14 Sanity-Saving Resources to Knock Out a Panic Attack
You’re going to die.
At least, that’s what your brain is telling you.
You’re really in the throes of a panic attack.?
But there are ways to put an end to the panic. Now.
Come with me on the journey to derail your panic attack. I’ve been here before, and I know the way out.
Medical Options
“I get panic attacks about dying, it's terrible. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and my brain goes 'you're going to die, you're going to die, you're going to die.'”
— Russell Howard
First off, I have to tell you, I’m not a doctor. I don’t even play one on TV. I’m just someone who lives with mental illness, including panic disorder and general anxiety disorder.?
If you’re suffering from panic attacks, you may want to speak with a therapist and/or psychiatrist to see how therapy and medication might be helpful for you, given your particular situation. I know I’d be lost without my therapist, psychiatrist, and meds.?
Psychology Today has a therapist finder that finds therapists, online therapy, treatment centers, psychiatrists, and support groups in 20 countries around the world. 7 Cups offers online therapy via private chatrooms.?
7 Cups is also noteworthy for its peer-to-peer support, via one-on-one or group chats, or posting in forums for various mental health and life circumstance issues, including:?
Emotional Freedom Techniques Tapping
“Tapping therapy is absolutely brilliant. Stephen Gately from Boyzone, God rest his soul, told me about it. It's just a little tap that focuses the mind away from that wave of panic and adrenaline that shoots into your body.”
— Michael Ball
This may seem very “woo,” but it’s grounded in Chinese medicine and has been exhaustively studied by doctors in the Western world. EFT tapping stimulates acupoints (where a practitioner would use acupuncture or acupressure) on your body as you tap on them seven to nine times each.?
You start by stating what the problem is that you’re facing: your panic attack. Then you go through different statements that bring you out of the panic. Megan Buer has an especially effective script for you to follow along with her as she goes through an EFT tapping session to help alleviate your panic.?
Be A.W.A.R.E. of Your Panic Attacks
“I got this advice that if you know a panic attack is happening, just sit back and go, 'Okay, this is happening to me, but it'll be over. You'll be fine. You'll live.'”
— Shura
Dr. Dave Carbonell, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist who specializes in treating anxiety. He’s developed a technique for coping with panic attacks: the A.W.A.R.E. technique.?
You have to Acknowledge and Accept. Wait & Watch (and maybe, Work). Take Actions (to make yourself more comfortable). Repeat as needed, until — the End. Because all panic attacks end. (I promise!)
Listen to the Right Music
“I started getting these attacks in 2009, just as my music career was taking off. I'd be doing photo shoots and started to feel like I was having heart attacks. Increasingly I found it difficult to step outside my flat. Things started to get better after I saw a therapist, who told me I needed to make peace with my panic attacks.”
— Ellie Goulding
Inc. Magazine compiled a playlist of scientifically-proven songs that reduce anxiety. The number one spot is claimed by a band that worked with sound therapists to design a piece of music that would lower your heart rate, decrease your blood pressure, and reduce the amount of cortisol — the stress hormone — in your body.?
Marconi Union earned the number one position with their song, “Weightless.” Also on the list are songs from Adele, Coldplay, Mozart, and Enya.?
A Super-Fast Technique to Kill a Panic Attack
“Panic is a natural human response to danger, but it's one that severely compounds the risk.”
— David Ignatius
Steve Pavilanis made a short YouTube video demonstrating how he stopped his panic attacks in 14 seconds. He would take a long, deep breath in through his mouth, and hold it. Then he’d tense up every muscle in his body. He’d hold his breath with every muscle tightened up for five to ten seconds before relaxing them all at once while exhaling.?
He later went on to write a book, A Life Less Anxious in 2009. And he created a Udemy course, Beat Anxiety Forever With The "R.A.I.N. Switch Technique. The R.A.I.N. technique involves Recognizing your anxiety. Accepting that it’s present. Investigating how your body and mind are reacting to the anxiety. And Non-Identifying with your anxiety — you’re aware of it, but you can let it go.?
Turn Yourself Into a Pretzel
“Hula-hooping. It makes me feel free. My stepsister introduced me to it. I used to have panic attacks all the time, and she hula-hooped to cope with her own anxiety.”
— Julia Michaels
Samantha Osborne is a therapist who specializes in working with patients who have anxiety. She uses “panic attack” and “anxiety attack” interchangeably, though they’re not the same thing. Anxiety attacks typically have a cause, while panic attacks can hit from out of the blue. This image explains the difference in more detail.
But her techniques for dealing with panic attacks are valid. My favorite is the pretzel method. It forces you to concentrate on achieving the right position, getting you into your body and out of your head.?
Then it calms you with deep breathing. It also balances out your brain chemistry by stimulating both sides of your body at the same time. Her other techniques are also great for knocking out panic attacks.
Be B.R.A.V.E.
“What you resist persists: as soon as you start going, 'I mustn't feel anxious, I don't want this panic attack to happen,' you're not giving it any space to do its thing. You're trapping it, so it never leaves, and it's horrible - it's a cycle I get myself into all the time.”
— Fearne Cotton
Dr. Melanie Badali, a registered psychologist in Vancouver has developed the B.R.A.V.E. method to help stop a panic attack in its tracks. These five reminders each work on their own, and work even better together.?
First, you need Body awareness. Then you have to develop Rational thinking. Next comes Acceptance. After that is Validation. And finally, End. These five reminders can help you pull out of a panic attack more quickly.
The parent site where this blog post lives, Anxiety Canada, has more resources that address specific types of anxiety and panic such as agoraphobia, hoarding, obsessive-compulsive disorder, perfectionism, PTSD, and social anxiety.?
Work It Out
“I tend to stay with the panic. I embrace the panic.”
领英推荐
— Larry David
Australia’s Centre for Clinical Intervention has an awesome workbook, information sheets, and some amazingly helpful worksheets for dealing with anxiety and panic.??
Some of my favorites are Progressive Muscle Relaxation, Anxiety Symptoms Record, and What Are Safety Behaviors? But you should definitely go through the workbook if you want to understand and eliminate your anxiety and panic.
Worry Later
“Look at misfortune the same way you look at success - Don't Panic! Do your best and forget the consequences.”
?— Walter Alston
ShineSheets has a blog post with some pretty awesome tips for getting rid of panic attacks or intense fear. My personal favorite practice they recommend is worrying later. You don’t have to stop what you’re doing and worry about every thought that crosses your mind. You can simply make note of them and put them in your “worry later” pile.?
I was allowed to worry from 12:00 to 12:15 every afternoon. That was my freak the hell out time. At 12:15, I got my poop in a group and went back to whatever I was doing before the clock struck 12.
Now, though, I’ve got my worries on index cards in a “God box.” That way, I don’t even have to worry about them later, because the gods I believe in are on it.?
Before I started my God box, I dreaded my worry time. I was always afraid that I wouldn’t be able to pull myself back together at 12:15. And, of course, all kinds of horrible things would happen if I was still worrying at 12:16 (thank you, obsessive-compulsive disorder!). But you know what? I stopped at 12:15. Every. Single. Time. Because I was just… done.
Extra, Extra, Read All About It
“I write a lot because, if I don't, I start to panic, and I calm down when I write.”
— Theresa Rebeck
Dr. Julie Connor grew up with major depressive disorder and panic disorder. She’s now a renowned TED and school assembly speaker and mental health expert, who focuses on helping teens who have the same issues she had when she was younger. She wrote a long blog post, in which she recommends several books on panic and anxiety.
In the same blog post, she also offers a couple of quotes I’ve found helpful. The first is from her psychologist, who told her, “Negative thoughts are like an old hat: If you don’t like it, don’t wear it. You have the power to change your own thoughts.”?
The second is from Stephen Covey, the author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He said, “Your life doesn’t just happen. you choose happiness.? You choose sadness.? You choose courage.? You choose fear. Remember that every moment, every situation provides a new choice.”?
Go Ahead and P.A.N.I.C.
“I think the biggest thing is knowing that those thoughts of panic are probably going to go into your brain, and just accepting it... So that's been the biggest thing. Not fighting it and trying to think I'm going to have the perfect mentality the entire time. That's not going to happen.”
— Madison Keys
Aubrey Hooper of TheNoob started her blog to help women have more self-confidence by inspiring them and sharing the imperfections of her own life. She developed the P.A.N.I.C. method for dealing with panic attacks. You have to Pick a sense. Say Affirmations. Use your Numbers. Inquire as to what’s going on. And Control your breath.
She starts the blog post by describing a panic attack that had her crawling out a window to get away from whatever — or whoever — made a loud crashing noise in her kitchen. No spoilers!
Check Out the Ultimate Anxiety and Panic Toolkit
“I don't like to get too complacent. I like to give myself five panic attacks per project.”
— Jessie Buckley
Christopher Lawrence of Change My Life Coaching has put together the Ultimate Anxiety and Panic Toolkit. He’s not a therapist, but he lived with panic attacks in the past. When he was asked by a client about coping with severe anxiety and panic, he sat down and started writing. He was amazed by how much he was able to write without referencing any outside sources.?
He’s compiled lists of stuff to read and work through, stuff to create and make, actions to do, and things to consider. My personal favorite is his Anxiety First Aid Kit.
There’s an App for That
“Feeling alone makes negative feelings worse. When you feel alone, frustration quickly can become anger, fear quickly can become panic.”
— Mark Goulston
More like, there are four apps for that. Here are some of the best apps I’ve found for dealing with panic and anxiety:
Homeopathic Remedies
“A lot of people like to judge you and make fun of you on the Internet, and people make you feel crazy whenever you're in a depression or having anxiety or having a panic attack.”
— Noah Cyrus
Whether you believe homeopathy works or not is a topic for a whole ‘nother blog post. I’m just presenting information that may be helpful for you, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention it. Homeomart.com has a list of homeopathic treatments for various types of panic attacks.?
Another source is the Bach flower remedy system. They offer a handy chart for determining which flower remedies might be best for you, including agrimony for mental agony behind a cheerful face, gorse for hopelessness and despair, rock rose for terror and fright, and white chestnut for unwanted thoughts and mental arguments.
You Have the Power
“There is no panic you can't allay, no problem you can't solve.”
— Lauren Weisberger
You’re still going to die.
But not today.?
Because now you have the tools you need to slay a panic attack in minutes.?
Now you’re ready.
Bring it on.