Steps and Techniques to Deal with Severe Anxiety and Panic Attacks
Posted on July 25, 2012 by Pedro Baez, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
A brief, practical and effective guide to deal with, prevent and ultimately embrace and get rid of panic attacks.
As a long-time ex-experiencer of panic attacks (I refused then and still refuse now to call myself ‘sufferer’ or ‘victim’ of any condition!) I can share this with you:
1) Only highly sensitive, creative, perfectionistic and mindful individuals seem to get affected by these anxiety bouts/panic attacks
2) A panic attack will not kill you, even though it FEELS like it can and is going to every time it happens.
3) The feelings of panic and excitement originate in the same area of the brain and are composed of exactly the same chemical components. In other words, PERCEPTION and REACTION of and to the feeling is what will determine whether you will perceive it as panic (a threat; an alarm; impending doom) or excitement (a rush; a charge; a spike and intensification of body feelings in the presence of an unexpected yet welcome situation or circumstance).
4) Anticipatory fear or anxiety of the attack itself brings it on and prolongs it and makes its cycle repeatedly throughout the day/night, since your body and all your senses go into a hyper-vigilant mode in an attempt to ‘stave off’ the attack.
5) ‘Fighting it’ and ‘resisting it’ is not only futile, but also very counterproductive. Let it in: invite your fear, invite your panic in; sit with it, look at it, talk with it, ask it what it wants from you and why it is coming at this time in your life. You will get very surprising responses when you establish this seemingly ‘crazy’ dialog with your anxiety/panic. FEEL it and realize you are not only surviving it, but instead, you are persevering and getting stronger, while it (panic) cannot last for more than a few minutes, perhaps a few hours, at worst. It always subsides; it always passes. NOTICE THIS, AND CONSCIOUSLY MENTION IT OUT LOUD AND CELEBRATE IT!
6) You feel the panic. You even cause your panic. Yet, YOU ARE NOT PANIC. Panic does not define you. It’s just a condition, a manifestation of a chemical imbalance in your brain, or a thought disorder that affects your body. It is, for all intents and purposes, A PHANTOM, and we let it scare us, every time.
7) After each panic attack and even as you are experiencing it (I KNOW this is hard to do as you are FEELING all the body symptoms and your thoughts are racing!) make a point of trivializing it, of making fun of it, of pointing out how silly and absurd and just plain hysterically funny some of the catastrophic scenarios and images and thoughts you have had while in panic are. The point is to make it a separate, distinct and non-powerful entity that you can both feel compassionate towards when needed, but ultimately, an entity to which you can show how nonsensical and outlandish these thoughts and behaviors are.
8) Get plenty of rest, plenty of activity or do an exercise routine that pleases you, and eat well. Sleeping at least 8 hours of quality sleep is most important.
9) Don’t be afraid to feel anger. Don’t repress it. Let it rip! Get it over with! Many times panic is an outward manifestation of repressed/bottled up anger (which is ultimately fear, which takes us to the next recommendation)
10) FEEL your fear(s). Don’t run away. Don’t hide. Don’t be a ‘hero’. Don’t be ‘tough’. Own it. Talk about it. Tell the world. Then DO IT ANYWAY. DO WHATEVER YOU NEED OR WANT TO DO IN SPITE OF THE FEAR. And then tell the world and yourself too, a little louder. The only way out is TROUGH IT. Cross the threshold. YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF IN YOUR VERY OWN SAFETY/COMFORT ZONE without having to ‘run away’ and in your own terms.
11) Remember this, if you are able, at the first inkling or suspicion of a panic attack coming on: The mind lies by addiction. The body tells the truth by necessity. Your mind tells you there’s a T-Rex out there. The body knows better. Go into your body. Trust it. Stay in it. Your own common sense and intuition will guide you right out of the panic and anxiety. DO NOT connect the feeling(s) to a thought or concept until you have proof positive of it. Just FEEL the body symptoms and KNOW that they are there as result of a biochemical reaction of your physiology and that just as it came to be, it will also dissipate.
12) By all means: BREATHE, but do it right. It’s called belly or diaphragmatic breathing and you can find many relaxation videos and audios that basically involve the same technique. The goal is not to go into hyperventilation mode or to get you out of in once you are already in it.
© 2012, Pedro F. Báez, LVN, CLC, CHC – Transformational Life Coach
