Article by John Cielo

panic attacks are frightening experiences that can happen unexpectedly, for no apparent reason. So when they happen, you want to stop them dead in their tracks. But this is easier said than done when you’re in the middle of one, unless you know the steps to take. Here, you’ll get 3 key steps to take to stop your panic attacks, or at the very least, lessen their intensity and shorten their length.

Stop, hang on a minute, just what are panic attacks and what causes them?…

Now I know this may be hard to believe, but they are a result of your body’s defense mechanism making a mistake. We all have a primeval survival mechanism in us that gives us the best chance of survival when we’re in physical danger. When the body ‘perceives’ you’re in danger it triggers a reaction we call it’s ‘fight or flight’ response. By rapidly affecting chemical changes in your body, your defence mechanism is setting you up to either fight to the best of your ability or run away from the danger as fast as you can.

But what has this to do with my panic attacks?…

Well, when you’re anxiety levels are particularly high, all it takes is for an additional stressful event or situation, e.g. shopping in a busy supermarket, driving in heavy traffic, sitting an exam, etc., to push your total anxiety to such a level that your defences mistake your elevated anxiety as a signal that you’re in danger, so triggers it’s response, resulting in a panic attack.

The symptoms you experience during an attack, e.g. shortness of breath, choking sensation, tightness across your chest, nausea, trembling, dizziness, racing heartbeat, etc., are just the result of the changes happening in your body. You aren’t having a heart attack, or stroke, or anything bad at all. They’re just the symptoms of a mistake made by your own body. It’s a medical fact that a panic attack cannot harm you.

And that key fact is the first step in stopping your attack, or at least reducing it’s effects significantly. For the purposes of this article, the assumption is that you have already been diagnosed with at least one panic attack. So at the onset of the symptoms (which you’ll now recognize) remember this golden nugget; they cannot harm you, you aren’t going to die.

Now this puts you in a positive frame of mind for the next step, which is to start to get your hyperventilation (rapid shallow breathing) under control. This is important because you need to get your oxygen / carbon dioxide ratio back in balance. Breath slowly, deeply and rhythmically in through your nose and out through your mouth. Don’t just use chest breathing though, you must also use your diaphragm to use all of your lung capacity.

The third step is to start to focus intently on things around you, such as buildings, trees, people, etc. Anything to stop you analyzing your symptoms. Analysing your symptoms is like a vicious cycle that just makes them seem more severe. So

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