Effective Ways to Manage an Anxiety Attack
Anxiety attacks are also known as panic attacks. They are uncontrollable periods of deep anxiety and panic. They normally occur unexpectedly and without notice. Much of the time, you cannot control your anxiety attacks, and even attempting to control them will do more harm than good.
How Can you Manage your Anxiety Attacks?
For someone suffering from anxiety, the most frightening situation is losing control in public, being trapped in an uncomfortable position, and becoming humiliated. When panic hits, you can feel as though you’re going insane—as if you’ve lost control of your mind. Anxiety attacks, like any chronic condition, cannot be brushed away, treated by medications, or made to disappear in any given situation. You can, however, learn to handle your anxiety more easily over time, reducing the amount of anxiety attacks you have.
Do Breathing Exercises
Deep breaths from breathing exercises can help to regulate your anxiety attacks because they can induce heavy breathing and chest tightness, causing your breathing to become shallow. Try taking long, deep breaths, focusing on each one. Deeply inhale from the abdomen, filling the lungs softly and steadily, while counting to three on both the inhale and exhale.
Relax your Muscles
Another effective way to manage your anxiety attack is to relax your muscles. You can try progressive muscle relaxation, which requires doing a full-body inspection, tightening and then relaxing each muscle group in the body. Start at your toes and work your way up, tensing one muscle group for a few seconds and then relaxing it for about 30 seconds.
Focus on One Thing
If you start to become overwhelmed with thoughts, feelings, memories, experiences, and situations that distress you, the best way to cope is to focus on one thing that makes you feel at ease. Concentrating on one stimulus will reduce the impact of other stimuli. When you think about the details of that one thing, you may start to think how, why, who, when it made you feel at ease. This can reduce your symptoms of an anxiety attack.
Usually, people who get anxiety attacks carry something that can help relieve their stress and panic. This may be something as small as a stone or even a precious gift that was given by someone precious to them. This keeps them feel grounded. These kinds of grounding techniques can help people who experience panic attacks.
Take a Walk
Taking a short, quiet walk can help you to relax and remove yourself from the stressful environment. The pace of your walk can also assist you in regulating your breathing. By moving around, it can activate your endorphins, which can relax your body and boost your mood. Doing regular physical activities can help to relieve anxiety over time, potentially reducing the amount of panic attacks you can get.
Have Confidence
Lastly, you can better manage the uncertainty of what may happen if you have faith and understanding that you can face and overcome any experience that might emerge. The more you trust in yourself, the more optimistic you can get. Consider a time when you completed a challenging mission and how you did so. Learning to trust yourself and your abilities to overcome life’s unpredictable challenges will help reduce your “what ifs” of tomorrow.
