It will hit you no matter where you are. Anxiety has no limitations, no boundaries, and will come at the worst times. One small thing may trigger it and leave you feeling like you are spiraling out of control. Welcome to the wide world of anxiety attacks. Not everyone feels the same while suffering from these uncontrollable moments of weakness, which is why it is so hard to explain anxiety to an outside viewer. They don't understand because chances are they have never felt exactly like you do in that moment.
What is it that you are feeling, you may ask? You may feel like your arm is going numb; you may feel like your heart is going to stop beating at any given moment; you may feel like you are going to throw up; you may feel as though you can't catch your breath. The list could go on and on because everyone suffers different side effects from this nasty beast. When an anxiety attack hits when you least expect it you may feel as though it's the end of the world, but there are ways out of it.
First off, let's set the scene. You are driving down the road in the pouring rain. You can barely see enough as it is because of the rain, but before you know it you are fixated on your vision and it feels as though it is going blurry. You start panicking because your vision seems a bit off when next you are asking yourself "Oh my God, what if I pass out while driving?" So, there you are with what seems to be anxiety-controlled blurry vision, questioning if you are going to pass out while driving. This may all seem dumb, but I assure you the fear is real enough to trigger a fight or flight response in your body to launch you into full blown anxiety attack mode. Before you know it you are shaking so hard you can barely hold onto the steering wheel, you are unsure of how much force you are using on your pedal because your mind is racing, and you feel like you can't breathe. This, my friends, is what an anxiety attack looks like.
The first time any person suffers from an anxiety attack is scary stuff. Often times, they don't know how to handle it so they panic, which makes it worse. As for me? I'm a seasoned veteran. I do the steps necessary to get myself out of that mode, then move on with my life. What are the steps? Let's take a look.
1. Talk Yourself Down
Address the situation. "Yes, this is anxiety attack...nothing more." You want to be in control of the anxiety, not vice versa so by addressing the fact that it is anxiety and not some other health issue you are giving yourself more power to get through the attack.
2. Breathe, Baby, Breathe
If I could have kept track of a number of times my mother has told me to quit breathing so shallow it would probably be in the hundreds. Take deep, controlled breaths. Like the kind you learn how to do in yoga. This is critical. Once you can practice mindful breathing during an anxiety attack, the symptoms will seem to vanish. The key is to breathe from your belly. You want it to expand while you breathe in and contract while you breathe out. Just breathe, it'll do wonders for you and your anxiety attack.
3. Take Your Mind Off Of It
Let's go back to the driving anxiety attack example. Yes, I used this as an example because it really has happened to me. I followed the first two steps mentioned above, then pulled it together enough to finish my drive home. The rest of the drive I played music and tried to focus on the music and singing along rather than the anxiety my body still felt. Of course, since I was driving I focused on the road too. Just take your mind out of the panicky situation. Take it elsewhere, on a vacation if you may. Take your mind to a happy place. Music is a great aid for this one, but you want your mind to relax.
4. If Worse Comes to Worse...
If worse comes to worse, just remove yourself momentarily from the situation. Pull over, leave the room, walk away, go to the water fountain. Whatever it takes, sometimes you just need a few moments out of the situation in which you started having your anxiety attack. Just go elsewhere to regain your composure and come back a new and confident person.
5. Good As New?
Hopefully by this point, after the talking yourself down, breathing, and taking your mind off of it, you should be feeling better. Like I mentioned there is also the taking yourself out of the immediate situation option. Listen, they do suck I get it. But you will get through it and will be feeling better shortly. So, just kinda deal with it and don't let anxiety ever get the upper hand because it is not worth it. It is something many people deal with and it shouldn't ever control your life or alter how you live life. It is time to kick anxiety attacks in the butt.
