Let me just start off by making sure you all know that I am not a doctor. What I am, however, is a person who has suffered from chronic anxiety and panic disorder. That being said, I've had my fair share of anxiety attacks. If you suffer from an anxiety or panic disorder, the feeling of an oncoming attack is all too familiar to you. For me, my ears start popping and the world around me sounds muffled. My heart starts beating out of control and I can't catch my breath for the life of me. My palms start to sweat a disgusting amount and my whole body shakes. I, like many others, feel a kind of surreality around me while having a panic attack. Every time I have one, I'm positive it will never go away, but it always does.
Through years and years of panic attacks coming out of the blue, I've learned a lot of different techniques to challenge the horrible feeling. The biggest piece of advice I can give you applies to each and every one of these tips: You have to be willing to help yourself. Anxiety is you battling with yourself. If you tell yourself things like, "This is the worst thing ever," or "I'm never gonna feel better," or if you keep thinking about how terrified you are in that moment, nothing will change, and if it does, it won't be for the better. I know it's easier said than done, it's taken me years to be able to calm myself down during panic attacks, and I still have instances where I can't get myself out of that haze, but some amazing people in my life have taught me these techniques and I utilize them every chance I get.
1. Identify 6 things around you. Two that you can touch, two that you can hear, and two that you can control. There are a few different versions of this technique, but this is what I've found helps the most. By identifying these six things, your brain fights the feeling of surreality, grounding you and bringing you back to reality.
2. Breathe. It's a scientific fact that breathing affects your mentality. Often during a panic attack, people will take fast and short breaths. This restricts blood flow to the brain, making it harder for your mind to process your thoughts. This means your irrational thoughts will be up in your brain alone, with no chance of rationalization making it's way up there. The best breathing technique I've learned is the 4-7-8 technique. It's actually used to help people with insomnia, because it's calming powers are incredible. All you do is breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, and exhale for 8 seconds. This technique works miracles. It slows down your heart rate and gets blood flowing to your brain at a healthy rate. Just repeat the 4-7-8 breathing until you start to feel yourself calm down.
3. Challenge your anxiety. The biggest part of anxiety is irrational fears, or even just the fear of fear itself. During a panic attack, most people won't even be able to identify what they're afraid of. So if you're having a panic attack, take a minute to think about what exactly is scaring you at that particular moment, then challenge it. For example: One of my biggest anxiety triggers used to be driving. I was terrified of losing control and crashing. If I was first in line at a red light, I would freak out at the thought of losing control and driving straight into the intersection. It's not that I wanted to do that, it was just an irrational fear that planted itself in my brain. I wasn't able to drive for a couple months, and I was sometimes too scared to even be a passenger. That was until I learned to challenge my anxiety. Here's how you do it: Think to yourself (we'll use my scenario as an example), "Have I ever lost control before?" Your answer will likely be a negative, so then ask yourself why you would all of the sudden lose control. Remind yourself that you're a safe driver and that you don't want to lose control at all. Challenging your anxiety is hard in the midst of a panic attack, because it's often hard to even think, but push yourself to challenge your anxiety and I promise you'll feel better.
4. Make a plan. Most people who have anxiety are focused on potential but unlikely future situations. Instead of telling yourself that a certain situation won't happen, prepare for if it does happen. If you're scared you'll have a medical emergency while in a traffic jam, make an escape plan. Plan what you would do if that were to happen. This way, the anxiety likely won't even pop up while stuck in traffic, because you have a well thought out plan for if it does.
5. Stay off of your phone. Unless it's to contact help, stay off of your phone. I used to resort to scrolling through Instagram while having a panic attack to distract myself from what was happening. What this caused, rather, was even more panic and anxiety. Being on your phone takes you away from reality, making you even more anxious. The biggest part of managing a panic attack is establishing reality.
6. Talk to yourself. Whether it's in your head or out loud, talk to yourself while you're panicking. Offer yourself positive reinforcement. Your anxiety attack was created by you, so it can just as easily be destroyed by you. Repeat positive phrases. For example, when I have a panic attack, I repeat the phrase, "Be still and know that I am God," which comes from a bible verse. Because of my religious background, this helps me remember that I am safe and that there is no need to worry, because God will take care of me. Of course, that may sound silly to some people. Obviously, your preferred phrase does not have to be religiously affiliated. I also like to tell myself, "You're okay." It's simple but it gets the biggest point across.
7. Write. Since my anxiety worsened a couple of years ago, I've carried a notebook and pen with me almost everywhere I go. Writing, for me, is therapeutic. Not to mention, you realize how irrational your fears are when you see them written out on paper.
8. White noise. When I was a baby, one of the only things that could get me to stop crying was the sound of the vacuum cleaner. To this day, that sound is extremely soothing to me. I have a white noise app on my phone, and if I feel myself getting anxious, I pop my headphones in and listen to the sound of a vacuum cleaner. It sounds silly but it makes a lot of sense. As babies, we're just huge sponges. We're absorbing so much. Because vacuum cleaner=calm when I was a baby, the noise automatically triggers my brain to calm down. It may take a while to find a noise that calms you the most, but give it a try. You can also ask your parents if there were any sounds that soothed you when you were younger.
9. Carry something familiar with you. This one's pretty easy. A lot of panic is triggered by being places in an unfamiliar setting or situation. When everything around you seems so foreign, you can keep yourself grounded by having a familiar item on hand. It can be anything from your wallet to your house key to your baby blanket. Anything that reminds you of familiarity and comfort will work. I keep a travel size of lip balm that I use every day. If I'm anxious, I'll use it and automatically think of routine and familiarity.
So there you have it; 9 tips to help you kick anxiety's butt. Please give these a try. If they don't seem to work, don't be afraid to see a psychiatrist who can help you establish your own coping mechanisms.
