Stop the Anxiety! A Quick Guide for Overcoming Panic Attacks

I had my first panic attack while giving a speech. One minute I
was telling a joke and appreciating the reaction of the crowd. In
the next moment, I felt like I was watching myself from a
distance. My heart raced, my body shook, and I could not catch my
breath. I wondered how I'd be able to finish my talk without
anyone noticing. Somehow, I did finish the speech. But the panic
was not finished with me.

Over the next two years, I experienced more panic attacks.
Determined to not shrink my life, I sought help. I visited my
doctor, began therapy, and read every book available on
overcoming panic. Over time, I put together a grab bag of
resources to survive the panic attacks. They worked. More than
ten years after that first panic attack, I am nearly panic free.
When the panic starts, I know what to do to stop it. Do you? Here
are my tips to support you in overcoming panic.

First Things First

No matter how great you are at coping with panic and stress, no
matter how helpful my list of strategies might be to you, the
first steps you need to take toward healing are setting up
appointments with both a physician and a therapist.

Panic attacks can be caused by health problems and by medication
as well as by emotional stress. Your doctor can help you to
discern this and guide you toward taking the appropriate actions.

If your panic stems from past emotional wounds, a therapist can
work with you to heal these. In addition, a therapist can provide
you with coping skills that are appropriate to your specific
situation and personality.

Coping Strategies

The following strategies have helped me cope with stress and
alleviate panic attacks. I hope that they will be helpful to you
in your own journey of healing.

1. Eat Regularly

The Panic Attack Recovery Book by Shirley Swede and Seymour
Sheppard Jaffe, M.D. provides helpful dietary guidelines for
preventing anxiety. They suggest that drops in blood sugar can
induce panic attacks. Eat small, healthy meals every 2 hours
throughout the day. Keep safe snacks with you at all times in
case you get stuck waiting. In addition, keep yourself hydrated!

2. Eliminate Stimulants

Stimulants - simple sugars, caffeine, and cigarettes - can cause
you to feel the symptoms of a panic attack and, for some people,
can actually cause panic attacks. Limiting or eliminating your
use of these stimulants can help to eliminate panic attacks.

3. Breathe Deeply

Learn to breathe deeply. During a panic attack or in the midst of
a fearful moment, people tend to take frequent shallow breaths.
This style of breathing may cause you to experience tingling in
our hands and feet and to feel light-headed. Taking slow, deep
breaths can calm you. Put your hand on your stomach and breathe
in so that your stomach expands. Practice this. After you learn
how, try taking three breaths in this way whenever you experience
stress: breathe in for a count of 8 and out for a count of 7.

4. Learn Creative Visualization Techniques

Creative visualization allows you to escape the stress of the
moment and create a different reality. You can even fool your
body into believing it is experiencing the vision in your head
instead of the reality in the present. Visualize sitting in a
calm environment - at the beach or in the mountains. Imagine
yourself taking a vacation or succeeding at a challenge. Use
these creative visualizations to cope with panic, to image
success in stressful situations, and to provide yourself with a
break from the stress of daily life. As with deep breathing, the
more you practice, the better you will be able to utilize this
tool in the midst of a panic attack.

5. Practice Relaxation Exercises

In my college theater classes, our teacher taught us progressive
relaxation exercises. Now, this and other relaxation exercises
have helped me to survive daily life and childbirth! To
progressively relax yourself, find a quiet corner of your home
and lie on the floor. Beginning with your toes, tense and relax
each muscle group in your body - from your toes to your head.
When you are completely relaxed, take a moment to notice how you
feel. The more you practice this, the better you will be able to
recall this feeling in the midst of a panic episode or a
stressful situation.

6. Exercise!

Participating in daily exercise, such as walking, can relieve
stress and alleviate panic attacks. Make the time doubly
effective by using your walk as a time for prayer or meditation.
Start your walk with a question to God about your life, an
affirmation about yourself ("I am loved," "I am okay," "I am
a survivor."), or a simple prayer ("Thank You," "Bless this
moment," "Guide me.").

7. Write!

Research by psychologist James Pennebaker has shown that people
who used writing to make sense of their traumatic life
experiences had the long-lasting effect of feeling happier and
less anxious. Pick up an inexpensive notebook. Every morning,
take fifteen minutes to dump all of your negative, stressful
stuff into that notebook. Write three pages of this stuff. At the
end of writing about what is difficult, write five experiences or
people or situations that you are grateful for. (For example, "I
am grateful that I am alive," "I am grateful that the sky was a
beautiful shade of blue," "I am grateful for the smiles of
children.")

Carry a small notebook in your purse. Just as you begin to
experience the symptoms of panic or stress, write down the
following: the situation you are in, the sensations you are
feeling in your body, the thoughts you are thinking now and the
thoughts you were thinking before experiencing the first
symptoms, your present feelings and what you were feeling before
the symptoms began. As you do this, remind yourself that what you
are experiencing does not define you - it is simply something
that is happening. You are not the symptom. This exercise can
help you, over time, to pinpoint the causes of your panic
attacks. It can also relieve the symptoms of panic attacks. (I
use this exercise to control my asthma. It comes from the
wonderful book Asthma Free in Twenty-One Days by Kathryn Shafer
and Fran Greenfield.)

Connect!
New research suggests that connecting with others relieves stress
and increases our happiness. When I first experienced my symptoms
of panic, I isolated myself. That was the worst thing I could do!
No matter how challenging your panic becomes, connect with
someone daily. Join a class or group in a shared area of interest
- such as gardening or crafting. Connecting with others will
lower your stress!recent/author/rochelle-melander.html

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