5 Tips For Dealing With A Panic Attack

Panic attacks can feel completely terrifying. They may come on suddenly and leave you feeling completely drained. Today, I am going to share with you my top five tips for dealing with a panic attack.

1. Grounding exercises

Grounding exercises are meant to bring you back to the present moment. They can stop you from having the intense feelings of a panic attack by helping you to realize the situation you are in is not actually dangerous, since most panic attacks happen due to benign situations.

There are a number of different grounding activities you might try but I will give you my top ten.

1. Squeeze something like Play-Doh.
2. Play with a fidget spinner.
3. Push your feet firmly into the ground.
4. Hold a piece of ice.
5. Listen to the world around you.
6. Recite a poem in your head or aloud.
7. Count backwards from 500 by sevens.
8. Describe your surroundings.
9. List information that is purely factual about yourself or the situation. For example, “I am Danna. I am sitting at my computer.”
10. Touch something soft like a pet or a blanket.

These are some things that can help when you’re in the midst of a panic attack and need to ground yourself.

2. Meditation or deep breathing

Meditation is a form of grounding but I felt it deserved its own space. Meditation has been helping me a lot lately. I think it’s great to use both in the moment of a panic attack, but also to help lower your stress levels to hopefully prevent future panic attacks.

I really like to do guided meditations, but you can also just use music or other techniques. My meditation app of choice is called Insight Timer. If you want to read more about meditation, try this post I wrote about meditation tips.

Meditation can be practiced in many situations, but for situations where it cannot, you can try deep breathing exercises.

Some people really like box breathing, where you breathe in for the count on four, hold for the count of four, then exhale for the count of four, and repeat.

3. Positive self-talk

Positive self-talk can be very effective for dealing with a panic attack. However, this is a technique you will need to practice in advance. Otherwise, you may not remember to use it in the midst of a panic attack.

There are several phrases you can use. Some include “I am safe” or “This will pass”.

One that works really well for me is to remind myself that I am having a panic attack and not actually dying. I also try to remind myself the average duration of my attacks to remind myself that it will end.

4. Exercise

I find that exercise can be a good way to get the adrenaline out of my system. I’m not talking hardcore exercises either, but if that’s your thing then go for it.

What I usually do is take a brisk walk. When I can, I will take another person with me. My dog usually comes along, too.

I also like to punch pillows or a target that I have from when I used to take Tae Kwon Do lessons. You may enjoy other options like yoga, taking a run, or even jumping on a trampoline. Just make sure whatever form of movement you pick is healthy for you and your body.

5. Talk it out

This is probably the most effective way for me to cope with strong anxiety. It’s obviously not always going to be possible as there may be times where you don’t have immediate access to other people. But when you can, it is definitely healthy to open up.

When dealing with a panic attack, it can be easy to share more than others are comfortable hearing. It’s important to be respectful of the boundaries of others. If you’re not sure if the person is in a good place to listen to you talk about anxiety, make sure you ask them first.

Some closing thoughts

Dealing with a panic attack is always hard, but I am hoping these tips today will help you to have a better handle on them.

Grounding, meditation, positive self-talk, exercise, and talking it out are all healthy ways of expressing your anxiety. I hope you will try at least one new technique and implement it into your life.

Until next time,

Danna