How Do I Stop Panic Attacks?
However, it is crucial to understand that a panic attack is not dangerous in and of itself. What you are experiencing is your brain activating your fight-or-flight response. This natural response is designed to protect you from real threats, but during a panic attack, it is misfiring. Your fight-or-flight response is reacting to harmless physical sensations and to the fear of fear itself.
While this realization won’t immediately stop a panic attack, grasping that it is a natural, protective physiological response from your body can be a deeply healing understanding.
When a panic attack begins, your body reacts with a cascade of scary, physical symptoms: a racing heart, shallow breathing, chest tightness, dizziness, and sweaty palms, to name a few. Your brain sends an alarming message that something is terribly wrong. However, nothing is actually wrong and attempting to use logic to convince yourself you’re okay is often unhelpful. What you truly need in those moments are strategies to calm your nervous system. When your nervous system is regulated, it signals safety to your brain and body.
Common Mistakes:
- Breathing too quickly: even when attempting deep breaths, a rapid pace keeps your nervous system stuck in fight-or-flight mode.
- Increased self-focus: concentrating intensely on your breathing can heighten anxiety, especially when your body already feels uncontrollable.
- Unhelpful commands: instructions like “calm down” during a panic attack are usually ineffective and frustrating.
If you find breathwork helpful, the key is focusing on the exhale. A prolonged exhale activates your parasympathetic nervous system (the body’s natural “rest and digest” switch). A simple technique is to inhale slowly for a count of 4 and then exhale for a longer count, aiming for 6 to 8.
- Eat something sour
I recommend keeping sour candy on hand, such as Warheads or Sour Patch Kids. When you feel the physical sensations of panic beginning, a strong sour taste can pause the escalation and bring you back to the present moment, even if just for a few seconds. The goal is not to completely eliminate the panic, but to interrupt the spiral before it gets worse. - Accept the panic rather than fight it
This one sounds counterintuitive but fighting a panic attack tends to make it worse. Instead of trying to force yourself to “be okay”, I encourage you to tolerate and sit with the discomfort of your feelings rather than fight against them. Often, wishing for your feelings to disappear only makes them stronger. To practice tolerating the discomfort, you can use the following statements:- “I feel anxious and I can get through this”
- “I don’t like how I’m feeling and these feelings will pass”
At Zoe Rose Therapy, I help clients learn to observe their uncomfortable feelings without judgement. As you practice allowing the feelings of panic to come and go, you will gradually attach less meaning to them. In turn, you will teach your brain that a rapid heartbeat does not automatically equal a worst case scenario.
- Move your body
A panic attack floods your system with adrenaline and anxious energy that needs an outlet. Challenge this intense energy into a productive resource. Maybe you can do jumping jacks, go for a run, or walk up and down the stairs to redirect and dissipate this physical surge. - Stretch
Stretching is an effective way to interrupt a panic attack by focusing your attention on the physical sensation of your body and breath. It helps to relieve muscle tension and signals to your nervous system that you are safe, prompting a sense of calm and grounding your mind in the present moment. - Do not engage with safety behaviors
When a panic attack hits, you might search your symptoms online, ask ChatGPT if you’re going to be okay, or seek reassurance from a family member. You might even avoid people, places or situations that have triggered panic in the past. This ultimately reinforces the belief that panic symptoms themselves are dangerous, as your brain interprets the safety behaviors as the sole reason for your survival
So what actually works? At Zoe Rose Therapy, we utilize Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) to empower clients to effectively manage panic attacks and Panic Disorder. ERP is effective because it teaches your brain new associations through experience rather than relying on logical reasons to override fear. Simply challenging your anxious thoughts and using evidence to rationalize that you are safe won’t make panic disappear. Panic attacks often don’t respond to traditional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) because panic exists outside the realm of logic.
Resisting safety behaviors can feel overwhelming on your own. I highly recommend working with a licensed professional to support you through this process. As a therapist, I sit in the discomfort with you, teach coping skills to tolerate anxiety rather than “get rid of fear”, and meet you where you’re at.
If panic attacks have been running the show, I want you to know that healing is possible. Schedule a free consultation, and let’s talk about how we can work together to decrease panic and move toward the life you dream about living.
for your free consultation.