What is a panic attack?

Panic attacks or sudden, intense occurrence of panic, fear, and anxiety. They can be overwhelming and they have both emotional and physical symptoms.

If you have a panic attack, you might find it difficult to breathe, you sweat profusely and tumble and sometimes you may feel your heart pounding. Some people may experience chest pain and a feeling of detachment from reality.

How to stop a panic attack?

There are different ways to handle a panic attack. Let's find out some ways which can help you handle panic attacks.

See counseling

Cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT and other types of counseling can help you get rid of panic attacks and panic disorders. CBT is effective because it helps you to change the way you see challenging or fighting situations. You will learn to find new ways to approach these challenges when they arise.

CBT is available for individuals or groups and you can go for face-to-face or online therapy. The length of treatment may vary depending on the need of the patient. You may also experience exposure-based CBT, where your therapist will expose you to a trigger that can cause a panic attack and help you work your way through it.

Medicines

Benzodiazepines such as alprazolam can help you by treating the symptoms of panic attacks. How about the medicines that can help you get over an incident of a panic attack but cannot treat an underlying anxiety disorder. Using medicines regularly can also lead to dependence. Most of these medicines are prescription medicines.

Deep breathing

Hyperventilating is a symptom of panic attacks and it can increase fear and anxiety. Deep breathing can reduce symptoms of panic during an attack. Different scientific studies done on this subject found that deep or diaphragmatic breathing can improve attention levels and emotional well-being. A blood test also shows lower cortisol levels in people who engage in deep breathing. It means a person practicing deep breathing often has lower levels of stress.

Slow breathing also has similar effects. Slow breathing can improve feelings of relaxation, comfort, and alertness and can reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, anger, and confusion.

To get the benefit, you can focus on taking deep breaths in and out through your mouth. Try to feel the air slowly filling your chest and belly and then slowly leave them again. You can breathe in for a count of four, hold for a second or two and then breathe out for a count of four.

Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness can help you deal with panic attacks. It can help ground you in reality and see what's around you. Some panic attacks can cause a feeling of detachment or separation from reality and if you can become mindful by practicing in such a situation, it will help you come back from your pending attacks.

• Mindfulness involves“
• Focusing your attention on the present
• Recognizing the emotional state you are in
• Meditating to reduce stress and help you relax

With mindfulness you can focus on the physical sensations you are familiar with. The physical sensations can help you ground your family in reality and then also give you something to focus on.

Panic Away is an effective way to manage and handle panic attacks. It is a specially designed technology that allows your body to heal naturally. The system allows your parasympathetic nervous system to activate. You can learn to trick your anxious mind to move out of the way so your body and mind can relax again. When your anxious mind is no longer stimulating the stress response, you'll be able to feel more relaxed.