How to calm down after panic attack

How to deal with panic attacks

A panic attack is a feeling of sudden and intense anxiety.

Panic attacks can also have physical symptoms, including:

shaking
feeling disorientated
nausea
rapid, irregular heartbeats
dry mouth
breathlessness
sweating
dizziness

The symptoms of a panic attack are not dangerous, but can be very frightening.

They can make you feel as though you're having a heart attack, or that you're going to collapse or even die.

Most panic attacks last somewhere from 5 minutes to half an hour.

How to handle a panic attack

Professor Paul Salkovskis, Professor of Clinical Psychology and Applied Science at the University of Bath, says it's important not to let your fear of panic attacks control you.

"Panic attacks always pass and the symptoms are not a sign of anything harmful happening," he says. "Tell yourself that the symptoms you're experiencing are caused by anxiety. "

He says don't look for distractions. "Ride out the attack. Try to keep doing things. If possible, it's important to try to remain in the situation until the anxiety has subsided."

"Confront your fear. If you don't run away from it, you're giving yourself a chance to discover that nothing's going to happen."

As the anxiety begins to pass, start to focus on your surroundings and continue to do what you were doing before.

"If you’re having a short, sudden panic attack, it can be helpful to have someone with you, reassuring you that it will pass and the symptoms are nothing to worry about," says Professor Salkovskis.

Breathing exercise for panic attacks

If you’re breathing quickly during a panic attack, doing a breathing exercise can ease your other symptoms. Try this:

breathe in as slowly, deeply and gently as you can, through your nose
breathe out slowly, deeply and gently through your mouth
some people find it helpful to count steadily from 1 to 5 on each in-breath and each out-breath
close your eyes and focus on your breathing

You should start to feel better in a few minutes. You may feel tired afterwards.

Visit the No Panic website for another breathing exercise to calm panic.

Ways to prevent panic attacks

"You need to try to work out what particular stress you might be under that could make your symptoms worse," says Professor Salkovskis. "It's important not to restrict your movements and daily activities."

Do

practice breathing exercises every day to help prevent panic attacks and relieve them when they happen
practice regular exercise, especially aerobic exercise, to help you to manage stress levels, release tension, improve your mood and boost confidence
eat regular meals to stabilise your blood sugar levels
avoid caffeine, alcohol and smoking – these can make panic attacks worse
try a panic support groups to get useful advice about how to manage your attacks – your GP can put you in touch with groups in your area

try cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to identify and change the negative thought patterns that are feeding your panic attacks

Is it panic disorder?

If you feel constantly stressed and anxious, particularly about when your next panic attack may be, you may have panic disorder.

People with panic disorder may avoid situations that might cause a panic attack. They may also fear and avoid public spaces (agoraphobia).

"There's no quick fix, but if your attacks are happening time after time, seek medical help," says Professor Salkovskis.

Read more about panic attacks, including personal stories, at See Me Scotland

Source: Health Scotland - Opens in new browser window

Last updated:
05 January 2023

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Ways To Calm Down After A Panic Attack

Millions of Americans suffer from anxiety disorders. A panic disorder is a type of anxiety disorder characterized by panic attacks. Many people think of anxiety attacks and panic attacks as the same, but they are different conditions. While anxiety attacks have a slow onset, triggered by anticipation of a stressful event, panic attacks come on suddenly and produce intense or overwhelming fear. Panic attacks are categorized as expected or unexpected. Expected panic attacks are triggered by external cues, such as phobias, while random panic attacks do not have an apparent cause. If you have panic attacks that interfere with your daily functioning, our anxiety treatment center in Michigan can help.

Rose Hill Center provides adult mental health services for anxiety disorders, including panic attack help. At our anxiety treatment center, you can learn coping skills to help manage your anxiety and reduce panic attacks to improve your quality of life. To learn more about anxiety treatment options, reach out to our team at 866.367.0220.

Identifying Symptoms of a Panic Attack vs. Anxiety Attack

Panic attacks can happen to anyone, and a majority of people may experience one during their lifetime. Having more than one panic attack can indicate a panic disorder. The DSM-5, the standard for diagnostic criteria of mental health disorders, clearly identifies anxiety disorders but does not recognize anxiety attacks. Unfortunately, the signs and symptoms of anxiety attacks are so open to interpretation. However, the DSM-5 does recognize panic attacks.

Anxiety attacks often lead to panic attacks, and you can experience both at the same time. For example, you may have an anxiety attack while awaiting a doctor’s appointment about medical testing, which culminates into a panic attack when you arrive at the doctor’s office. Both types of attacks share some common physical symptoms, including:

Heart palpitations or rapid heart rate and chest pain
Shortness of breath and tightness in the throat
Sweating, hot flashes, and chills
Nausea, stomach pains, or vomiting
Feeling faint or dizzy
Headaches
Numbness or tingling in extremities

The common psychological symptom is fear. With anxiety attacks, other psychological symptoms include restlessness, distress, apprehension, and worry, which are not present in panic attacks.

The main psychological symptoms that differentiate the two are that panic attacks involve the fear of losing control and fear of dying. They may also include a sense of detachment from oneself or the world. The best way to distinguish between a panic attack or an anxiety attack is to know that anxiety attacks develop slowly and range from mild to severe, whereas panic attacks are sudden and intense.

Finding Relief Through Panic Attack Treatment

Anxiety disorders, including panic disorders, are highly treatable. Our anxiety treatment center in Michigan offers compassionate care from experienced mental health professionals. For instance, our residential treatment program for anxiety offers a safe, stable environment where patients can become immersed in panic attack treatment without the daily stressors that trigger panic attacks. Therapeutic approaches for treating anxiety disorders include:

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
EMDR therapy
Family therapy
Group therapy
Trauma-informed therapy
Individual therapy

Lifestyle management is another critical component of anxiety treatment. Regular exercise, a healthy diet, proper sleep, maintaining a daily routine, and avoiding caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs reduce anxiety and panic attacks. Learning coping skills to calm down after a panic attack is also essential. The most important skill you will learn from panic attack treatment is recognizing it for what it is. Most people having a panic attack believe they are having a heart attack, which perpetuates the attack.

Reach Out to Rose Hill Center

Panic attacks are frightening, especially the first time. Though most attacks only last about 10 minutes, the psychological effects can linger, and the fear of another attack can lead to one creating a complex cycle that is hard to break. Luckily, anxiety disorders are very receptive to treatment. If you suffer from panic attacks that interfere with your daily functioning or make life difficult to manage, help is available. Reach out to Rose Hill Center at 866.367.0220.

causes, symptoms, prevention and treatment

Sudden dizziness, palpitations, unreasonable fear and feeling that you are about to - and that's it, certain death. Thirty years ago, this disease was not taken too seriously and was considered far-fetched. And now the incidence of panic attacks is growing exponentially every year. Let's talk about how you can deal with them.

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Doctor's advice

Psychological problems

A panic attack is a sudden attack of anxiety, a terrible fear that can end in a real tantrum.

It usually starts at moments of stress for the body. For example, when you ride the subway in the heat or find yourself in a stuffy crowd. Most often, it can be found in large cities, and it overcomes people with increased anxiety, as a rule, perfectionists. Alas, in most cases, panic attacks occur in young women between the ages of 20 and 30 years.

We talked to the doctor and found out the main points regarding this mysterious disease. What are panic attacks from a medical point of view, how to respond to an attack and how you can prevent their recurrence in the future.

How to understand that a panic attack has happened to you

Dmitry Soloviev

general practitioner, editor of the-challenger.ru portal

If we are talking about an illness, the duration of an attack can be from 5 to 30 minutes. Often girls ask specialists if a panic attack can last several hours. Unfortunately, yes, in rare cases it lasts up to several days. Just not every excitement that we experience for loved ones, before an important exam or report, is considered a panic. You will be able to distinguish an attack by a number of features and the nature of manifestations.

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Panic attack symptoms

As the name implies, the main symptom of a panic attack in women is a sudden and seemingly unexplained attack of anxiety and fear. It is accompanied by unpleasant sensations: palpitations, a rush of cold sweat, trembling in the legs, chest pain, difficulty breathing, and so on. Symptoms can be very different, the main thing is that they should disappear without a trace in 5-20 minutes, along with a feeling of fear. But this is not always the case.

Diagnosis of a panic attack cannot be made on the basis of symptoms alone: one must make sure that the cause of the symptoms is not some other disease (for example, a pathology of the heart). The fact is that a panic attack in itself usually does not cause any harm. The symptoms and signs of a panic attack in women are extremely unpleasant, but pass quite quickly.

The main trouble is the fear that the attack will happen again. For example, after a panic attack on the subway, it can be very difficult for a person to go down to the subway again. This becomes a real problem. Such fear can be “self-fulfilling”: a person experiences stress, and under the influence of stress, a panic attack develops again. In severe cases, agoraphobia can form - a condition where almost any interaction with society causes bouts of fear and discomfort, and a person is forced to spend his life locked up.

What is a panic attack from the point of view of physiology

Consider, from the point of view of physiology, how a panic attack manifests itself. This is an unreasonably sharp response of the nervous system to an external stimulus, which in reality is not dangerous at all. All of her symptoms are part of the fight-or-flight defense mechanism that kicks in, say, when she encounters a bear in the woods. In these cases, indeed, there is reason for fear, and a frequent heartbeat makes it possible to run faster. However, for a reason that is not entirely clear, this mechanism sometimes works "without a bear", that is, for no apparent reason.

Panic attacks have similar symptoms to vegetative-vascular dystonia (VVD), and treatment will also be identical. The latter is a disorder of the autonomic nervous system, which is described only in the domestic literature. Abroad, such a diagnosis is not widely used: it does not say anything about the cause of the disease, characterizing only its mechanism.

If you read the comments of experts on the forums, there is no fundamental difference between VVD and panic attacks. Panic reflects an acute attack of VVD, or an attack becomes the most striking symptom of dystonia, so an equal sign is often put between them.

Causes of panic attacks

In order to start a certain mechanism in the body, some kind of danger must arise (imaginary, exaggerated by our perception), and the reaction to it will result in a panic attack. Adrenaline is released and the sympathetic nervous system is activated. Blood rushes to the internal organs, blood pressure rises, causing a feeling of suffocation.

This is how panic attacks manifest themselves after the coronavirus. As a result of the infection, there is a lack of oxygen in the body, damage to the vessels of the pulmonary circulation is often observed. Therefore, any increased load is accompanied by a lack of oxygen.

As a rule, the causes that lead to panic attacks are physical or mental uncomfortable conditions. This may be excessive stress during training, overwork at work, alcohol abuse. Often, severe conflict situations and chronic stress lead to seizures. When anxiety increases, panic attacks and bodily manifestations also increase. The heart beats strongly, it seems that the whole world is collapsing and this only makes it worse.

Constant or periodic neurosis and panic attacks make a person's life unbearable. In this state, it is difficult to work and coexist calmly with loved ones. The more a person is afraid to go out into the street, the less he experiences positive emotions, focusing on his own fears. If there were examples of this disease in the family, one should be especially attentive to attacks and not ignore them.

What to do if a panic attack has begun

At the moment when an attack occurs, there is no way to analyze the causes and reason rationally. But there are several ways that will tell you what to do with a panic attack.

Take a few breaths into any container. It can be a plastic cup or even a bag - just calmly breathe into it. So you can quickly stabilize your breathing and cope with panic.
Switch your attention to something external. For example, count the columns at a subway station or the buttons on a passer-by's jacket. Any concentration on foreign objects will help you both come to your senses and again feel connected to reality and cope with a panic attack.
Stay where you are, or better yet, sit down. During a panic attack, try to limit your movements, if possible, sit down and, as it were, “freeze”. This method, like the previous one, helps to focus on the world around you, and not on your unpleasant sensations.
Talk to someone. Yes, it may seem strange at first glance, but a random passer-by, to whom you turn for help, is able to help you simply by his attention. Communication with another person will give a feeling of security and distract from a panic attack.

5 tips for preventing panic attacks

Unfortunately, medicine does not know exactly why panic attacks occur. Therefore, advice on how to deal with panic attacks is more about lifestyle. Some moments you can change and control. Use the general recommendations, and they will help you avoid seizures in the future.

Do not lead a sedentary lifestyle. There is a scientific assumption that the occurrence of panic attacks is associated with a lack of endorphins that our body produces during physical exertion. Therefore, even light aerobic training and walking can make your life much easier.
Try not to be nervous. Yes, we know this recommendation sounds ridiculous. How can you do without stress when life is so difficult, and panic attacks are ready to appear on every occasion. But calmness and only calmness will save you from attacks and other ailments.
Do not drink coffee or cut down on it. Caffeine in large quantities causes a rapid heartbeat and can provoke a panic attack at the most unexpected moment.
Be careful with alcohol. According to experts, alcoholic beverages are the strongest pathogens that can cause unexpected body reactions and panic attacks. Do not get carried away with them and try to avoid strong drinks.
Be careful with medicines. Analyze if the panic attack is related to taking a new drug? Sometimes a panic attack can be triggered by drugs, so let the doctor analyze the situation.

How to treat panic attacks

We have already found out that a one-time attack is not particularly dangerous, but sometimes the fear of its repetition leads you into a vicious circle. If panic attacks began to happen often and you can no longer cope with it on your own, it is better to consult a doctor. Until the consequences become too severe.

In cases where a persistent panic disorder develops, special breathing techniques, psychotherapy and antidepressants are used. Of course, all this happens under the supervision of a specialist who knows better how to get rid of panic attacks. The most effective combined treatment is medication and psychotherapy.

Since it is not entirely clear why panic attacks occur in individual and mentally healthy people, experts do not guarantee that they will not recur. But if you start responding to them correctly, then both fear of them and anxiety in general will decrease.

Photo: Getty Images; Mart Production: Andrea Piacquadio: Pexels

Panic attack: what to do during an attack to quickly get back to normal

I don’t feel like doing anything, I’m constantly haunted by a feeling of sadness, hands down ... Lately, you know these Feel? Then you should urgently read the book "From Burnout to Balance: How to Calm Your Nerves, Relieve Stress and Recharge" by MIF. In fact, burnout is a very serious problem that, if not dealt with, can lead to much more serious consequences: stress and even depression. If your anxiety has reached its peak and you are experiencing chest pain and shortness of breath, you may have panic attack. In the chapter below, Imogen Dall explains what symptoms indicate an attack and gives effective ways to deal with it.

What symptoms indicate that you are having a panic attack:

increased heart rate;
sensation of heat in the body;
ringing in the ears;
presyncope;
feeling of coldness in the body;
horror, fear of death;
excessive sweating;
trembling of limbs;
nausea;
feeling of suffocation;
abdominal discomfort;
chest pain;
dizziness;
difficult breathing;
numbness or tingling in the limbs;
tingling in the fingers;
dry mouth;
trembling in the body;
urge to go to the toilet;
feeling of unreality of oneself.

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What to do if you are having an attack

Tips to help you deal with a panic attack:

You are not dying. You thought it was the end of the world, but your body is showing standard reactions. Believe me, the discomfort will pass and you will feel better, even if the brain tries to convince you otherwise.
Set yourself up positively. Tell yourself that everything will be fine with you, you will manage. The attack will last only 20-30 minutes, or even less.
Perform breathing exercises . Breathe as slowly and deeply as possible. Inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth. I put my hand on my stomach to make sure it fills with air (this is called diaphragmatic breathing). If your breathing is shallow and fast, if you are unable to think of anything else but it, you may be having an attack of hyperventilation and the level of carbon dioxide in the body is reduced. To normalize it, breathe into a clean paper bag.
Come back to reality. There are two great ways. First: close your eyes and focus on your body. Relax your toes first, then your feet, and mentally move higher until you reach your head. Do not forget about the small muscles of the face - the lower jaw, the frontal muscle. The second method is called the 5-4-3-2-1 technique and helps you focus on the world around you. Mark five things you can see, four you can touch, three sounds, two smells, and one taste.
Aroma of calmness. Hysterical rich woman with smelling salt - doesn't that remind you of the heroine of some comedy? Don't laugh, but I carry a small bottle with a mixture of rosemary and peppermint oils, and it really helps me a lot. These scents allow you to focus on deep breathing and are associated with relaxation. When I get excited, I apply oil to my temples and the bridge of my nose. Perhaps some pleasant aroma will help you relax too.
After an attack, give yourself some time to reduce your stress levels. Prepare a cup of fragrant tea. Take a bath. Stroke your pet. Play a relaxing video game like Animal Crossing, Kind Words, Journey, Coffee Talk or Monument Valley. Take a nap. When the weather is nice, go for a leisurely walk - it's a great way to calm down and restore your breath.
Relax tense areas of the body. Do you know exactly where stress accumulates in your body? It wasn't until a long time later that I realized that almost every day I clench my jaw, purse my lips, and tense my thigh muscles. Most often in stressful situations, we use the muscles of the forehead, neck, shoulders, abdomen, arms and legs.
It is useful to do stretching exercises regularly to feel how the body is filled with air. Diaphragmatic breathing will help increase blood flow to the muscles and calm the nervous system, which constantly gives the body signals of danger. I recommend starting with Keith Locklin's Five Daily Stretches, yoga or sports massage. Stretching with a Pilates top hat, lacrosse ball, or tennis ball is a good idea to help loosen up specific areas.
Take control cortisol . An abrupt change in blood sugar levels has a huge impact on mood. This is because sugar stimulates the release of cortisol, the stress hormone. Try to control your blood sugar levels, and minimize your intake of sweets, caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, and processed foods.

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