Let me start by saying these tips for panic attacks really work but you have to practice the techniques so they become second nature to you. Panic attacks are probably the closest thing to a near death experience that most people will experience. It is precisely that fear and sense of losing control that is experienced in the attack that makes many people avoid situations that they think will bring on another attack.
It's the fear of another attack that perpetuates the sense of anxiety and that's the core problem. For example, if your attack occurred while driving on the freeway like mine did, then you will avoid driving on the freeway to avoid triggering another attack.
It's the fear of the attack, rather than the activity (driving on the freeway) that creates another attack. So how do you get over it? You don't. You recognize it for what it is and you invite that attack back into your life. The difference this time is you will control it rather than it controlling you.
Nobody has ever died from a panic attack. You might think you're going to die but you won't. The fear or danger that you think you are experiencing isn't real. That's what a panic attack is. Your brain triggers the attack, possibly from a traumatic event in your past, and then projects out all the dire consequences in the future. In essence your conscious thoughts are operating in the past and the future simultaneously and ignoring the present.
Using the driving example again, I thought I was going to crash into the car in front of me. I didn't. I was certain I would lose control of the steering wheel. I didn't. I was positive that I could not control my leg to step on the brake. I could.
So the trick is to get your brain focused on the present, on what's real. If you can do that you have taken away the power of the attack.
Tip Number 1: Name That Thing
The first time I challenged the panic attack I went up the on ramp of the 110 Freeway and started focusing on the present. I was certain I was going to experience an attack but I was equally certain that if I didn't find a way to beat it I was going to live a miserable life.
So I started naming things. Identifying and naming them aloud. The car in front of me was "A four door car. Audi 2000. California plates." Then it was "steering wheel, green vinyl" "speedometer" "engagement ring, 1.25 carats". It is very important that you name these things out loud. The louder you name them the better. Essentially you are telling your brain to stay in the present. Your interest is in reality not in the fiction that an attack brings. You are denying the attack its' power as you are controlling your conscious thoughts.
OK this works fine in your car or anywhere else that you are alone. What do you do if your in a crowd where a person suddenly calling out names is likely going to result in a call to 911?
Tip Number 2: The Brain Game
Can you imagine a situation that can be any more anxiety ridden than the experience of our POWs during the Viet Nam war? Their very lives depended on the whim of their captors. In order to survive the madness, many created separate realities for themselves using just their minds.
Some prisoners with a mathematical bent calculated impossible mathematical problems in their head. Leo Thorsness who was a prisoner for 6 years, created a file cabinet in his mind where he filed every conversation the prisoners tapped out. The file cabinets were labeled by category, home, family, flying, eating etc, and he could mentally reach in and pull out a conversation from literally a year ago.
These men controlled their anxiety and panic by controlling their perceived reality. Obviously it took a while for them to perfect these worlds. A simpler version with the same affect would be the old math exercise of 2+2=4, 4+4=8, 8+8=16 and so on. If math isn't your strong point, try thinking of the alphabet in reverse from Z to A.
These exercises focus your brain on a reality you control. Again you are robbing the panic attack of it's power.
Tip Number 3: Give Your Panic Attack A Time Out.
Once you know you can handle an attack you are ready to end the fear for good by inviting one into your life. The invitation however, comes with a time limit, say 30 seconds. As you get on your on ramp tell the attack to come on but, it only has 30 seconds to do its' deed. Then start counting down, slowly. Your only going to give it 30 seconds otherwise you are just going to go on with what you were doing.
As you count down you will get a sense of confidence. You're teasing the attack. Come on you only have 15 seconds left, do it or get lost. When you get to the final 5 seconds stretch it out. Break the seconds into halves or quarters. You own this battle and the attack will not come.
Practicing these tips is not easy. As a matter of fact you may become mentally exhausted from the effort to stay focused. However, the more you do it the more confidence you will gain and the easier it will become.
It's the fear of another attack that perpetuates the sense of anxiety and that's the core problem. For example, if your attack occurred while driving on the freeway like mine did, then you will avoid driving on the freeway to avoid triggering another attack.
It's the fear of the attack, rather than the activity (driving on the freeway) that creates another attack. So how do you get over it? You don't. You recognize it for what it is and you invite that attack back into your life. The difference this time is you will control it rather than it controlling you.
Nobody has ever died from a panic attack. You might think you're going to die but you won't. The fear or danger that you think you are experiencing isn't real. That's what a panic attack is. Your brain triggers the attack, possibly from a traumatic event in your past, and then projects out all the dire consequences in the future. In essence your conscious thoughts are operating in the past and the future simultaneously and ignoring the present.
Using the driving example again, I thought I was going to crash into the car in front of me. I didn't. I was certain I would lose control of the steering wheel. I didn't. I was positive that I could not control my leg to step on the brake. I could.
So the trick is to get your brain focused on the present, on what's real. If you can do that you have taken away the power of the attack.
Tip Number 1: Name That Thing
The first time I challenged the panic attack I went up the on ramp of the 110 Freeway and started focusing on the present. I was certain I was going to experience an attack but I was equally certain that if I didn't find a way to beat it I was going to live a miserable life.
So I started naming things. Identifying and naming them aloud. The car in front of me was "A four door car. Audi 2000. California plates." Then it was "steering wheel, green vinyl" "speedometer" "engagement ring, 1.25 carats". It is very important that you name these things out loud. The louder you name them the better. Essentially you are telling your brain to stay in the present. Your interest is in reality not in the fiction that an attack brings. You are denying the attack its' power as you are controlling your conscious thoughts.
OK this works fine in your car or anywhere else that you are alone. What do you do if your in a crowd where a person suddenly calling out names is likely going to result in a call to 911?
Tip Number 2: The Brain Game
Can you imagine a situation that can be any more anxiety ridden than the experience of our POWs during the Viet Nam war? Their very lives depended on the whim of their captors. In order to survive the madness, many created separate realities for themselves using just their minds.
Some prisoners with a mathematical bent calculated impossible mathematical problems in their head. Leo Thorsness who was a prisoner for 6 years, created a file cabinet in his mind where he filed every conversation the prisoners tapped out. The file cabinets were labeled by category, home, family, flying, eating etc, and he could mentally reach in and pull out a conversation from literally a year ago.
These men controlled their anxiety and panic by controlling their perceived reality. Obviously it took a while for them to perfect these worlds. A simpler version with the same affect would be the old math exercise of 2+2=4, 4+4=8, 8+8=16 and so on. If math isn't your strong point, try thinking of the alphabet in reverse from Z to A.
These exercises focus your brain on a reality you control. Again you are robbing the panic attack of it's power.
Tip Number 3: Give Your Panic Attack A Time Out.
Once you know you can handle an attack you are ready to end the fear for good by inviting one into your life. The invitation however, comes with a time limit, say 30 seconds. As you get on your on ramp tell the attack to come on but, it only has 30 seconds to do its' deed. Then start counting down, slowly. Your only going to give it 30 seconds otherwise you are just going to go on with what you were doing.
As you count down you will get a sense of confidence. You're teasing the attack. Come on you only have 15 seconds left, do it or get lost. When you get to the final 5 seconds stretch it out. Break the seconds into halves or quarters. You own this battle and the attack will not come.
Practicing these tips is not easy. As a matter of fact you may become mentally exhausted from the effort to stay focused. However, the more you do it the more confidence you will gain and the easier it will become.