Do you remember ever getting overwhelmed by a sudden surge of severe nervousness or uneasiness, causing symptoms like racing heart, short breath, as well as feeling faint? These are panic attacks which can be very frightening leaving you with a feeling of losing control or being at risk. Knowing what brings about these attacks and how to go about managing them is critical for taking back your life.
What Are Panic Attacks?
Ever felt perfectly alright before suddenly being overcome with dread and physical sensations that mimic life-threatening emergencies? That is how a panic attack feels. These moments of extreme fear might come when least expected, often inducing in your body physiological responses not different from those that would occur during a real crisis. Your heart races, your breathing speeds up, and you might feel dizzy or nauseous.
About a third of Canadians may have panic attacks in a given year. Sometimes it comes out of nowhere but mostly stressful situations trigger it; however even minor bodily sensations like an accelerated pulse could possibly place one into a state of panic.
The Panic Cycle
To stop the panic cycle from happening, it is important for you to understand it better. This cycle consists of three related responses: catastrophic thoughts, physical sensations and avoidance behaviors.
- Catastrophic Thoughts: These are unhelpful and exaggerated thoughts related to potential dangers, such as “I’m going to die” or “I’m losing control.”
- Physical Sensations: These include symptoms like palpitation, shortness of breath, dizziness, and sweating, that may be misinterpreted as evidence for a serious medical condition.
- Avoidance and Safety Behaviors: You may begin to avoid going into places where you had experienced previous attacks so as not to experience the discomfort associated with panic attacks. This fear can be reinforced by such avoidance behaviors thereby increasing the chances of future attacks. Additionally, you might develop safety behaviors, such as carrying medication or having an exit plan, which can further perpetuate the panic cycle.
This process heavily depends on your body’s autonomic nervous system (ANS). ANS has two portions namely sympathetic nervous system that initiates fight or flight and the parasympathetic nervous system that calms one down; striking a balance between these two systems is helpful in managing panic attacks.
The link between the mind and body
Our minds are intricately woven together with our bodies, especially when it comes to experiencing panic attacks. A fight or flight response is a typical example. If your brain senses danger, it will send signals to your body in readiness for action such as confronting the danger or running away from it. Such a reaction occurs involuntarily and rapidly. However, when your mind misconstrues harmless situations as life-threatening ones, the stage might be set unnecessarily for this type of reaction leading to a panic attack.
During a panic attack, there may be a sort of feedback loop involving intense physical sensations. For instance you may feel your heart beating fast and conclude that “something is seriously wrong with me.” The result of these thoughts is more anxiety which causes an even faster heartbeat. Understanding this relationship between mind and body can help you interrupt this vicious cycle thus addressing both sides of this experience: physical and mental.
Simple Techniques to Break the Panic Cycle
- Challenge Your Thoughts: When you sense that a panic attack is imminent, try to challenge the catastrophic thoughts that are racing through your mind. Instead of thinking “I am going to have a heart attack,” remind yourself “This is just anxiety and it will go away.” Knowing that stress symptoms are not lethal helps decrease terror behind the assault along with its attendant consequences.
- Control Your Breathing: Rapid breathing during a panic attack can cause hyperventilation, which brings about dizziness and tingling sensations that actually make panicking worse. For this reason, it is advised to engage in controlled breathing. An effective breathing exercise is inhaling through your nose for three seconds then exhaling through your mouth for the same period of time; this will help slow down your breath and relax your body.
- Grounding Techniques: Grounding techniques are helpful in bringing back one’s consciousness to the present moment and reducing the intensity of panic attacks. One such method is known as 5-4-3-2-1 technique:
- 5 things you can see
- 4 things you can touch
- 3 things you can hear
- 2 things you can smell
- 1 thing you can taste
This practice aims at diverting attention from the fear to what surrounds us right now, helping you to attain peace of mind.
- Stand Your Ground: When a panic attack comes on suddenly, it may feel like an impossible urge to escape. Do not flee in case of a panic attack – remain where you are and let the symptoms subside. This helps you to realize that even though you feel uncomfortable, these sensations are not dangerous thus eliminating fear of future attacks in them. This may help you to put an end to avoiding altogether.
- Educate Yourself: Learn about what happens during a panic attack and the fight-or-flight response. Understanding the physiological and psychological symptoms of panic can help you gain awareness of your experience and give you the confidence to manage it more effectively.
- Practice Regular Relaxation Techniques: Creating space for relaxation activities like yoga, meditation, or progressive muscle relaxation into your daily routine can help you reduce overall anxiety levels and make you more resilient to panic attacks.
If you or someone you know is struggling with panic attacks and are seeking professional help from a registered psychologist or psychotherapist, please contact us at Therapy Villa Psychology Services. We offer free consultations to discuss how we can support you on your mental health journey. Our team is dedicated to helping you navigate and overcome these challenges through effective therapy for panic attacks.
