Panic Attacks

Sometimes all of ones stress comes to a boiling point, leading to an especially unpleasant occurrence. Contrary to popular belief, it isn't always triggered by any particular event, although it can be. Often it's just when our minds and bodies decide to buckle under the weight of whatever our circumstance happens to be. When that happens, it's quite ugly. From my own experience with panic attacks, here's what usually happens: As the day begins, often something just feels off. From the moment I wake up, there's a sense of unease and tension that steadily builds throughout the day. I often go about my business as if it were any other day but on some level I know what's happening. When and where a panic attack will strike is completely out of your control, all that you can hope for is that it'll be a time and place where the damage can be contained. The physiological symptoms come subtly at first and then very rapidly. First it your throat becomes dry and it becomes difficult to swallow, this is when it's important to have access to water. After that you will experience an increased heart rate and a sensation of your chest tightening as if there are weights on it. At that point is when focusing on your breathing is key. Your body's natural instinct here will be to take rapid shallow breaths, you need to fight that instinct as best as you can and breathe with your stomach instead of your chest. The practice of "four square" breathing has been especially effective in my own experience. That's when you inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, and then hold for four seconds again. You just need to do that for as long as necessary. While coping with the physical symptoms, there are also obviously mental ones as well: thoughts will be racing, you will feel overcome with intense feelings of dread, worry, and despair, as well as an inability to focus. The best approach to managing the mental aspect is mindfulness of your thought patterns, which again I know is much easier said than done, but you just need to manage the best that you can. Don't try to route out every trace of uncertainty because it's impossible. Rather than attempting to cover all the bases, you need to come to terms with the fact that it can't be done. Surrender yourself to the knowledge that certain things are out of your control and obsessing over them is a large factor that has led you to this point. In my own experience, another large source of the episode is a feeling that I'm not doing enough to manage myself, so I've found that positive affirmation goes a long way. Instead of focusing on what you've done wrong, focus on the things you've done right (and you absolutely have done some things right). Any little positive thing that you've done lately is what you need to shift your focus to. It could be something as simple as getting out of bed, to a more significant accomplishment because in the grand scheme of things (especially considering individual circumstances) those things could be considered equal. Focusing on the wins instead of the losses is key, that's the gist of what I'm getting at. Once you've managed all of that, eventually the episode will pass, but it's important to remember that it won't necessarily be immediately after the current stressor is gone. Once I had a panic attack concerning a work situation that lasted some time after the instance had been resolved and that's because anxiety isn't rational. Once it has a hold of you, it will do it's utmost to retain that hold, but you can shake it if you have the right tools. Before I received counselling for my anxiety, I required the assistance of others to bring me down from anxious episodes, but afterwards I had the tools to tackle them myself. Still, they are no less daunting and my most recent one was definitely on the heavier end of the spectrum, yet I was able to regain control of the wheel and press on. Panic attacks are terrifying, when they hit you may feel that you are in physical danger. It can feel like you're going to have a heart attack, lose consciousness, or even die, but it's important to remember that a panic attack is only an imitation of mortal danger. While that doesn't change the fact that the feelings are very real, you will NOT die from an anxiety episode. The feeling in your chest is not your heart about to give out, it's the muscles tightening due to a lack of oxygen from the short rapid breaths and once you get all of it under control, you'll be fine. Life is demanding, hectic, and at many times overwhelming so there's no shame in buckling from time to time. It doesn't do a shred of damage to my pride to admit that it's happened to me on numerous occasions. It's just a matter of understanding your own thoughts, body, circumstance, and ultimately just you in general. Once the storm has passed (and trust me when I say that it will every time) you'll feel a powerful sense of peace and will most likely have the best night sleep of your life so that's also something to look forward to. In summary, when a panic attack strikes, just hit the pause button on everything else because dealing with it is priority number one.