Stop Panic Attacks Immedaitely With These 3 Tips
It can be extremely difficult to stop panic attacks once they’ve started, but there are 3 quick tips that I’d like to share with you that work wonders at stopping a full blown panic attack.
#1. The Paper Bag Trick:
I recommend having paper bags with you wherever you are, and to also leave them lying around anywhere you might happen to be, such as your apartment or your place of employment. When you know an attack is on its way, you’re just going to switch your breathing between the paper bag and your normal breathing – about 30 seconds of each.
It’s become a cliche to offer a paper bag to a person having a panic attack, but like all cliches, it’s based in truth. And paper bag breathing really does work to stop panic attacks fast.
#2. Don’t Suffer In Silence:
When you’re having a panic attack, put the TV or radio on. Or play music through speakers or headphones.
It’s common to feel like you’re losing your mind or losing control when you’re in the middle of a panic attack, and a silent or quiet room can make this seem even worse. Putting some added noise into the room will overcome this problem, and it will also help to “ground” you in reality.
If you also suffer with depersonalization, as I did, the sounds will also work wonders in eliminating it during attacks.
#3. Reassure Yourself Out Loud:
Back when my own anxiety disorders was ruining my life, I made a huge mistake, and that was trying to rerassure myself in my head whenever I had a panic attack. What I should have been doing, and what you should do, is start reassuring yourself aloud. Hearing your own voice aloud has a very different effect on you, and it can be very powerful in stopping attacks.
I noticed that the thoughts that only existed inside my head didn’t work well at all, and in some cases they actually made me feel worse.
But the thoughts that I said out loud worked wonderfully and I found that they were much more likely to fight off a panic attack.
So from now on, when you have a panic attack, talk to yourself out loud. Confidently tell yourself that you’re ok, you’ve seen all this before, and that you know the attack will soon pass and leave you fine again.
Here’s a 4th bonus tip for you:
The next time you have a panic attack, wait for it to pass then take a few seconds to write down all you can remember about it – what you thought during the attack, how you felt, and so on. You might find it easier to use a voice recorder for this.
Once you’ve written or spoke about your attacks a few times you’ll see that your anxiety has very specific patterns, and all progress the same way.
And this is good, because once you know your patterns you’ll know what’s going to happen in all future panic attacks even before they strike.
You might be wondering why this is so important. Well, it’s because you take the mystery away from your anxiety. The mystery is what causes a lot of the fear, and by taking it away you deny your attacks of a lot of the power they have over you.
And with your written or recorded “panic notes” with you, you’ll stop one of your anxiety’s most potent power sources dead in its tracks.
This idea of making notes and recordings and then referring to them during an attack is an incredibly powerful way to stop panic attacks, so I really hope you give it a try.