Usually if it’s a really bad one (panicing so bad that your lying on the floor crying in pain) then get help, try to breath, take pain killers and lie in bed and play a mindless game until I feel better
pet my dog
take deep breaths outside
pray
I’ve heard from a friend with a phD in psychology that this is something you should see a professional for. He says anxiety and panic attacks are surprisingly curable.
But, real talk, when my wife has panic attacks it seems like it’s a symptom of something deeper. Like her thyroid is off balance and she needs to change medication. Everyone’s different though, so I can’t speak for you.
Prevention is vastly superior to cure in this scenario. Look, when you cut right down to it, a panic attack is a metabolic issue. Yes, it was likely triggered by a psychological response, or maybe even a thyroid issue, but the hard fact is, you’re going for the ride until the adrenaline in your blood stream is metabolized. Period.
In that respect, you need to understand that it is not your job to stop a panic attack. It’s your body’s job, and so long as you can live by eating, your body will eventually metabolize the adrenaline. Once you internalize this, you should feel more at ease which will help break the negative feedback loop of feeling “weird”, which makes you panicky, which makes you feel weirder, which makes you more panicky, etc etc. Your role in this transitions from figuring out some magic spell (which doesn’t exist) to stop the attack, to one in which you are to make yourself as comfortable as possible until that adrenaline has been dumped from your system.
What this means for you is going to be different from others. I personally recommend against meditation methods because I’ve found people tend to essentially train themselves to feel nervous about the exercise! Meditation becomes associated with the discomfort of the attack and thus ceases to have theraputic value. Instead, lay on a comfortable bed. Don’t worry about your heart beat. Just breath purposefully without the mantras or counting. It’s not a task, you’re just trying to reassure yourself that you aren’t smothering, because you’re not!
It’s also useful to deprogram self sabotaging thinking. It is very common to experience existential dread during a panic attack. Feeling like you’re dying is a terrifying thing, but you didn’t die last time. Or the time before that. If you’ve been dealing with these episodes for a long time, you may have years of successfully surviving attacks! Still some will insist that this time is the time the attack will get me, that I got lucky all those other times. Let me assure you, no one is that lucky. No one. You may skirt a heart attack once. Probably not twice. You’re not going to skirt it dozens or even hundreds of times. You survived because the condition is not lethal! You are not dying from it today, nor will you next time. So again, remember it is your job to simply find the most comfortable way for you to ride out your body’s metabolic process.
Another important factor in preventing panic attacks is taking care of your overall health. There are very direct correlations between being overweight, smoking, excessive caffeine consumption, and some recreational drug use and panic attacks. For many people, these episodes are less psychological and more your body’s way of warning you that you’re not living well. Stimulants like caffeine and tobacco are especially problematic. While they don’t necessarily cause panic attacks directly, they do prime your body chemically to have one. It’s a bit like putting a ball at the top of a steep hill; that ball is far more likely to end up rolling into trouble, and fast, atop that hill than if you put it on a level surface. Making the appropriate changes by cutting out these unhealthy habits can have dramatic effects for some people!
And remember to be patient with your long term recovery. No single fix outside of doctor prescribed medicines will work immediately or with 100% efficiency your first time. Panic attacks are learned behaviors and you didn’t come into these reactions over night. But the good news is that anything which can be learned can also be corrected! Over time, making these changes and practicing healthy precautionary behaviors can reduce the severity and frequency of attacks.
Be patient with yourself. Work towards a healthy life style. Don’t psych yourself out. And remember you deserve to be comfortable in your life if at all possible, even during a panic attack.
I keep reminding myself it’s just a panic attack. There is no danger, I’m not dying, it’s just a stupid panic attack and it will stop soon.