10 Tips - How To Stop Panic Attacks - For Women In Charleston, South Carolina
Anxiety can be unbearable. Panic can be worse!
The experience of a panic attack can be absolutely terrifying. The recovery time following a panic attack can feel disheartening and bring on feelings of hopelessness. Having strategies to manage anxiety and panic once you start spiraling is critical.
The tips below can help not only to end panic, but to prevent it, so that you can continue to move forward without a total collapse. Try out any, or many, of these 10 tips for managing panic to try to stop spiraling and to keep yourself feeling less out of control.
10 Tips To Stop Panic Attacks
Write It Out
when racing thoughts start to come, and the fear that they carry with them escalates, you need to get them out! Writing out your anxious and racing thoughts not only helps to get them out of your head and on to paper, but it also helps you to feel more in control and to see them more clearly. They change from the vague and rushing blur to hear head to identifiable small words on a paper.
Talk to Someone You Can Trust
Both writing, and talking out your thoughts,In the same can help to release them and not have them feel so scary. It’s important that when you do share your thoughts, you share them with someone you trust. If you share your anxious thoughts and the story of what you’re going through with someone that supports and understands you, then you can quickly start feeling less isolated and afraid.
Deep Breathing
Deep breathing is the gold standard for managing panic. Deep breathing provides immediate relief to your nervous system, which can help relax your mind and body and shift you out of panic mode. Successful deep breathing includes inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth and repeating this multiple times (at least 5 if you’re feeling panicky!). As you inhale, you want to practice first filling up your lungs and diaphragm with your brath. Then, as you continue breathing, and then try to work on using your inhale to fill your belly. Holding your inhales can help to release more and extend your exhales! Successful deep breathing takes practice, so try it out every morning!
The 5,4,3,2,1 Check In
This technique is great for grounding when panic hits! You’ll check in with all of your senses to bring yourself back into your body and connect to the present moment. Identify 5 things you can see and try to use an adjective to describe it (for example: pink shirt, gray wall, striped pillow, yellow pencil), 4 things you can touch (ex: suede shoe, rough wall, smooth folder, soft shirt), 3 things you can hear (ex: cars going by, the AC, your own breathing, laughter), 2 things you can smell (coffee, your deodorant, the plant, your coworkers lunch), and 1 thing you can taste (find a drink or snack, or just identify the weird taste of your own mouth).
Step Outside
Get some fresh air! Whether you're stepping into your yard, or out of the crowded room. Give yourself some space from where you're having overwhelming thoughts or feelings that are turning into panic. Your environment plays a big role in your physical and mental well being, so step away to feel less stuck and more in control!
Create Something
Getting creative is a wonderful way to help remove yourself from overwhelming thoughts and anxiety and to channel them into something new. Creativity does NOT have to mean that you are creating a gorgeous painting (although art is a wonderful way to express yourself). But, creativity is any action that is generating something new. You can embrace creativity by cooking, baking, woodworking, playing with legos/ building materials, graphic design, or even gardening.
Exercise
Exercise provides a great release of excess stress leading to panic. It’s also a wonderful way to get the right neurotransmitters and chemicals going to help you think more clearly! Whether it’s a long walk, yoga, jumping jacks, or an intense exercise, do whatever is most accessible for you when panic starts to come on. Otherwise, regularly incorporate exercise into your routine to help prevent panic from coming on.
Find the Feeling Under It
If your thoughts are racing or your panic is taking over, it may be covering up some underlying emotions, like shame, guilt, fear, sadness, or anger. Identifying these emotions underneath your mental and physical reactions can help connect you to an underlying cause that the anxiety or panic might be covering up. Once you identify the underlying emotion, experience it and express it. Try talking or writing it out, deep breathing, exercising, or creating something.
Answer your “What Ifs” with Action
Anxiety is often fueled by “what if” thoughts that are connected to your worst fears. This is why they bring up such an intense response and sometimes panic. So, don’t answer your “what if” thoughts with a negative feeling or a disastrous outcome, but instead answer them with an action. For example, let’s say your "what if” thought is, “what if he tells me he doesn’t want to be with me?” Instead of answering it with a reaction, “I’ll be so mortified, I’ll just die.” Answer it with an action, like, “I’ll call my best friend Emily, go over to her house, tell her everything, and eat some ice cream.” What will happen after, we don’t know, but you do know you have a safe spot to land if the “what if” doesn’t go your way.
Laugh
If you’ve ever heard laughter is the best medicine, it might be true! Laughing can provide two great avenues for helping manage panic and stopping your anxious spiral. Laughing can provide that same release as deep breathing. Laughing may be a more effortless way to release all that tension and stress in your belly. Also, laughing can help everything not seem so serious. Finding humor in your situation can change your mood and your understanding so you can see your doomy situation in a new light!
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