Panic Attacks

Your heart starts racing, your palms are sweaty, your vision is blurry, you can’t think straight, and you’re having trouble breathing.  You feel like you’re going to pass out or die any second, and you’re beginning to lose track of what’s real and what’s not.  What’s happening to you?

The above vignette outlines classic symptoms of a panic attack.  A panic attack is the body’s natural fight or flight response kicking into overdrive.  Panic attacks can be caused by identifiable stress or anxiety or can simply occur with no known cause.  People who experience panic attacks often report feeling that they are losing control of their bodies and their minds and frequently have difficulty managing their symptoms during the course of an attack.

Panic attacks can be very scary to experience due to the physical symptoms that often occur alongside heightened anxiety.  It is important to remember, however, that these symptoms are simply your body’s response to perceived stress. Panic attacks, while uncomfortable and scary, can’t actually cause you to pass out or die.  Panic attacks also won’t last forever.  Though you may feel like your panic attack is never ending, panic attacks typically don’t last more than half an hour, and most last less than ten minutes.  

So what can you do to come down from a panic attack?  Taking yourself out of focus on the panic attack itself will remove the trigger for your physical symptoms and will cause these symptoms to dissipate.  This can be done through actions such as deep breathing, specific body holds and stretches, and the use of repetitive mantras reminding yourself that you are safe and that you will be ok.  These techniques indicate to your body that there is no present danger that it needs to respond to, which will ultimately turn off the fight or flight response that causes the physical panic symptoms.

Panic attacks can be extremely challenging and uncomfortable to deal with and experience.  However, it can be helpful to remember that panic attacks are simply your body’s attempts to protect you and cannot actually harm you.  Regular mindfulness exercises and development of stress management skill sets can aid not only in coping with panic attacks, but also potentially with eliminating them all together.  If panic attacks are becoming disruptive to your life, don’t hesitate to seek professional help to work on managing your symptoms more effectively.