without.
When your brain perceives something as a threat, consciously or subconsciously, adrenaline begins to race through your entire system. This causes a myriad of potential symptoms that you can experience including dizziness, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, trembling, sweating, chills, chest pain, nausea, a tingling sensation, and your arms and legs, and pure fear. Fear that you’re going crazy or fear that you’re dying or just fear without an obvious cause.
Not everyone experiences all these symptoms when having a panic attack. However, I’m sure many people who have had panic attacks know exactly what I’m talking about. Others who have watched their loved one have a panic attack probably recognize a few of these symptoms as well. For the person experiencing them and for the loved one watching, it can be a terrifying experience.
Your Thoughts During a Panic Attack
If you’ve had one panic attack, you may feel shaken from it and a little uneasy when the panic subsides. When you start having a few panic attacks and you can’t seem to find the reason they appear, you start to become nervous. You may become apprehensive and scared as to what causes them and worry about a panic attack happening.
During a panic attack, you feel extremely vulnerable and panic attack sufferers are terrified of having panic attacks in public. Panic attacks can be completely debilitating so it’s no surprise that no one would want to have one in public. Because of this fear of panic attacks, people will alter their lifestyles to ensure as best as they can that they won’t have another panic attack. This is where association will come in. For example, if a person is having panic attacks mostly at night, they may avoid going out during the evening hours. If a person has panic attacks in crowded spaces, they may start avoiding crowded spaces. It sounds logical until it starts impeding on your life.
Ways to Help a Panic Attack
While a panic attack is generally filled with bad news, I have some good news about panic attacks as well. First of all, your body is just trying to protect you. That, in and of itself, is a good thing. It’s doing what it thinks it needs to. While it’s misguided, we should all take a moment to appreciate our body’s ability to protect us.
Second, panic attacks absolutely suck. However, when you remind yourself that you are okay and that you just need to wait for the panic attack to pass, it all boils down to you simply feeling uncomfortable. It can be painful and it can be unpleasant, but nothing bad is actually happening. We’ll talk about this a little bit more later.
Third, panic attacks typically last at most, 20 minutes, and peak at about 10 minutes. For less than an episode of a show, you will be experiencing a panic attack. When you think about an entire day, 20 minutes doesn’t really sound so bad. When you’re having a panic attack, you may not notice the time and it may feel like an eternity, but panic attacks are short-lived.
What Are You Telling Yourself
The first thing I’m going to ask you to do to help with your panic attack may be the most difficult thing. I ask you to be mindful of what you’re thinking. During a panic attack, your mind may feel cluttered like it’s shouting at you to run from something that you don’t know what. Among all of these thoughts, you may be having an inner dialog that could be making the panic attack worse. You may be saying things like “This is terrible”, “I’m going crazy”, “I’m dying”, “this is unbearable”, etc. These words fuel the fire. I’m going to instead, give you a few words to say to yourself that can help ease your symptoms.
Words to say during a panic attack: This will pass. I am uncomfortable now, but if I wait this out, it will end and I’ll move on with my day. I’m not going crazy. This is my body’s response to a threat and it is a natural response.
Try saying these words to yourself when you’re having a panic attack. It may be difficult at first, but try to stick to it and see if your symptoms come down a little bit. It may help to bring the panic attack to a close sooner.
Breathe
Anytime it comes to any form of stress relief the very first guidance you’ll receive is to breathe. There’s a reason everyone is telling you to breathe. It’s an extremely effective and easy way to calm yourself down. By controlling and slowing down our breathing, we tell our brains that things are okay. Not only that but by doing certain breathing exercises and focusing on these exercises, you allow yourself some distraction from your symptoms and the panic attack which can also help bring the panic attack to a close sooner.
My favorite breathing exercise is inhaling for 4 seconds, holding my breath for 4 seconds, and releasing it for 8 seconds. You can change it up however you want. If you want to breathe in for 4 seconds and breathe out for 4 seconds then try it out. If you want to breathe in for 4 seconds hold it for 4 seconds and breathe out for 20 seconds, good luck to you. Whatever floats your boat!
If you like the idea of using breathing as a way to focus and distract yourself, you can also say to yourself out loud or in your head “breathing in” while you breathe in and “breathing out” while you breathe out. By simply saying these words over and over again and focusing on these words, you’re distracting yourself from your panic attack.
Relax Your Muscles
This part sounds counterintuitive. Relaxing your muscles while you have a panic attack? No way! But once you get the hang of it, it’s extremely useful. When you’re having a panic attack, you may feel yourself tighten up with your fists clenching. You may roll into a little ball with your knees to your chest, and you may scrunch yourself at a small as possible. It’s an intuitive reaction. So let’s undo it.
Stretch out your legs on the couch or on the bed. Stretch out your toes and let your body feel long. Unclench your fists and put your hands palm down by your side. I recommend putting your hands palm down so that way it’s a little more difficult for your fist to clench back up. Stretch out your back and allow your chest and abdomen to have sufficient room to take big full breaths. If you have a loved one near you while having a panic attack, ask them to massage your feet or massage your hands to help relax your muscles and see if this helps.
You can also try progressive muscle relaxation. During this relaxation technique, you tighten and relax each muscle in your body and it slowly causes your whole body to relax.
Distraction
You may have noticed that I recommended techniques that also distract you. Distraction can be an extremely effective tactic when dealing with panic attacks. Since the panic attack only lasts about 20 minutes, there are many things you can do to distract yourself. Try listening to music or watch a relaxing show. I recommend watching a rather mindless show or perhaps a show you’ve already watched and enjoyed. If I’m in the middle of an intense show that involves love, drama, action, or suspense, I find that watching it can make my panic worse. So I try to stick with shows that I love and that give me just warm happy feelings inside.
Call a friend on the phone or talk to your spouse, parents, or roommate. While it can be difficult to have a conversation, focusing on that conversation and trying to get back to normal everyday life can often help the panic attack pass a little more quickly.
Be Active
Another excellent way to help the panic attack is to be active. To be honest, I find this to be the most difficult. When I’m having a panic attack, I often feel too nauseated to move around. However, being active will help you rid yourself of all that adrenaline. So go for a walk around the house or even just outside if you’re able. You may find that the panic subsides or quickly.
Hopefully, you found some techniques in this blog that will help you through your next panic attack. It’s never fun to have one, but it’s not the end of the world either. They pass and you move on with your day even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time.
The good thing about many of these techniques is that they can help with anxiety and enhance mental wellness. Are there any techniques that you found that greatly help you when you’re having a panic attack? Please feel free to share which techniques help you!