Suddenly you feel in the grip of terror. You fear imminent death, or a string of bad things. Your heart beats wildly. You breathe rapidly, sweat or feel cold, feel tingling or numb sensations. You are dizzy or feel as if you are observing the world from outside it or something just weird. If other things can be ruled out, you may be having a panic attack.
How does one stop panic attacks?
I. The power of excitement
One day I rode in a six seat passenger plane a few thousand feet over the Rocky Mountains on a clear summer's afternoon. Radiant heat from the dark mountain sides warmed the surrounding air, causing the usual updrafts while prevailing winds added to the currents.
Aside from sharp jerking movements left a right, the plane flew more or less straight as far as map directions go, but the up-and-down movements were a roller coaster ride. In irregular repeated fashion, the plane would make me feel as if we were dropping over a cliff. It was difficult not to feel keenly the passage of time as one plummeted. Vertical deceleration then made one wonder how much the plane wings could take. And then I would feel thrust strongly and dangerously upwards by more than engine power. And on it went.
I can't tell you I wasn't scared. I can't tell you I didn't feel an urge to reach for the doggie bag. Probably at least half of the six passengers used them on that flight. But (barely) not me. Why? Through it all, I was unusually excited, in my case by what another passenger was telling me about the geology I could see "down there" on the ground.
Mountains and geology may not be your cure for panic, but what about excitement? Cast it in an opposing mode: What might I have felt if rather than trying to be excited, I tried to relax and make myself feel calm?
If the plane had been in real and imminent danger of crashing on the mountains, would calming oneself serve to stop panic sensations? Which would have controlled the panic feelings better: (1) vigorously strapping on a parachute, yanking open an emergency door, and jumping or (2) closing one's eyes, sitting back, and focusing on relaxing tensed shoulder muscles?
The panic attack condition doesn't seem to be able to distinguish well between real and imaginary imminent dangers. If there is no actual imminent danger to face, can one face an alternative challenge and use one's energy in a constructive alternative path? Or what if the alternative is to face one's panic attack symptoms with excitement and vigor? That is the way most people get through a roller coaster ride.
Or changing metaphors, when soldiers go face-to-face with the enemy, they either run away or yell and charge. If it is not always wise to fight an enemy, the equivalent of yelling and charging gives one a sense of control when facing the enemy of panic attack symptoms. If one can be excited facing the symptoms, one feels in control. Panic attack symptoms cannot do actual damage any more than a roller coaster ride. If on the other hand one seeks at all costs to avoid the symptoms, the enemy panic does the advancing against one.
II. The power of calm
Calm and relaxed emotions are of course, worthwhile goals for panic attack sufferers. And calming techniques can be effective at controlling panic. Slowed, deep breathing exercises during panic attacks, for example, can reduce the symptoms that hyperventilation adds to panic. Even when one is excited as noted above, one does not want to lose control of rational thought and action, which seems better associated with calm. In the airplane, I was fully cognizant of bodily sensations that the ride was producing even while my excitement was focused elsewhere.
Or in a real crisis, it is possible to act decisively and energetically while maintaining emotional and mental equanimity. Thus in a panic attack, it is possible to feel bodily symptoms of a panic while accepting them for what they are--temporary and unharmful.
Accepting the symptoms is a big start. One may also use relaxation techniques such as music, meditation, yoga, calming teas, and some enjoyable hobbies in order to reduce a heightened state of anxiety enough to fall asleep. We cannot always live in state of high energy. Relaxation, especially good sleep, recharges us and empowers us to handle what's next.
Thus panic attack sufferers are especially advised to avoid caffeine, sugar, and alcohol. Regular exercise helps improve mood as well as body. Counseling or a diary of emotions may uncover hidden false assumptions that unnecessarily stimulate our fears. There are short and long term methods to increasing calm and reducing panic.
Calm and excitement seem like opposite methods of stopping panic attacks, but they can both be used to good effect, sometimes and in some sense simultaneously.
How does one stop panic attacks?
I. The power of excitement
One day I rode in a six seat passenger plane a few thousand feet over the Rocky Mountains on a clear summer's afternoon. Radiant heat from the dark mountain sides warmed the surrounding air, causing the usual updrafts while prevailing winds added to the currents.
Aside from sharp jerking movements left a right, the plane flew more or less straight as far as map directions go, but the up-and-down movements were a roller coaster ride. In irregular repeated fashion, the plane would make me feel as if we were dropping over a cliff. It was difficult not to feel keenly the passage of time as one plummeted. Vertical deceleration then made one wonder how much the plane wings could take. And then I would feel thrust strongly and dangerously upwards by more than engine power. And on it went.
I can't tell you I wasn't scared. I can't tell you I didn't feel an urge to reach for the doggie bag. Probably at least half of the six passengers used them on that flight. But (barely) not me. Why? Through it all, I was unusually excited, in my case by what another passenger was telling me about the geology I could see "down there" on the ground.
Mountains and geology may not be your cure for panic, but what about excitement? Cast it in an opposing mode: What might I have felt if rather than trying to be excited, I tried to relax and make myself feel calm?
If the plane had been in real and imminent danger of crashing on the mountains, would calming oneself serve to stop panic sensations? Which would have controlled the panic feelings better: (1) vigorously strapping on a parachute, yanking open an emergency door, and jumping or (2) closing one's eyes, sitting back, and focusing on relaxing tensed shoulder muscles?
The panic attack condition doesn't seem to be able to distinguish well between real and imaginary imminent dangers. If there is no actual imminent danger to face, can one face an alternative challenge and use one's energy in a constructive alternative path? Or what if the alternative is to face one's panic attack symptoms with excitement and vigor? That is the way most people get through a roller coaster ride.
Or changing metaphors, when soldiers go face-to-face with the enemy, they either run away or yell and charge. If it is not always wise to fight an enemy, the equivalent of yelling and charging gives one a sense of control when facing the enemy of panic attack symptoms. If one can be excited facing the symptoms, one feels in control. Panic attack symptoms cannot do actual damage any more than a roller coaster ride. If on the other hand one seeks at all costs to avoid the symptoms, the enemy panic does the advancing against one.
II. The power of calm
Calm and relaxed emotions are of course, worthwhile goals for panic attack sufferers. And calming techniques can be effective at controlling panic. Slowed, deep breathing exercises during panic attacks, for example, can reduce the symptoms that hyperventilation adds to panic. Even when one is excited as noted above, one does not want to lose control of rational thought and action, which seems better associated with calm. In the airplane, I was fully cognizant of bodily sensations that the ride was producing even while my excitement was focused elsewhere.
Or in a real crisis, it is possible to act decisively and energetically while maintaining emotional and mental equanimity. Thus in a panic attack, it is possible to feel bodily symptoms of a panic while accepting them for what they are--temporary and unharmful.
Accepting the symptoms is a big start. One may also use relaxation techniques such as music, meditation, yoga, calming teas, and some enjoyable hobbies in order to reduce a heightened state of anxiety enough to fall asleep. We cannot always live in state of high energy. Relaxation, especially good sleep, recharges us and empowers us to handle what's next.
Thus panic attack sufferers are especially advised to avoid caffeine, sugar, and alcohol. Regular exercise helps improve mood as well as body. Counseling or a diary of emotions may uncover hidden false assumptions that unnecessarily stimulate our fears. There are short and long term methods to increasing calm and reducing panic.
Calm and excitement seem like opposite methods of stopping panic attacks, but they can both be used to good effect, sometimes and in some sense simultaneously.
Source...