Panic Attack Help: Coping With Panic Attacks

Knowing what you are dealing with is a key that allows you to attack panic at its source. You don't have to just shoot in the dark at something you don't understand. That is why you can succeed at eliminating your panic attacks. But before you can eliminate your panic attacks you will have to learn how to cope with them. This chapter discusses some ideas I have on coping with panic attacks and describes some coping Strategies that I have tried. Hopefully, they can help you to cope with your panic attacks as well as they have for me.

Knowing that your panic attack is not a heart attack or something that is going to kill you is a comforting thought in itself. In fact it is the first step in coping with panic attacks. To illustrate this point think of your panic attacks as if they were the Chinese Finger Trap. This is a game that you may have played with when you were a kid. With this game you would stick one finger in each end of a paper woven tube. When you would pull your fingers apart the tube would tighten around your fingers and your fingers would be trapped in the tube. The harder you pulled the tighter the grip of the trap became on your fingers. The trick to the game, in order for you to get your fingers out of the trap, was to relax and push your finger(s) inwards, then the weave of the tube trap would relax and loosen. When the weave loosened you could then get your fingers freed from the trap. The key to getting your fingers out was to relax and work with the trap and not against it.

When a panic attack strikes it is much like the Chinese Finger Trap. The more you fight the panic the more it tightens it's grip on you. When you fight the panic you can work yourself up into a frenzy which only worsens the symptoms of the panic attack. When the symptoms intensify you get more worried about the attack. As you get more worried about the attack the symptoms intensify more. As the symptoms intensify more you tend to get more introverted and focus more and more on the attack. This makes the attack seem even worse and it's grip tightens on you. So what is the key? You have to learn to relax and not fight the panic attack. In fact, you must do the opposite and work with the attack just like you would work with the finger trap. You need to relax and ride the attack out like a surfer rides a wave out, using the wave's energy to propel him forward and not resisting it. By relaxing and riding with the attack and using it's energy it can go by much quicker and soon releases it's grip on you just like the finger trap does. All of this sounds good but it is easier said than done. However, it is not impossible to do and this chapter is going to show you how to cope with panic attacks in this manner.

Once a panic attack strikes the Strategy you choose to cope with it is up to you. There are many techniques commonly used to cope with panic attacks but the results are different for each individual that uses them. In other words what may work for me might not work for you. What this chapter will do is list some coping Strategies that have worked for me. Then you should use the most effective coping Strategy for you anytime a panic attack strikes. Some will work better than others depending on the circumstances.

The coping Strategies described next basically try to get you through the attack as quick as possible by relaxing you and/or by helping you to ride the attack out. This is accomplished by diverting your attention away from the attack and yourself. You are not going to be able to stop the attack once it starts because the adrenaline is already running its course. The best thing you can do is ride the attack out by using the Strategies in this chapter. These Strategies follow the same line of reasoning as Lamaze. Basically the idea is that one's mind can only receive one thought or feeling at a time and no more than that, thus if you can divert your mind away from thinking about the attack it can no longer perceive the attack symptoms. It is a lot like your telephone. The telephone can only receive one signal at a time. When someone else tries to call they get a busy signal. The theory is that if your mind is concentrating on one thing hard enough and constant enough, anything else that tries to get through will get a busy signal (unless you have call waiting..ha ha). An example of this would be when you are daydreaming. When you daydream your mind wonders off and is completely emerged in thought and thus tunes out the rest of the world. Many students have been embarrassed when the teacher called on them to answer a question in class and they did not hear the question because they were daydreaming. So keep all of this in mind when you are trying these Strategies out. The idea is to do them completely and to put everything you got into them so that you can nullify the signals your brain is receiving from your panic attack. Someone once said that the middle of the road is the most dangerous place to drive, so don't try these Strategies halfheartedly because if you do the chances are that they will fail. Just as if you were to drive down the middle of the road, you would probably wreck and not reach your destination. Therefore, when you try these Strategies, to succeed, do them wholehearted.


REACT CALMLY
The most important thing you can do on the onset of an attack is realize what it is and that it is not going to kill you. By doing this you can react to it calmly. You know you are all right and that the attack will pass. You want to allow it to pass and you know that you have the Strategies available to you that will allow it to pass in the most direct route possible. The key is that you use a Strategy and that you use it wholehearted. Think and know that you will make it through the attack and then go onto your coping Strategy of choice. A calm reaction allows you to move forward in this process. The following are some Strategies you may want to try in order to help you cope with your panic attacks.



I BREATHING EXERCISE
To do this exercise lie down in bed and close your eyes. Once comfortable, count to 5 while inhaling a deep breath. Then exhale while counting to 6. Concentrate on breathing from your diaphragm. To ensure you are doing this place your right hand on your stomach and your left hand on your chest. When breathing make sure your right hand is moving and that your left hand is as still as possible. Doing this ensures that you are breathing from your diaphragm. Next sit up in your bed and repeat the inhale and exhale while counting. Then try standing up and repeating the exercise. Do this over and over, lying, sitting, standing, and counting. Take deep slow breaths with the count, making sure your right hand is moving. You might try playing soft music in the background to help with the rhythm. This may seem awkward at first but practice of this Strategy can turn it into a habit. I encourage you to practice this Strategy at least 5 minutes a day. When a panic attack strikes you shouldn't feel awkward and you can turn your full attention to your breathing. This should relax you and thus distract you from your attack. If done properly it should also reduce the amount of panic signals reaching your brain. This will allow you to ride out the attack, relax, and thus cope with it better.
Don't under-estimate the power of proper breathing. Breathing from the belly and not the chest allows the air to go deep into your lungs. This allows more oxygen into your system with less effort, thus your heart rate can decrease along with the number of times you have to inhale and exhale. So too your body is not as stressed to get the oxygen it needs. So, deep breathing alone can help eliminate some of the symptoms of a panic attack!

II MEDITATION
I know this sounds awkward at first but for this exercise I don't mean Yoga style meditation. Rather, I am simply suggesting taking an object, concentrating on it, and turning it over in your mind repeatedly. For example, if you have a candle at home, during an attack you could light the candle and concentrate on the image of the flame until it is the only thing that you can see. Hold that image in your mind as long as you can. After some time close your eyes but try to keep the image of the flame in your mind's eye. Hold the image as long as possible and turn it over in your mind. Make the flame your only thought. If you get distracted by outside noise try listening to soft music on some headphones to block out the distractions. If this exercise is done wholehearted, it should distract you from your attack and allow you to cope with it successfully. You should be thinking so hard about the flame that all other signals going to your brain should be blocked out. Still though, depending on your circumstances you may not be able to use this exercise, so you might want to try another Strategy. This exercise can be done with virtually any object. I chose the flame because it is easier for me to retain that particular image in my mind. Some people like to watch birds or clouds in the sky, some like to watch fish in a tank, or others like to watch a fire in a fireplace. The important thing is that you choose to meditate on something that is easy for you, so that this exercise can be successful for you in coping with your panic attacks. This Strategy should also help you to relax during an attack.



III MEDICATION
Not all panic attacks require distractions in order to cope with them. For instance sometimes the symptoms of panic attacks are the result of something you ate. I noticed that sometimes when I ate spaghetti I felt as though I was having a panic attack. This was probably due to some acid reflux in my esophagus. To help cope with this all I did was take some antacid. The antacid eliminated the symptoms almost immediately. If you have determined from you Anxiety Sources Workbook that your attacks come after eating a specific food you may want to try some antacid and see if this will help you to cope with your attacks better.




IV EXERCISE

You might want to try exercising as a coping Strategy during a panic attack. The idea is that if you concentrate hard enough on the exercise you will be distracted from the panic attack. Also, exercise should help burn off the excess adrenaline in your body that is causing the attack. I have used this Strategy more than once and have found it to be successful for me. All I did was go for a brief jog or brisk walk around the block during the onset of an attack. I ended up being so involved in the exercise that my attention was diverted from my attack, and thus I was able to ride the attack out and cope with it successfully. This coping Strategy may work for you as well. You don't have to do any fancy aerobics or have to have a fancy gym set in your house to do this Strategy either. When you feel an attack coming on, just try going for a fifteen minute jog or brisk walk, and by the time you get done your attack should be over.

V PERSONAL Strategies
A personal favorite coping Strategy that I found to be successful when a panic attack struck was taking a hot bath . I found the bath to be very relaxing and that the heat and sound from the water helped distract me from the attack. By being relaxed I was able to ride out my attacks easier. You might want to go back and try personal coping Strategies that you found to have worked in the past but try them a little harder to get better results. Some Strategies I have heard of include getting a massage, doing a hobby, praying, drinking cold water, or even snapping a rubber band on your wrist. I suppose all of these in one way or another could distract you from your attacks and/or help you to cope with them better. Some people take prescribed medication to help them ride their attacks out easier and/or to relax. If this works for you, you should probably continue taking your medicine. I know that the medications I was prescribed did not help me to cope with or ride out my attacks. If you have any coping Strategies you would like to share please feel free to write me at the same address you ordered this booklet from and maybe I can share those Strategies with others in future editions of this book.

VI. Strategies NOT TO TRY
Well, I have talked a lot about coping Strategies you should try to help you with your panic attacks, but before I continue I would like to suggest 3 things you should not do to help cope with your attacks. Due to their addictive nature and potentially harmful side effects, in my opinion the following items should not be used to cope with your panic attacks:
1) Alcohol
2) Cigarettes
3) Illegal Drugs

These things may seem to work for you but other more serious problems may result from taking them. So think twice about trying these out or in continuing to use these if they are a personal Strategy of yours. You now have the answer to the question of how to cope with Panic Attacks. Some coping Strategies are better than others and some work differently for each individual. Some Strategies shouldn't even be tried. But coping with Panic Attacks can be a lot like coping with mosquitoes. Coping Strategies can help us ride our panic attacks out, just as bug spray can help keep mosquitoes away for awhile, but these things don't eliminate the problem. You can use one coping Strategy after another and you can use bug spray again and again, but the problem is still there. Coping with Panic Attacks does help us though, and can make living with them easier; however, eliminating Panic Attacks from your life should be your goal. My next chapter describes Strategies that you can use in order to reach that goal and eliminate Panic Attacks from your life.