If you’ve ever experienced a panic attack, overwhelming and scary they can be. But managing panic attacks is possible.

Panic attacks come on at various times, sometimes you have warnings, and other times they begin without any prompting. When experiencing a panic attack it is due to the body’s fight-or-flight response. At some point, your mind has perceived a real or imagined threat that is causing your body to go into the fight-or-flight response flooding your nervous system with adrenaline. This can cause a number of symptoms including hypervigilance, excessive perspiration, fear, feeling as if your heart is racing, and much more.

There are a number of ways to help prevent panic attacks from happening as well as to manage them once they have already begun.

Learning to manage anxiety by including preventative measures into your routines can help prevent panic attacks from coming about in the first place. This is something that takes time,  and effort to establish. As for managing the panic attacks once they’ve already come about, the following techniques can be very helpful.

Experiencing a panic attack can be very frightening and disorienting. I myself have experienced these many times in the past and remember how overwhelming they can be. Oftentimes when having a panic attack your heart will race you could feel light-headed or dizzy and feel as if it’s difficult to get a full breath in. A lot of times people will feel as if they’re having a heart attack which can send them into a further panic.

Until I learned ways to prevent the panic attacks from happening in the first place and better strategies to manage them if they did come on I would often rely on my support system to help me down in those moments of extreme distress. Having a healthy well-established support system can help in so many ways in multiple areas of your life.

Techniques For Managing Panic Attacks

The following techniques in managing panic attacks I have found to be especially helpful both myself and with many other people who I have helped work through this struggle.

Deep Breathing Exercises

Deep breathing is one of the most effective ways of reducing the symptoms of a panic attack quickly and efficiently. Deep breathing exercises are slightly different than taking a typical breath. By focusing on your breath and inhaling deeply through the nose into the belly and slowly out through the mouth you’re helping your body reverse the fight or flight response and return to your normal state of calm.

There are many different ways to do a deep breathing exercise but doing the one that you find the most efficient is going to be the most beneficial for you since you’re more likely to do it. I teach many strategies on how to approach breathing exercises to reduce anxiety and panic in counseling sessions and life coaching.

Taking A Break

Many times when panic attacks arise it is due to a trigger in your immediate environment. Sometimes these triggers are obvious and easy to pinpoint other times they’re more benign and difficult to figure out what has initially caused this panic. This is why choosing to get up and walk around can be especially useful because it takes you out of your current environment where the initial panic was triggered.

Going outdoors for a walk can also be very useful in reducing panic. Doing some form of activity whether that be walking or exercise of any kind helps reduce cortisol levels and lower stress.

Having A Plan

Anxiety and panic attacks tend to make a person feel as if their life is out of their control. By learning to identify triggers for anxiety and panic you’re able to identify when you’re going into a situation that you know may cause you to go into a panic attack. Having this prior knowledge can help you to have a plan in place in the event that it does happen so that you’re not left feeling stuck and unsure of what to do next. Having a plan also gives you a semblance of control back which was taken as soon as the anxiety started.

There are many other ways to reduce panic, such as having a strong support network, a place to go to work through thoughts and feelings such as counseling, and practicing mindfulness exercises to help the person be present in the moment.

If you want to talk to a therapist about better managing your anxiety you can reach out through the button below and schedule a consultation call, to set up an appointment. Therapy can be very beneficial in reducing overall anxiety and becoming more self-aware of your own unique triggers.